A Lit Debate: Colleen Hoover

In the past few years, booktok, a community of book lovers on tik tok, has taken the world by storm. They love smut, romance, cute annotations, and are absolutely hated other literary connoisseurs.  

But shouldn’t this new trend of loving books be celebrated? Why has booktok gained such a poor reputation? If I had to guess why, it would be…

Colleen Hoover

Okay, who is Colleen Hoover and why is she so controversial? Colleen Hoover is a romance novelist, known most for her book “It Ends With Us”, which was recently turned into a movie. The story is a tribute to her mother, all about breaking the cycle of domestic abuse. Which sounds great, right? Maybe not...

Some of her other books follow story lines about a burn survivor, a mother who spent years in prison, and a father who blames himself for his son’s premature death. These are all very traumatic topics, but let’s remember the genre— romance.

Romanticizing trauma

Now, I will always be a defender of romance novels, and I think they are especially impactful when they are about people experiencing real life problems, but where Colleen Hoover misses the mark is that  she uses these traumas as a tool to heighten the stakes of her romance.

The book “November 9”, doesn’t actually work through the main character’s trauma of being caught in a house fire, rather just uses it as a plot point to create tension between the main couple. 

Some bad reviews

From a reddit thread about “Ugly Love”

“Coleen Hoover and her TraumaPorn is it’s own genre.”

“Oh my god, you are so right. I feel disgusted after reading this book …It was so humiliating to read that as a woman.”

About “November 9” on Goodreads

“i just don’t understand how her male characters are always viewed as the blueprint of how a boyfriend/significant other should act? they are almost always borderline abusive and always manipulative?”

In defense of CoHo… or just her readers

Now, I will never defend Colleen Hoover. I think that her books create an unhealthy perspective of romance for her readership, which largely consists of young, impressionable women. That being said, I think that the people attacking her readers’  intelligence are completely in the wrong.

Hoover’s novels are very compelling to fresh readers for a number of reasons. 1. They are quick to read, with mainly dialogue, short paragraphs, and large font. 2. They are emotionally tense. 3. They are sooo smutty.

This formula is perfect for a page turning book that gets you excited about reading.

In fact, her books got me out of a major reading slump when I was 16. At that age, I could recognize that they weren’t the highest quality, but I didn’t have the life experience yet to understand the cultural implications her books hold. 

I think it's okay to want to read a silly little romance, and I also think that it's likely new readers will turn to Colleen Hoover for just that because of the hype online. However, I can also objectively say that her books idealize abuse, and parts of booktok have turned into regurgitation of her agenda. For those naive reader, who haven't practice media literacy in a while, can take these novels to heart. That is without a doubt dangerous.

Many online critics who share my opinion often scrutinize the readers for their lack of critical thinking. Not only is that shame unproductive and divisive, but it's also wrong.

Better reads

If any CoHo fans are reading this, I don’t want you to feel bad about the kinds of books you like, but I do firmly believe there are better options out there!

Emily Henry- Romance books that feel like a little more, but aren’t exploitative.

Mariana Zapata- Shameless smut

Ali Hazelwood- Just some romance with TENSION

Well, there are my two cents about Colleen Hoover, but how do you guys feel about her?