i read the most hyped tiktok books to tell you if they are worth it 📚

another episode of me testing books that are popular on tiktok! this time i read and review Powerless by Lauren Roberts, Emily Wilde's Encyclopedia of Faeries by Heather Fawcett and Bride by Ali Hazelwood. This one truuuly a ride.

00:00 cozy fae fantasy
11:00 the new hunger games?
31:13 weird werewolf fanfic

🌼 s o c i a l m e d i a
• twitter: @thebookleo
• instagram: @thebookleo

🌺 a b o u t m e
Hi! My name is Leonie and I am a 25 year old girl from the Netherlands who loves talking about books! From YA to non-fiction to classics, I read it all (although fantasy will always be my fave).

🌹 m u s i c
Music, art, and video by Jokabi

Download / Stream Lost Woods

[SpookyStag]

my goal is to live a life as aesthetically pleasing as leonie's

[scuzifly]

"I don't want my fae to be hot and sexy. I want them to be evil and inhuman, and then *I* find that hot and sexy" is an absolute mood!

[kazu]

"Oh it started to rain... Oh cozy, I love that" literally every reader ever (they sprint to get a book so they can read with the sound of rain on the windows, it's a universal experience lol)

[orionsbelt]

I loved Emily Wilde's because I feel like very rarely do female characters get to be the grouchy/socially awkward/callous ones in their romance. Emily is a character who very obviously isn't great at socializing with others but not in a "cutesy" or shy way, she's just really awkward and sometimes says rude things without realizing. More female romantic leads like this please! I love her

[matinakl_]

"Oh, a little spider. Hello! Aww, I just saw you drop down. That was very elegant of you." THAT WAS THE MOST ADORABLE REACTION IVE EVER SEEN

[pipyt]

Omg I COMPLETELY agreed with everything you said about Powerless. All I've heard is such praise for it but I'm just like.. guys it's actually not that good at all?? It completely feels like a book that had all these trope check boxes but with no meat and potatoes to go along with them.

[rixolans]

The fact that nobody talks about the book whispers of manifestation on borlest speaks volumes about how people are stuck in a trance

[Espeonchan]

'He just really likes taking off his shirt.' Sounds a lot like Gray from Fairy Tail if you ask me. Also BRAWNY??? That could easily be the name of one of the seven dwarfs in Snow White.

[dvckduckgoose]

The Emily Wilde series is one of my favourite series of the past couple years. I really appreciate the 'romance' in it! The slow burn barely-there pining but is so much better than over the top 'erotica masquerading as a fantasy book' that almost every romance book is turning into

[panikiczcock]

I'm glad to hear romance is not too in your face in "Emily Wilde"! Makes me want to read it more as I'm much more into fantasy than into romance.

[mauratyson]

I loved Bride so much because of how funny it was. I was laughing my way through the smut scenes and every single time Lowe was like “I was to do this creepy sex thing bc I’m a werewolf and that’s just how we do it”. And the several subtle Twilight references had me screaming. My goodreads review was literally “the cringiest book I’ve ever had the pleasure of loving”

[TheCloudRazorable]

You saying the romance isn’t as prominent as ppl made it out to be makes me all the more excited for it honestly 😂

[mariajacynta]

Comparing Emily's Wide with Stardew Valley was the most PRECISE suggestion I've ever seen!

[imfromneverland]

that part where you were dancing with your cat really made feel so at peace with myself for being a woman. I know it might not make sense, but it touched something in me

[Mohammadzabuasi]

Personally, as a person who LOVES The hunger games books so much for the messages they had and how they were portrayed, the reason why I loved Powerless was the complete opposite, I loved Powerless mainly for the romance aspect and the two main characters tension and banter, however if we want to look at the uniqueness, world building, politics and messages, it is DEFINITELY not rich on that in any way.
So yeah the reason why so many people compare it to the Hunger games I believe is because of the trials and how they try to kill each other, otherwise there isn’t really a comparison.

[apollolewis]

Self aware werewolf romance is my favorite genre of werewolf romance. I’ve read many and most are subpar but when they’re self aware it’s amazing. One of my favorite Vampire x werewolf book is a manhwa called Blood Link it’s quite good, also very melodramatic.

[badfaithu]

I loved Emily Wilde's Encyclopaedia of Faeries and will be reading the sequel soon. The third book in the series has been announced.

[fireflyfrv]

i miss the person i was before learning about knotting

[anysnameever]

You hit EVERY SINGLE POINT I had issue with in Powerless. I am so glad someone else thought “Brawny” was too similar to “Brony.” I actually couldn’t stand the book. I had to DNF. I didn’t go in with suuuper high expectations, but I expected something way better than what we got. I felt like I was reading a really bad fanfiction the entire time. My biggest issues were how stale/scripted everything felt. Nothing flowed naturally, it just felt very… planned out, but also nothing was planned out. The plot had points that she was trying to check, but everything else was so under researched. Lauren put so much effort into “cultivating” this “relationship” between the two main characters—which didn’t feel remotely ETL btw—and not enough time building anything else in the world. Like she kept telling us things and not showing us things, which was another problem I had, the book was too much tell and not enough show. I know she didn’t have an editor because she self published, but you’re telling me out of all the friends this girl has, not one of them beta read for her and was like, “heyyy sooo we need to talk because none of this makes sense.” ??? I know she was eighteen when she started writing it, but maybe we should have gone for a version two or version three at least. Like if I had time to go through and list everything I found issue with, editing and all, I would, but let me remind myself this isn’t good reads lol.

[sneakers]

i gobbled up encyclopedia of faeries SO FAST and am eagerly awaiting my hold for the next one to drop. INSTANT five stars for me. the coziness is good and the subtly of the romance plot is