Booky Call Is An App For Book Lovers That's Like Tinder — Here's What You Need To Know
Booky Call is like a dating app but for finding your next favorite book.
Hey book lovers, it's Farrah and Kirby! We're two people who can't stop talking about books. (Seriously. DM us. We'll give you the perfect recommendation for your tastes.) So when we learned there was an app out there that was like Tinder for book lovers, we were immediately intrigued.
The app is called Booky Call, which includes its cute tagline "find your book match." It's completely free to download.
You swipe through books like you'd swipe through profiles on Tinder. (Let's be honest — many of us DO judge books by their covers!) If something catches your eye, you can read the book's "bio," written from a first person POV.
Here's how Booky Call describes its app: "Boo, the app’s matchmaker, showcases innovative book reviews in the form of a 'dating profile' and provides potential book matches based on the likes, dislikes, and preferences the reader sets in their profile. As with dating apps, you can swipe to the right or left on each book, depending on your level of interest. Whether you want something short, sweet, and casual, or perhaps something a little more intense, Booky Call has it."
"Booky Call eliminates the noise that plagues other book apps and sites with things like review bombing, irritating ads, and reviews from bots. As the reader swipes within the app, Booky Call curates a personal lineup of book recommendations, much like a modern-day dating roster – but without the messy baggage. Just like some of those potential partners online, Booky Call will send 'U up?' texts a few nights a week to spotlight new reads matched to your profile."
Allow us to walk you through what happens when you download the app. Obviously, Booky Call wants to know a little bit about you in order to feed you the best type of matches. First, you'll go ahead and rank how much you like or dislike certain genres.
Once you rank what types of titles you'd like to see, you're directed to the match section. This is where Booky Call presents you with potential book matches.
The profiles are really in-depth! Not only can you see how many pages a book has, but there are fun prompts that give it the feel of a dating app. The fun part is reading through to see if ~there may be a connection.~
You also get a little taste as to what you can expect when you crack it open!
And if you're intrigued, you can keep reading to see if this book might be a match for you.
You can really tell they have fun with these prompts, which sets up what you can expect to find. It feels like a fun, fresh way to choose a book to read.
Now you have to make a choice: Do you want to swipe right, or swipe left?
On Booky Call's Instagram, they report the books that received the most swipes that week. We thought that was such a nice touch in case you wanted to see what others were reading from the app!
It's unclear how often the database is updated or how authors can get their book in their database. They only state you can select titles "from our library of more than a thousand books to find your perfect match."
Here's what happens when you swipe right on a match! Farrah swiped right on a book she'd never heard of before called Hey Ladies: The Story of 8 Best Friends, 1 Year, and Way, Way Too Many Emails.
You can listen to a little audio excerpt from the book, which we thought was a nice touch!
You'll get an unread notification in your inbox from the book you swiped right on. The DM includes a cute message alongside Bookshop, Amazon, and Libro.fm links to shop this title!
You're able to see all the books you swiped right on in your messages folder!
Now for the moment of truth: did Farrah and Kirby find *true love,* or was it a bust?
Farrah started out by reading her first match, Hey Ladies: The Story of 8 Best Friends, 1 Year, and Way, Way Too Many Emails.
The more I read, the more I'm convinced that choosing a book is a lot like dating. Maybe the cover intrigues you. Or maybe your friend told you all about this PERFECT book and you JUST HAVE TO check it out.
I thought I'd have a perfect date with Hey Ladies! The cover is super compelling and vibrant. Plus, I love satire! I love books about women! And I love poking fun at pettiness. But this book didn't hook me in that special way that other books do, so I choose to set it aside.
When I really thought about it, I realized that this is a book told in the format of emails, and I'm pretty tired of reading emails in my everyday life. For me, it just wasn't connecting! But I'm glad Booky Call brought this title into my life because it's one I hadn't heard of before now. And who knows? Maybe I'll go back to it one day to see what happens!
Her second match was You Had Me At Hola by Alexa Daria.
Booky Call matched me with You Had Me At Hola, which is a book I had heard of before now! This must be fate, I thought, and so I immediately checked it out from my library.
This book found me when I needed it most. Right now, all I want to read are more uplifting and heartwarming stories. Daria's romance is told from the perspective of two main characters: Jasmine Lin Rodriguez and Ashton Suárez. Jasmine is recovering from a very public breakup with her ex while Ashton is a telenovela star hoping to break into mainstream Hollywood. When two are cast as leads in a bilingual romantic comedy coming to Screenflix, they quickly realize they need to sell their on-screen chemistry, despite barely knowing one another. And it doesn't help that they had a disastrous first encounter! But as they get to know each other without the help of their intimacy coordinator, they realize there might be some real heat between them. Only, Ashton's keeping one big secret from Jasmine...
I loved it! Truly. What a perfect match. The only thing I didn't love was the Los Angeles bashing. Call me sensitive — and I know it's a stereotype — but we're not all fake here!!
Jasmine and Ashton are both earnest and flawed, and both of their journeys were intriguing to follow. There's high stakes tension and steamy get-me-a-fire-extinguisher level heat! And, of course, there's what we all love in a romance: the happily ever after.
Kirby initially matched with Fireheart Tiger by Aliette De Bodard, a queer fantasy novella.
I was in the mood for something I could read in one sitting and this ~100-page book definitely delivered on that front. Booky Call categorized this as an LGBTQ+ fantasy romance/erotica, which was spot on. The real seller though was their pitch for the book's audiobook: Dante Basco, aka Prince Zuko. I'm sold!
Quiet Princess Thanh has spent years away from home having been sent as a hostage by her mother to the kingdom of Ephteria. Now she's back in her mother's court, haunted by her time away including a mysterious fire. As Thanh begins working as a court diplomat, she's forced to work with her former lover Princess Eldris of Ephteria, who desires both Thanh and her kingdom. As their romance heats up, so does the political tension and it all comes undone when the reason behind the fire that brought Thanh back home is revealed.
I enjoyed some elements of this story, like the magic and the setting (I'm a sucker for a royal palace), but ultimately it fell flat for me. The novella format meant we didn't get enough time for the characters — and their romance — to blossom, so I just never felt like I could fully buy into it. But as someone who doesn't read a lot of novellas, I was glad Booky Call recommended it to me!
Her second suggestion was The Red Palace by Jane Hur.
I love historical fiction, so this mystery set in 18th century Korea hooked me right away. Booky Call made sure to let me know that The Red Palace is actually based on real historical people and events, which I got to learn more about at the end of the book.
As an illegitimate daughter of a powerful man, Hyeon doesn't have many options, but with hard work, she has become a palace nurse, the highest honor of her station. But all of that is jeopardized when she's thrust into the middle of court politics after four women are brutally murdered and her mentor is the prime suspect. Hyeon has to join forces with a young police inspector in order to find the true killer...even if all signs point to it being the Crown Prince himself.
This was full of twists and turns and I genuinely didn't see the ending coming. As someone who loves true crime shows, I loved getting to follow Hyeon and Eojin (the police inspector) as they investigated. The historical setting was lush and really came alive on the page. My only complaint is that some of the plot felt rushed, such as Hyeon's relationship with her father, but overall I really enjoyed reading this book!
Overall, we thought this was a neat concept! It seems like a great tool for the indecisive reader or for the reader who thrives off the process of discovering a new book. It may not be super helpful for the reader who has a sky high TBR pile, but it proves to be a fun way to find a book you've never heard of before.
Would you try Booky Call? Let us know in the comments!