Colleen Hoover, American author and New York Times bestseller, is known for her emotionally compelling, adult-fiction romance novels that explore themes of romance and grief. She began writing in November 2011 and casually wrote her debut novel “Slammed.” This novel quickly gained popularity among her fanbase of women and teenage girls, paving the way for her remarkable career in literature.
Aside from the fact that her books are flying off the shelves, her popularity is apparent on various social media platforms. Hoover has amassed more than 950,000 followers on her Facebook fan page and is the second most-followed author on Goodreads after Stephen King. Her TikTok account has over 1.4 million followers, which is fitting as it’s the app that helped skyrocket her career with its subculture of content called “Booktok.” One of her most famous novels, “It Ends With Us,” has sold over four million copies and is being made into a live action movie. Its release date is set for June 2024. In total, Hoover has sold over 20 million copies of her various novels, as of October 2022.
While TikTok is the place where Colleen Hoover’s work reached so many readers, it’s also a place where controversy surrounding some of her questionable writing arose. It seems that not everyone is a die-hard Hoover fan. Recently, popular content creators have expressed that she is deserving of backlash for including such graphic descriptions of abuse, both physical and emotional, in her romance stories. While some say her portrayals are unnecessary and don’t add anything to the story, others add that this depiction of unhealthy love is toxic and should not be normalized and certainly not glorified as being romantic.
In her book, “It Ends With Us,” it was clear that one of the main themes the protagonist struggles with is growing up in an abusive household. While this book does acknowledge and recognize the severity of the issue, it’s important to note some of the character’s responses to the abuse were unexpected. This was particularly surprising given Hoover’s background as a witness to domestic violence during her childhood.
“Even in books where she is trying to take a stand against abuse, like in ‘It Ends With Us,’ it’s written very poorly,” said Jackie Hoang, an avid reader and first-year English major at the University of Texas. “I don’t think (the) book glorifies abuse, but it does set a really unrealistic standard (for) women who are affected by domestic violence and relationships.”
At the end of the story, (spoiler alert) Lily Bloom, the protagonist, breaks the cycle of abuse, leaves her abusive husband and returns to her old flame, Atlas. While this is a good example of a woman taking a stand against domestic abuse, it sets an unrealistic standard that one can move on from an abusive relationship quickly and recover from the trauma in a short amount of time (in the novel, Lily was back with Atlas within a year). The novel’s proposed solution to the abuse always seems to be too simple and unrealistic.
Hoang, who used to enjoy Colleen Hoover’s books when she was young, has grown to hate them because she believes they set a bad example for younger girls.
“I used to read a lot of her books when I was younger and enjoyed them, but I have grown to hate her books just because I think reading her books as a younger girl sets a really toxic and unhealthy standard of what relationships should look like,” Hoang said.
A better ending for the novel in Hoang’s eyes would have focused on how the protagonist started on a healing journey instead of jumping into a new relationship.
“A much more graceful ending would be to focus on how the protagonist had worked on her own healing journey instead of jumping into a new relationship so that Colleen Hoover could monetize on a sequel,” Hoang said. “Especially because in the novel, Lilly explicitly experienced her mom go through the same cycle, it feels really unrealistic that she is ready to jump into another relationship in just a year.”
Some readers are such haters of Colleen Hoover that they completely stay away from reading her work out of protest. Presley Dotson, a first-year journalism major at UT, is one of these people.
“She not only writes a tired plot, but time and time again (she) adds a sexy undertone to what is clear emotional abuse in the relationships,” Dotson said.
An infamous quote that was shared on X, formerly Twitter, put Hoover on blast over a scene from “November 9,” where Hoover wrote from the male character’s point of view.
The quote reads, “I hold her tight, hoping if she feels how much I need her to stay with me she’ll change her mind. But she doesn’t. She releases me and opens the door to the cab. I’ve never wanted to use physical force on a girl before, but I want to push her to the ground and hold her there until the cab drives away.”
While some argue that it’s just fiction, the main issue that readers have with Hoover is that her books are often marketed toward young women. Like Hoang, Tatum Gray, a second-year philosophy major at UT said this is why she’s not fond of Colleen Hoover.
“Firstly, I adore women in the arts and love a good book,” Gray said. “I just don’t think Colleen Hoover’s writing exemplifies the type of literature young women should be reading.”
Some readers disregard any controversy around her name and just simply love her stories.
Emily Brandon, wedding coordinator and venue owner, has been an avid reader for over ten years now and has loved seeing Hoover’s fan base grow.
“As someone who used to hate reading, Colleen Hoover’s books got me back into it,” Brandon said. “Her style of writing keeps readers engaged & it’s an easy read. Her book ‘it Ends With Us’ was one of my favorites. I think it did a good job of showing how emotionally hard it is to get out of a toxic relationship.”
Other Hoover fans have responded to controversy about the domestic abuse topics in novels from a more-frustrated standpoint.
“I think she writes what readers want to hear and what the audience thinks is juicy,” said Bella Gavin, a UT public health major.
Gavin said that one’s personal preference for Hoover is very subjective and that people should focus on the fact that her stories are fictional.
“It makes sense for her to exaggerate a fictional story,” said Gavin. “While her audience is growing to all different ages, I think it is also a young reader’s parents’ job to censor what their kids should and should not be reading.”
Whether you’re an avid Hoover fan or someone who avoids her work, it’s all about perspective. Hearing one reader’s opinion versus another is why so many readers love discussing their different takes on books in the first place. Some love Hoover’s books for their gripping plots, while others have valid concerns about the messages they might send. Either way, Hoover has sparked a pretty interesting conversation about literature and its impact.
Correction: A prior version of this article had a quote incorrectly cited to be from the book “It Ends With Us,” instead of the correct book for the quote, “November 9.”