Harry Potter fan goes viral on TikTok with reaction to reading books for first time
Book influencer Kierra Lewis discovered the JK Rowling series last year, and has been on an emotional journey following the plot twists of the wizarding world.
- Oops!Something went wrong.Please try again later.
A US influencer has racked up million of TikTok views with her tearful reactions while reading the Harry Potter books for the first time.
Kierra Lewis, a book influencer best known for her ‘spicy’ reviews of erotic literature, started posting TikToks after she discovered the JK Rowling series last year. She has since been on an emotional – and often sobbing – journey following the plot twists of the wizarding world.
Lewis, 28, from Nashville, Tennessee, has amassed 1.5 million followers on the platform through her #BookTok content and is known for her emotional attachments to literary characters – but her reactions to the adventures of Harry, Ron and Hermione at Hogwarts have seen her build a cult following.
Seemingly sceptical about the hype around Harry Potter, she posted in one of her first videos: "I'm taking notes on the damn book thought y'all wizardry people was hyping up this sh*t. I thought y'all was being dramatic the way I'm already engulfed into this story."
She’s since posted 67 videos chronicling her journey through the seven-book series, admitting she "cried multiple times" at the more emotional moments, with The Prisoner of Azkaban and The Goblet of Fire appearing to be the instalments which affected her most.
So far, Lewis has posted 67 videos reviewing the popular series and has even started watching the film adaptations. In her first review, Lewis said she finally understood the cult-like following the series has created. She said: "I'm taking notes on the damn book thought y'all wizardry people was hyping up this shit. I thought y'all was being dramatic the way I'm already engulfed into this story."
After finishing the Prisoner of Azkaban, the third book in the series which was originally released in 1999, Lewis said: "Can I just say, I was truly surprised with the emotional pull that this book had on me; I cried multiple times." Lewis first started with Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone in December 2023 and has now finished the fourth book in the series, The Goblet of Fire, where the narrative becomes darker for Harry Potter and his two famous friends in his battle against Voldemort.
A recent video from Lewis’s TikTok shows her reacting to the death of Cedric Diggory, famously killed off in The Goblet of Fire during the Triwizard Cup. Sobbing as she reads the plot twist about Diggory (played by Twilight star Robert Pattinson in the Harry Potter movies), she blubs: "I don't know what I expected, but my baby Cedric, Edward Cullen being gone, it's not what I f****** wanted."
Her recent journey through the fourth book appeared to be so emotional for Lewis that she lost an eyelash due to crying so often. Lewis’s 1.5 million TikTok followers have reacted to her viral Potter posts with a mixture of admiration, amusement and anxiety on her behalf for what’s in store over the final three books. One poster commented: “I’m literally so scared for you for the rest of the series”, while another reacted: “Girl you have no idea the pain that comes after this book.”
Another commenter added: "Friend. Take a break. Please take a break. It’s gonna get even realer as each book goes on." With more people chiming in, someone else wrote: "Honey, take a break cause book 5 is gonna hurt like hell :("
Lewis now has three books left to read on her emotional rollercoaster. Next up is Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, the fifth in the series – which is considerably darker than the previous instalment – before the final two books, The Half Blood Prince, and The Deathly Hallows, which was released in the UK in 2007.
Which Harry Potter book is rated as the best of the series?
The Harry Potter series has sold more than 500 million copies worldwide and been translated into 80 languages, and research by JoyBird states that in the US, the final book, the Deathly Hallows, is the most popular book out of the seven.
It appears to be the same in the UK, where 67% of the people surveyed by YouGov in 2017 have read Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone. According to that survey, the books lose popularity as the book series goes on. The percentage of readers decreases by the final book, the Deathly Hallows, as only 53% of people asked said they had read it.
Research in 2020 by TES found that although primary school children had all seven books in their top ten favourites, the same couldn't be said for older pupils. Children in secondary school didn't have a single Harry Potter book in their top ten.
On 26 February, a first edition copy of Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone sold for more than £11,000, and the original buyer bought it for 13p. The book is a second-hand proof copy that was purchased in 1997.
Harry Potter books expert Jim Spencer said: "This book so deserved to do well. This is where the Harry Potter phenomenon began."
