By Linh, Grade 10
Colleen Hoover, a Texan writer who published her first book in 2012, has quickly risen to fame through the internet. Many of her books, which line the racks in almost every bookstore, have outsold even Dr. Seuss and the Bible due to the BookTok/Tik Tok community! Additionally, she has very humble beginnings - she used to live in a trailer and only made $9 an hour as a social worker. When her first novel, Slammed, hit the New York Times bestseller list, she was finally able to pay off her water and electric bill, her remaining debt, and start her new life as a full time writer.
Recently though, the internet - even some of the same Tiktok fans that brought her this fame - has started to contribute to the decline of Colleen Hoover. She is caught in a massive controversy, and although her books are clearly popular, many critics argue that they romanticize abusive relationships and repeatedly feature timid female leads, which is concerning considering that her audience consists mostly of impressionable teenage girls. The hate she is receiving has become so great that she even announced a break from writing - this isn’t for forever, but she has still yet to announce a solid date for return. In an upsetting and saddening FaceBook post, she wrote that while she “constantly [tries] to do better and be better”, she “also constantly reassures[s]” herself “that no one can live up to the expectations of the internet”. Despite this, she emphasizes that she does not “share that anger and hatred in return”.
No one deserves to be targeted by the internet in this way, and it's a shame that Colleen Hoover had to give up something that she loves because of it. However, there is definitely truth in what the internet is shouting, and we must ask these questions: Do Colleen Hoover books truly promote messages of anti-feminism and promote abuse? Should they be considered romance, or in another genre completely?
First, let’s look at one of her most popular books, It Ends With Us, which is also her only book to be turned into a movie. This movie, starring Blake Lively as Lily Bloom, the female lead, and Justin Baldoni as Ryle Kinclad, the abuser. Initially, Lily does not recognize the red flags in Ryle, a rather charismatic character, for she grew up seeing her mother being violently abused and does not believe she will ever be in the same situation. She eventually gets assaulted and becomes pregnant, and by the end of the book she breaks the cycle by divorcing Ryle and cutting him out of her life. This ending itself somewhat proves the critics wrong, for it conveys themes of empowerment and gives Lily the closure she needs to raise her child.
However, some readers noticed that Ryle’s behavior - choking Lily against a wall, pushing her down a flight of stairs - was almost justified and apologized for. The book was marketed as romance, when it is anything but - rather than bringing attention to domestic abuse, it romanticized Lily’s and Ryle’s toxic relationship as a love triangle between another male lead, Atlas. The film also received much backlash for the same reasons, making scenes where Lily gets “injured” very ambiguous. As I was watching it, I thought Lily was getting hurt accidentally, and Ryle was only trying to help her recover afterward, and it isn’t until the end of the movie that it's revealed that Ryle was the one who was to blame, and that Lily had some sort of problem recalling what had happened. The message that Colleen Hoover tries to convey is unclear, and many readers felt like the book as a whole was anti-feminist.
On another note, even though Hoover books are designed to be quick reads, many readers also complain about the quality of the writing. I noticed that her writing style and the topics she explores is designed for a very niche audience, and depends on popular tropes such as enemies to lovers, love triangles, childhood friends, as well as unexpected plot twists to sell. The writing itself, I admit, is not my favorite, and is comparable to Shannon Messenger’s Keeper of the Lost Cities; her books hook readers with its description of an incredible elvin world, and its engaging plot, but the writing is also lacking.
November 9th, another novel by Colleen Hoover that is considered anti-feminist, is a perfect example of this. In an excerpt from this book, she writes:
“She’s the only one I wanted with me today, and here she is. Just for me. Because she missed me. If she’s not careful, I might just fall in love with her. Tonight.”
If you look past the seemingly sweet words the male protagonist, Benton James, is saying, and only focus on the syntax of the sentence, there is not much depth nor creativity. Furthermore, this line is completely romanticizing Benton James for his “love” for Fallon O’Neil, the female protagonist. In reality he is a misogynistic and abusive partner, and unfortunately, he prevents Fallon from leaving the relationship several times.
I also wanted to include this quote from All Your Perfects, because while it's slightly unrelated, it really is a perfect example of Colleen’s subpar writing style. After reading this, I was extremely confused.
“I promise to love you more when you hate me than when you love me” (Hoover 261).
There are much more egregious examples - I highly urge you to look up ‘Colleen Hoover’s most cringe-worthy writing (you will be shocked at how some of it was published and part of best-selling books) - but I couldn’t include all of them.
Although I truly feel sorry for Colleen Hoover and the extreme hate she is receiving, I believe that the haters are completely justified; November 9th and It Ends With Us both have dubious messages. Additionally, both glamorize abuse in some ways, despite Colleen Hoover’s good intentions, and all of her books contain the same mediocre style of writing. Some people actually announced their relief that Colleen was quitting writing, and while I wouldn’t go that far, I think that she has to tweak her approach when it comes to exploring serious topics like domestic abuse in order to accurately convey her messages and to produce quality writing. What do you think?
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