Over the last year, the only author I have seen buzzing all over the internet the way that Rainbow Rowell had in my preteen era did was Colleen Hoover. “It Ends With Us” became very popular within the last year due to a phenomenon called “BookTok,” where avid readers share their most beloved books on this side of the social media platform. The sequel to her book “It Starts With Us” came out in 2022, breaking the bestseller record for novels, claiming the number one spot on the best-selling charts with 800,000 copies sold on the first day.
From this massive success, the rest of Colleen Hoover’s books have sold like hot cakes, with book stores making special sections for just her books. Hoover has now solidified herself as one of most prolific writers and household names with endorsements from everyone from celebrities to teens.
My personal favorite from Hoover is “November 9,” the story of one couple who meets every year on the date to see if they are a match for one another in the future. While I cannot give more away than that without spoiling much of the plot, it was one of the sweetest romance stories I have ever read, with themes on trust in relationships, trust in yourself and finally trust that you have the ability to love another person even if the circumstances are not in your favor. It has slowly become one of my favorite books, being a close second to “Big Little Lies” by Liane Moriarity.
While Hoover has many devoted fans, others are more averse to her writing style. As with anything on the internet, there are also people who are widely against her “basic” writing style, comparing it to “Fifty Shades of Grey” or “Twilight.”
On a subreddit dedicated to books, also discussing the new discourse on Colleen Hoover, many believe her writing is overhyped as a unique way to portray love when some believe it to be nothing new on the romance scene. Many see it as just smut or something that is a mindless read rather than literary genius, with too many sexual scenes seen as turn offs rather than something that was needed in the book. One of the books reflecting this thought is “Ugly Love” about an undeniable connection between two people where the man is unavailable to give anything to the woman other than a physical relationship.
Another discourse is that her books reflect “trauma porn,” where the worst case scenario has happened to a character and they have to get past their past traumas to love another person. Some see this as lazy writing or a cheap way to get people interested, sensationalizing real experiences to add to drama to fiction pieces. People also don’t like to see that the main goal or purpose of someone getting over their trauma is to date another person, lessening personal goals to the reward of being able to date another person.
The biggest consensus is that the books are getting more hate on the internet the more that people worship books that are deemed mediocre. When people put a book on a pedestal, most literary fans are looking for something with a lot more substance than a romance novel, pissing people off when they read something made for the average person.
In my opinion and others who stand by her writing, I think it is more than okay to read a book that doesn’t have much substance and is a quick read at the end of a long day. I don’t think every book has to pull literary elements from Gregorian chants and Shakesperian plays to be good. I think that any book that entices you to read it and holds your attention to the end should be considered a good book.
Sometimes as a society, surface level is all we can do in the fictitious world when things in reality are hard. If I want to read purely smut with some lines of dialogue in the middle because it’s the only thing I can get myself to read, I should do that for my mental health. Not every book deserves notes in the margins on the overarching themes and that’s ok. At the end of the day, if Colleen Hoover and romance is your beat, stick to it. You do not have to be the second coming of Aristotle to enjoy a trip to Barnes and Noble.