The Books That BookTok Is Highly Anticipating In 2022

1. Good Girl Complex

by Elle Kennedy (Fiction/new adult)

This contemporary novel follows a 20-year-old girl named Mackenzie who moves to the beachside town of Avalon Bay to attend Garnet College along with the wealthy students who go there.

Then she meets local bad boy Cooper Hartley.

Despite his edge and impulsiveness, the two begin falling for each other.

But as soon as things begin to fall into place, Mackenzie learns of the secret he's been keeping from her.

2. The Maid

by Nita Prose (Mystery/suspense)

25-year-old Molly is a hotel maid at the Regency Grand Hotel who struggles with social skills and misreads the intentions of others.

It's been tough since her grandmother died, but Molly loves her work.

But when she enters a room only to find the infamous and wealthy Charles Black dead, Molly's unusual demeanor raise suspicious her way.

The police pin her as a lead suspect.

With the help of friends, they begin to piece together what really happened the night Charles Black died.

3. All My Rage

by Sabaa Tahir (YA contemporary)

Known for her rich and immersive YA fantasy novels, Tahir presents in her latest novel the story of two people, two places, and two different time periods.

Born in Pakistan, Misbah and her husband immigrate to the United States for a new start.

In California, we follow Salahudin and Noor, two inseparable friends until a fight destroys everything.

Sal hides behind his family's motel business while Noor plots her escape from their small desert town.

But when Sal's attempt to save his family's business spirals out of control, Noor and Sal must ask themselves what friendship is worth.

4. Hell Followed With Us

by Andrew Joseph White (YA dystopian/sci-fi)

On the run from the cult that raised him, 16-year-old trans boy Benji tries to escape where they cannot find him.

He's been infected with a bioweapon, but what he doesn't know is that its mutating him into a monster.

Someone deadly enough to wipe humanity.

With the help of a group of queer teens and an autistic, gorgeous boy named Nick, he must learn how to control the monster within him.

5. Blood Scion

by Deborah Falaye (YA fantasy)

Inspired by Yoruba-Nigerian mythology, 15-year-old Sloane is a descendant of the ancient Orisha gods.

She is a Scion and harnesses the power to incinerate enemies.

But if her powers are discovered under Lucis’ rule, it could result in her death sentence.

Then Sloane is forcibly conscripted into the Lucis army, which results in a new opportunity.

Destroy them from within.

6. Sofi and the Bone Song

by Adrienne Tooley (YA fantasy)

This queer YA fantasy follows Sofi, daughter of a musician, who resides within the kingdom of Aell.

Here, winter is endless and magic is accessible, but anti-magic laws ensure that music remains the last untouched art.

When the day comes for Sofi to audition to take over her father's role, she suspects a girl named Lara is using illegal magic to take her place by enchanting the judges.

But the more she learns about Lara, the more she doubts everything she thought she knew about her family.

7. Right Where I Left You

by Julian Winters (YA contemporary)

It's Isaac Martin's last summer before college and in the fall, he won't have his best friend, Diego, by his side.

But Isaac has plans to make this the best summer ever: get passes to Legends Con.

When an unexpected run-in with an old crush distracts him from securing the passes, Isaac knows he's messed up his fantastic summer plan.

As Isaac hangs out with Diego and his gamer buddies throughout the summer, things with him and his crush begin to heat up.

But what happens when Diego finds out about Isaac's blunder?

8. I, Mona Lisa

by Natasha Solomons (Fiction)

Over the span of 500 years, we discover what happened to the portrait of Lisa Gherardini, a timeless piece that was sought after, stolen, and how it climbed to fame.

All the while, she observes silently — other than the chosen few who can hear her voice.

9. Ramón and Julieta

by Alana Quintana Albertson (Romance)

Ramón Montez is a hard-working, determined perfectionist.

So when a mysterious woman kisses him on the Day of the Dead and disappears into the night with his heart, he'll do whatever it takes to find her.

Julieta Camposm is a celebrity chef who recently discovered her restaurant's new landlord is the man she hooked up with on Dia de los Muertos — the son of a man who stole her mother's taco recipe decades ago.

Forced to work together for better or worse, their outraged community protests against the Taco King takeover, further dividing their families.

Farrah Penn

Author, editor BuzzFeedBooks & author

We scoured TikTok to see what BookTok is excited to read in 2022, and they had some incredible titles on their radar! Here are just a few worth checking out.

Sidenote: A lot of BookTok's anticipated titles overlapped with books by popular authors on this list, so for the sake of variety we won't repeat them here. However, we absolutely recommend checking out that list once you've scrolled through this one!

Watch Next