The best BookTok books for Gen Z right now are not the ones your English teacher assigned. They are dragon riders, old Hollywood secrets, emotional gut-punches and mystery obsessions that have 107 billion TikTok views between them and are keeping bookshops alive across the UK.
If you have been on TikTok or Instagram in the last two years you already know that BookTok has completely taken over. Over 107 billion views under the hashtag. Eight of the top ten UK bestsellers in a single week driven purely by TikTok recommendations. And at the very centre of all of it sits the fantasy and romantasy genre.
This is Part 1 of our Gen Z BookTok series covering the five fantasy and romantasy books that have genuinely broken the internet. Every single one is available on Amazon UK right now.
1. Fourth Wing by Rebecca Yarros
Fourth Wing is the book that made romantasy a household word. Violet Sorrengail expected a quiet life surrounded by books. Instead she is forced onto the world’s deadliest training ground where war college students bond with dragons or die trying. The romance is intense, the stakes are real and the world building is unlike anything most readers had encountered before.
Over one million readers gave it five stars. It was nominated for TikTok Book Awards in the Community Book of the Year category. It is the fastest selling adult novel of its generation and Amazon Prime Video has since confirmed it is being adapted into a TV series. If you start one book from this list, start here.
2. A Court of Thorns and Roses by Sarah J. Maas
ACOTAR is the other giant of BookTok fantasy. The series has an estimated 13 million copies sold, the same as the Empyrean series. Feyre is a huntress who kills a wolf in the woods and finds herself dragged into a treacherous magical land full of faeries who are not what they appear to be. Sarah J. Maas writes with an intensity that makes you forget to eat and sleep.
The TikTok tag for ACOTAR alone accumulated over 8.9 billion views. The series is five books deep with an ACOTAR 6 confirmed for October 2026 release, meaning the fandom is currently louder than ever. New readers who start now will have six books to binge.
Buy A Court of Thorns and Roses on Amazon UK
3. Onyx Storm by Rebecca Yarros
The third book in the Empyrean series following Fourth Wing and Iron Flame. Onyx Storm was released on January 21st 2025 and became the fastest selling adult novel in twenty years, moving over 2.7 million copies in its first week. That is not a typo. First week.
The story picks up where Iron Flame left off and goes significantly darker. Rebecca Yarros has said the writing process almost cost her her health. That level of investment shows in every page. If you have read Fourth Wing and Iron Flame you need this one. If you have not read the series yet, start at the beginning and pace yourself because the wait between books is genuinely painful.
4. Babel by R.F. Kuang
Babel is what happens when dark academia meets colonial history meets magic. Set in 1830s Oxford, it follows Robin Swift who is brought from Canton to England and enrolled in Babel, the Royal Institute of Translation where the silver-working magic that powers the British Empire is created. The book is a love letter to language and a furious indictment of empire all at once.
R.F. Kuang writes with a precision that makes you feel educated and devastated in equal measure. Babel is the BookTok book for readers who want something heavier than dragon romance. It is intelligent, angry and genuinely moving. It has also made R.F. Kuang one of the most watched authors in the dark academia corner of BookTok, leading millions of readers to her follow-up Yellowface.
5. Tomorrow and Tomorrow and Tomorrow by Gabrielle Zevin
This book is not fantasy. It belongs here because it is the Gen Z book that has crossed every demographic and genre boundary on BookTok. It is a love story between two people who make video games together across three decades. It is about friendship, ambition, identity and the things we create when we cannot say what we feel out loud.
Gabrielle Zevin writes about games from the inside in a way that finally makes non-gamers understand what games mean. Tomorrow and Tomorrow and Tomorrow has probably made more people cry in 2025 and 2026 than any other book that was not written by Colleen Hoover. It is the book for Gen Z who want something that feels like their life.
Buy Tomorrow and Tomorrow and Tomorrow on Amazon UK
Why These Books Dominate BookTok
Fantasy and romantasy perform better on BookTok than any other genre for a specific reason. The books deliver intense emotional experiences in a format that creates the kind of fan communities that social media is built for. Shipping wars between characters, theories about plot twists, aesthetic edits using book covers and quotes, duets reacting to emotional scenes.
According to Publishers Association research, 59 percent of 16 to 25 year olds say BookTok has helped them discover a passion for reading. 68 percent say it inspired them to read a book they would never have considered otherwise. Fantasy and romantasy are usually that book. The genre that gets people back into reading who had stopped.
For more BookTok recommendations see our Part 2 covering the best Gen Z romance, mystery and emotional reads, plus our guides on best true crime books 2026 and best mindset books 2026.
External references: Australia Reads: How BookTok is Transforming Gen Z Reading Habits | Book Riot: Fourth Wing and ACOTAR New Books 2026
Frequently Asked Questions
What are the best BookTok fantasy books for Gen Z?
The best BookTok fantasy books for Gen Z are Fourth Wing and Onyx Storm by Rebecca Yarros, A Court of Thorns and Roses by Sarah J. Maas, Babel by R.F. Kuang and Tomorrow and Tomorrow and Tomorrow by Gabrielle Zevin. Fourth Wing and ACOTAR are the two dominant series with combined estimated sales of 26 million copies. All are available on Amazon UK.
What is the number one BookTok book right now?
Fourth Wing by Rebecca Yarros and the Empyrean series are currently the most discussed books on BookTok. Onyx Storm became the fastest selling adult novel in twenty years on its January 2025 release. ACOTAR is the other contender with a new sixth book confirmed for October 2026, which has brought a huge wave of new readers to the series.
What is romantasy?
Romantasy is a genre blend of romance and fantasy where the romantic relationship is central to the plot rather than a subplot. The books typically feature a fantasy world with magic and non-human characters alongside an intense central love story. Fourth Wing and ACOTAR are the defining examples of the genre and are largely responsible for making romantasy one of the fastest growing publishing categories in the world.
Is ACOTAR getting a new book in 2026?
Yes. Sarah J. Maas has confirmed an untitled sixth ACOTAR book releasing on October 27th 2026. This is the first new entry in the series since 2021 and has generated enormous excitement across BookTok and Bookstagram. A seventh book in the series is also confirmed for January 2027.
How has BookTok changed Gen Z reading habits?
Research from the Publishers Association in the UK found that 59 percent of 16 to 25 year olds say BookTok has helped them discover a passion for reading, 55 percent turn to BookTok for recommendations, and 68 percent say it inspired them to read a book they would never have considered otherwise. At one point eight of the top ten UK bestsellers were titles trending on BookTok.
