Does Pen Pal by J.T. Geissinger live up to the BookTok hype?

Have you walked into a bookstore recently and seen a display dedicated to TikTok recommended reads? Thanks to BookTok, there are so many more authors getting a spotlight at places like Barnes & Noble. And honestly, we love that.

Recently I came across the book Pen Pal by J.T. Geissinger on two different displays at my local Barnes & Noble. One display was dedicated to BookTok recommendations you had to try and the other was a spicy romance table. The fact that this book made it into two different recommendation displays caught my attention and made me curious about the story held within these pages.

So of course, I needed to find out if Pen Pal lived up to the BookTok hype, as well as what seems to be the Barnes & Noble hype.

Is TikTok right about Pen Pal by J.T. Geissinger?

It is definitely important to note that this is a dark romance. As someone who has read J.T. Geissinger books in the past, I knew going in that this was going to be one of those books packed with trigger warnings. And I was right.

According to the author's website, the trigger warnings for this book include, "explicit language
, graphic sex/power play dynamics
, detailed descriptions of death and grief
, miscarriage
, domestic violence
, and mental illness."

Honestly, I found this book to be really well-written and engaging. The darker themes didn't feel gratuitous. And instead, they worked with the storyline in a way that made perfect sense.

This was one of those books that had unexpected twists and turns, as well as characters that were fascinating. And for me, this was the kind of book I could easily see myself going back and reading again. The thing that made this a BookTok win for me was definitely the fact that even as this was a darker read, it also brought tears to my eyes. I was emotional about these characters. And that to me makes for a great read.

And if you want to know more about Pen Pal by J.T. Geissinger, check out the blurb that goes along with the book below.

"The first letter arrived the day my husband was buried. It was postmarked from the state penitentiary, and contained a single sentence:

I’ll wait forever if I have to.

It was signed by Dante, a man I didn’t know.

Out of simple curiosity, I wrote back to ask him what exactly he was waiting for. His reply?

You.

I told the mystery man he had the wrong girl. He said he didn’t. I said we’d never met, but he said I was wrong.

We went back and forth, exchanging letters every week that grew increasingly more intimate. Then one day, the letters stopped. When I found out why, it was already too late."

- J.T. Geissinger

What do you think fellow spicy readers? Have you tried Pen Pal yet? What did you think? Was this a BookTok win for you as well?