Social media caused some older books to resurface and become popular again. Social media has also caused many writers’ new novels to increase in popularity. Here are some of the people at Fremont’s opinions on two of these books.
“The Song of Achilles” by Madeline Miller, which came out in 2011, is one of the most frequently checked out books in the school library, FHS Librarian Ruben Zamora said. The book’s narrative revolves around the timeline of the Great Trojan War, and is centered around Patroclus, a mediocre Greek prince. It delves into his love story with Achilles, both a Greek prince and the best fighter in Greece.
“I think the impact [that] The Song of Achilles [leaves] is far greater than the impacts of Shadow and Bone [the second most checked out book] so I take that into account too,” Zamora said. “That’s my judgment of a good book, you know that has some substance there.”
Social media has also caused some recently published books to become popular. One example is “Icebreaker,” by Hannah Grace, released in 2022. It is a romance novel about a college figure skater Anastasia and Nate Hawkins who is the team captain of Maple Hills hockey team. Their relationship is marked by Anastasia’s initial dislike for Nate, who seems unfazed by her disapproval. But when Anastasia’s skating partner cannot perform, she turns towards Nate for help.
“I kinda had a negative view of this book,” FHS freshman Daniella Drenan said. “Which maybe made my mind a bit more [negative about “Icebreaker”] but I think it’s okay. It’s not the best romance book.”
Drenan also talks about where toshe findfinds book recommendations.
“There’s a part of Tik Tok called ‘Booktok,’ and I [got] a lot of book recommendations for [“Icebreaker”] specifically,” Drenan said.
She now talks about her opinion on the book from a scale of one to five. She rates Icebreaker a three.
“I think some of the dialogue between the characters is kind of awkward and I feel like they’re rushing the plot, but it makes sense,” Drenan said. “I feel it’s generally realistic as to something that would happen in real life.”
People like to read books that seem realistic or relatable. This is because when reading about something you can relate to it gives you a sense of comfort knowing that you can feel what the character goes through.
These examples represent only a fraction of the books that social media has popularized. When books gain traction on social media, they attract diverse audiences, resulting in mixed reviews. Like any other art form, books invoke different reviews from different people so the only way to find out if you like a book is to read it.
