TikTok's #BookTok Phenomenon Fuels Demand for Explicit 'Smut' Novels
The social media platform has revitalized reading among young women, but the trending titles often feature extreme sexual content and questionable consent themes.
TikTok's influential #BookTok community has sparked a resurgence in reading, particularly among young women, driving significant book sales. However, the genre gaining viral traction is often characterized by explicit sexual content, earning the label "smut," and featuring themes that can make mainstream erotica like "50 Shades of Grey" appear mild in comparison.
With over 88 million posts under the #BookTok hashtag, the platform is estimated to have contributed to 59 million book sales in 2024, according to TikTok's own data. These trending titles frequently involve graphic depictions of sex with mythical creatures, aliens, and explicit scenarios that are far removed from traditional literature.
One prominent example is "Morning Glory Milking Farm" by C.M. Nascosta, which has garnered tens of thousands of reviews and widespread praise on BookTok. The novel centers on a graduate student working on a farm where minotaurs are "milked" for their semen, a key ingredient in a fictional aphrodisiac. Nascosta's author bio notes a preference for "beasts over boys," and the book's premise delves into fantastical and explicit themes.
These books often employ a "spice level" rating system, using pepper emojis to indicate the intensity of sexual content. A single pepper (🌶️) might denote flirting and kissing, while four to five peppers signal explicit and frequent sexual encounters. Other popular titles include "Ice Planet Barbarians" by Ruby Dixon, about women abducted by alien beings, and Vera Valentine's "Unhinged," which reportedly includes themes of door knob insertion and sexual encounters with inanimate objects, alongside warnings for gun violence and theft.
Despite a general decline in reading, YouGov polling from December 2025 indicated that one in four Gen Z individuals read a romance novel in the past year, a significant figure given that 39% of this demographic reported not reading any books at all. Romance book sales saw a 24% increase in 2025 compared to the previous year, according to Circana.
Publishing houses are also engaging with the trend. Penguin Random House UK, for instance, published an article promoting the "dark romance" genre, which includes trigger warnings for stalking, abduction, BDSM, and cannibalism. This surge in popularity for explicit and often disturbing themes raises concerns about the normalization of sexual violence and abuse within these narratives.
Titles like "Haunting Adeline," a New York Times bestseller, feature a female protagonist stalked by an obsessive individual, with trigger warnings that include non-consent, human trafficking, child trafficking, and graphic violence. The popularity of such content among a generation that also emphasizes consent in real-world interactions presents a complex cultural paradox.
This trend suggests a significant appetite for extreme narratives, with BookTok serving as a powerful engine for their dissemination and sales, even as the content challenges conventional literary norms and raises societal questions.