Is Gen Z really abandoning books? TikTok influencer Alix Earle’s viral admission sparks massive debate; What are Gen Z's preferences?

When influencer Alix Earle casually revealed that she has “never read a book”, she probably did not expect the admission to become a debate about an entire generation. Yet the 25-year-old’s remark has sparked fierce reactions online, with some questioning what it says about Gen Z’s relationship with reading. Earle made the comment during a rapid-fire Q&A with Interview magazine editor-in-chief Mel Ottenberg. Asked about the last book she had read, she replied that she had never read one, before adding that it might have been a Dr Seuss title. The comment quickly travelled across social media and triggered criticism, disbelief and plenty of jokes. But does one influencer’s unusual reading history really prove that Gen Z is abandoning books?

Alix Earle’s Book Admission Sparks A Generational Debate

Alix Earle is hardly an insignificant figure in Gen Z culture. The University of Miami graduate has built a huge following through TikTok and Instagram and now stars in Netflix’s Earle Meets World. Her influence means that even an offhand comment about her personal habits can become a wider conversation about what young people value.

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The reaction has been particularly striking because reading has traditionally been associated with education, curiosity and intellectual development. Jenna Bush Hager, the Today host and founder of the Read With Jenna book club, even responded by recommending books to Earle. “I know that she’s read a book,” Bush Hager said, pointing to Earle’s education and suggesting titles including The Baby-Sitters Club.

The Numbers Tell A More Complicated Story

There are genuine reasons to worry about reading habits among young people. In the UK, the National Literacy Trust reported in June 2026 that children's enjoyment of reading and daily reading increased for the first time in five years. But both measures were at 20-year lows in 2025. By early 2026, only 36.1% of 8- to 18-year-olds said they liked to read in their spare time, and only 20.3% said they read daily.

Other research also points to a long-term decline in recreational reading. The Guardian, reporting on research into reading for pleasure, said the number of five- to 17-year-olds reading daily fell from 39 per cent in 2012 to 25 per cent in 2025. However, there were signs of improvement in teens from 2024 to 2025. So, yes, there is a reading problem. But that does not necessarily mean Gen Z has abandoned books.

Gen Z May Simply Be Reading Differently

Research published in The Independent offers a striking counterpoint. Researchers Kathi Inman Berens and Rachel Noorda, who studied how Gen Z discovers and consumes books, found that 66% of Gen Z identified as readers in 2025, up from 52% in 2022. They also found that 65% had read at least one print book during the previous year.

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The researchers argue that conventional surveys can miss the way younger people consume written material. Gen Z may move between printed books, e-books and audiobooks, while also reading fan fiction, manga and material on platforms such as Wattpad and Webtoon. That makes the definition of a “reader” increasingly complicated.

The Real Debate Is About How We Read

Alix Earle may have started the conversation with a startling admission, but the evidence suggests the story is bigger than one influencer who does not read books. There is a genuine decline in reading-for-pleasure among young people that deserves attention. But calling Gen Z a generation that has abandoned books ignores the millions discovering literature through BookTok, libraries, audiobooks, online communities and traditional paperbacks. Perhaps the real change is not that young people have stopped reading. It is that the definition of being a reader is changing and the book is no longer the only place where reading culture lives.