It’s a simple 27-second video, with sad music in the background, which lists books “for sobbing”. On August 8, 2020, Selene, an 18-year-old Californian, known as @moongirlreads_ on TikTok, recommends “The Song of Achilles”, by American author Madeline Miller, released in 2011. She claims “to have cried for days, and cry again” when thinking about this rewriting of Homer’s “The Iliad”. The work gives voice to Patroclus, childhood friend and, according to some, lover of Achilles, and tells a great love story between these two heroes of the Trojan War.
Viewed 6.6 million times since it was posted online in the middle of the pandemic, this video launched the #BookTok trend. The hashtag, a contraction of “book” and “TikTok” (the social network on which it is used), brings together readers from all over the world – especially women.
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