The Student Room Group

Book recommendations 🏝️✨

Does anyone have any book recommendations. As a very bored year 11 idk what to read and I don’t want to read those books recommended on tiktok cause most of them are 💩 ngl (apart from agggtm ofc). I quite like classic lit, YA fiction, horror, basically anything except fantasy, manga or any anime related books
Ty in advance 🙏
(edited 2 months ago)
If you like horror then Rachel Harrison's books are really good- Such Sharp Teeth and Black Sheep are favourites of mine! Also not technically horror (it's more sci-fi) but 11/22/63 by Stephen King is fantastic and has somewhat of a classic lit feel so you'd probably enjoy it.
In terms of ya fiction, some recent ya books with a lot of horror elements that I really enjoyed have been Hell Followed With Us and The Spirit Bares Its Teeth by Andrew Joseph White (though both do get pretty dark and gruesome so maybe check out content warnings if you're not comfortable with that). I also really enjoyed the Chaos Walking trilogy by Patrick Ness and many of Ruta Sepetys' books, which are sort of historical fiction.
Original post by Jasmine6789
Does anyone have any book recommendations. As a very bored year 11 idk what to read and I don’t want to read those books recommended on tiktok cause most of them are 💩 ngl (apart from agggtm ofc). I quite like classic lit, YA fiction, horror, basically anything except fantasy, manga or any anime related books
Ty in advance 🙏
I know these books are viral on tiktok but there are many sides to booktok so if you were talking abt these im so sorry!

weird/uncomfortable/horror - fyi some of these books contains trigger warnings so be careful of that

Earthlings by Sayaka Murata

Cursed bunny by Bora Chung

Gold rush by Miri Yu but I haven't heard that many people talk abt it.

Bunny by Mona Awad is supposed to be weird too.

The eyes are the best part by Monika Kim

Boy Parts by Eliza Clark

Classics - I haven't read many classis but I've heard that these are good

White nights by Fyodor Dostoyevsky

The Brothers Karamazov by Fyodor Dostoyevsky

The picture of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde

Metamorphosis by Franz Kafta

Jekyll and Hyde by Robert Stevenson

Other

Before the coffee gets cold by Toshikazu Kawaguchi. I've just unfinished it and I quite like it. Its a very easy read and it popular on tiktok. He has made made 4 other books as a sequel but the first is meant to be the best

The memory Police by Yoko Ogawa. Its sort of a dystopian fiction where things in the world are slowly vanishing and everyone forgets a little piece of themselves.

Heaven AND all the lovers in the night by Meiko Kawami. They are supposed to be beautiful books. I think heaven is about intense bullying that a 14 year old endures. All the lovers in the night is about unrequited love I think. She also has a book called breasts and eggs which is more to do with working class womanhood in japanese society.

I have yet to read it but the poppy war trilogy by R.F Kuang is supposed to be good. It is fantasy but more of a historical military fantasy and I don't think it counts as a young adult book. It's currently sitting on my shelf lol.


If you haven't heard of him, there is a youtuber called Jack Edwards that is the biggest reader ever and he has a massive span of recommendations for any genre so if you don't like the sound of any of these, you should check him out because there will definitely be a book there that you will like the sound of. And then through him you can find more people with book recommendations. There is also a girl on tiktok called bewareofpity (Malissa) - she does a variety of content but her book recommendations are supposed to be good too.

Again, I'm very sorry if these are the books you meant were rubbish on tiktok, when I think of rubbish book - I think of the weird romance smutty stories haha. Majority of these aren't young adult but I don't think any of them are very confusing and as you're a year 11 that loves reading, I doubt you will have trouble reading these in terms of vocabulary. Also keep in mind that alot of these books are not entirely English lit and some of them are Japanese + Korean lit so I've heard that when translating, the sentences may sound a bit different but they are still understandable and enjoyable to read. This was just smt from someone on tiktok and it made them dislike the book as they weren't used to that sort of writing style. But I do think it's important to read different types of fiction from different languages so please do give it a go! I heard Many of the horror ones to have a list of trigger warnings but in my eyes, thats what a horror/weird book is all about. All of these books are currently on my Wishlist so please let me know if you liked any books from here! I hope this helped :smile:
(edited 2 months ago)
Reply 3
Original post by cherrycosmos
I know these books are viral on tiktok but there are many sides to booktok so if you were talking abt these im so sorry!
weird/uncomfortable/horror - fyi some of these books contains trigger warnings so be careful of that

Earthlings by Sayaka Murata

Cursed bunny by Bora Chung

Gold rush by Miri Yu but I haven't heard that many people talk abt it.

Bunny by Mona Awad is supposed to be weird too.

The eyes are the best part by Monika Kim

Boy Parts by Eliza Clark

Classics - I haven't read many classis but I've heard that these are good

White nights by Fyodor Dostoyevsky

The Brothers Karamazov by Fyodor Dostoyevsky

The picture of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde

Metamorphosis by Franz Kafta

Jekyll and Hyde by Robert Stevenson

Other

Before the coffee gets cold by Toshikazu Kawaguchi. I've just unfinished it and I quite like it. Its a very easy read and it popular on tiktok. He has made made 4 other books as a sequel but the first is meant to be the best

The memory Police by Yoko Ogawa. Its sort of a dystopian fiction where things in the world are slowly vanishing and everyone forgets a little piece of themselves.

Heaven AND all the lovers in the night by Meiko Kawami. They are supposed to be beautiful books. I think heaven is about intense bullying that a 14 year old endures. All the lovers in the night is about unrequited love I think. She also has a book called breasts and eggs which is more to do with working class womanhood in japanese society.

I have yet to read it but the poppy war trilogy by R.F Kuang is supposed to be good. It is fantasy but more of a historical military fantasy and I don't think it counts as a young adult book. It's currently sitting on my shelf lol.


If you haven't heard of him, there is a youtuber called Jack Edwards that is the biggest reader ever and he has a massive span of recommendations for any genre so if you don't like the sound of any of these, you should check him out because there will definitely be a book there that you will like the sound of. And then through him you can find more people with book recommendations. There is also a girl on tiktok called bewareofpity (Malissa) - she does a variety of content but her book recommendations are supposed to be good too.
Again, I'm very sorry if these are the books you meant were rubbish on tiktok, when I think of rubbish book - I think of the weird romance smutty stories haha. Majority of these aren't young adult but I don't think any of them are very confusing and as you're a year 11 that loves reading, I doubt you will have trouble reading these in terms of vocabulary. Also keep in mind that alot of these books are not entirely English lit and some of them are Japanese + Korean lit so I've heard that when translating, the sentences may sound a bit different but they are still understandable and enjoyable to read. This was just smt from someone on tiktok and it made them dislike the book as they weren't used to that sort of writing style. But I do think it's important to read different types of fiction from different languages so please do give it a go! I heard Many of the horror ones to have a list of trigger warnings but in my eyes, thats what a horror/weird book is all about. All of these books are currently on my Wishlist so please let me know if you liked any books from here! I hope this helped :smile:

Ooo tysm! I’ve watched the play of metamorphosis but haven’t read the book yet so I’ll give that a go! The other book recommendations also sound rlly good so I will defo give some more a try! Btw dw, none of the books listed are the tiktok ones I was on abt - the ones I think are rubbish are the Colleen hoover books and any of the weird fantasy smutty books.
Tysm for the recommendations:smile:
Original post by Jasmine6789
Ooo tysm! I’ve watched the play of metamorphosis but haven’t read the book yet so I’ll give that a go! The other book recommendations also sound rlly good so I will defo give some more a try! Btw dw, none of the books listed are the tiktok ones I was on abt - the ones I think are rubbish are the Colleen hoover books and any of the weird fantasy smutty books.
Tysm for the recommendations:smile:
You're welcome! I hope you enjoy them, glad I could help :smile:
Reply 5
Original post by Jasmine6789
Does anyone have any book recommendations. As a very bored year 11 idk what to read and I don’t want to read those books recommended on tiktok cause most of them are 💩 ngl (apart from agggtm ofc). I quite like classic lit, YA fiction, horror, basically anything except fantasy, manga or any anime related books
Ty in advance 🙏


yooo i read too much!!!
some of my latest faves are...
one of us is lying- karen m. manus (murder mystery). could be described as overrated but idc, it is very clever and famous for a reason
the fault in our stars- john green (romance) idk kinda assuming u've read this if you haven't, you should.
the boy next door- jenny ireland (romance)-

le gran spoiler 🤫


hands-down best trope...
ace of spades- faridah abike-iyimide (mystery, thriller) this delves into institutional racism in a clever way, the author is amazing ngl
jade, fire, gold- june cl tan (wuxia, action, romance, period piece in a nonexistent world, ROYALS) i love june cl tan. i LOVED this book!
darker by four- june cl tan. (wuxia, action). --- now ik u said u dont like anime books and this was described as like a dark anime, it is in no way related to any particular anime and as a book it was AMAZING. like, i LOVED ITTTTT sm
a lunar new year love story- gene luen yang (graphic novel, romance) - so cute and the drawings are AMAZINGGG
four good liars - sarah wishart (thriller, murder mystery) felt like a knockoff one of us is lying but eh it was good
a dark inheritance - h.k. askwith (mystery, kinda gothic) read this on a long bus ride before a gcse, very soothing.
rules for rule breaking- talia tucker (romance, the sweetest thing you will ever read) - accidentally read this in 1 sitting when i was supposed to study... but it was so cute man
girl, goddess, queen- bea fitzgerald (romance, also v sweet, mythology based.) - i lowkey highkey hated the mc at first, but she grows on you, like a mollusc of some sort! 10/10 recommend
quentins- maeve binchy (an everyday life kinda book, incredibly soothing.) - i read this on holidays. very nice book, about a restaurant and all the people who come and go in it. and the gossip levels are insane...
Original post by Jasmine6789
Does anyone have any book recommendations. As a very bored year 11 idk what to read and I don’t want to read those books recommended on tiktok cause most of them are 💩 ngl (apart from agggtm ofc). I quite like classic lit, YA fiction, horror, basically anything except fantasy, manga or any anime related books
Ty in advance 🙏


The books by mike pannett, cathy glass and lisa stone are all worth a read

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