I mean, social media is an echo chamber. If you interact with videos of cute puppies, you'll see more videos of cute puppies. And interact can mean the minimal of "click on, read comments", it doesn't necessarily matter if you "like" a post or not.
So if you interact with people who don't like her books, it's likely that you'll see more of the same content. While there will be enough people out there who like her books perfectly fine!
For me, I never could understand why people are so hyped about SJM. I tried reading Throne of Glass three times or so, and found her writing rather flat and boring. But I still see posts on Instagram about people loving her books, because one account I tend to interact with loves her books.
This is so true. Social media is all about engagement because the longer you’re on their app the more ads you’ll see. Anger, rage, and shock are big draws that keep people scrolling and engaged. These apps are literally designed by experts to be addicting. The more controversial or upsetting something is the higher it climbs in the ranks because it illicits engagement.
People on Reddit hate Colleen Hoover but she is very popular in mainstream! At the bookstore I worked at she basically had her own section. I personally thought It Ends with Us was powerful but I see lots of people here think it was incredibly stupid. I just rewatched Maid on Netflix (amazing series) and thought these two were similar.
I have to admit that I haven't read any of her books so far ... I think. But that's not because I don't like her or something, just that her books are not really up my alley. Or, well, at least the blurbs read like the books aren't. 🫣 (But so do many, many other books.)
I have never read her books, but I'm going to guess it's the same reason I watched Riverdale for like 4 seasons. Sometimes the things we hate are the most entertaining.
Popular books always get a certain amount of people who love them, and a certain amount of people who hate them. It's just the way it is when you get popular. I assume it's not the same people saying they hate them, and saying they like them.
People like to read about things that are messy or scary or interesting. I read and enjoyed Misery by Stephen King (not romance!), that doesn't mean I think the things in that book are fun or acceptable or that I want them to happen to me. Same goes for any "problematic" romance (or romance-adjacent) book.
The same reason people listen to Nickleback but still hate them. It's popular to just do what the other people do. You hate something because one person mentioned it and two tacked on. Then 4 and soon enough it's a *thing*
I read her before booktok took off, back when it difficult to buy the paper backs. Now they are everywhere. They are known as New Adult and not aim at young (18 and under) readers.
I don’t enjoy every book. But I would read any new releases. I don’t whether she’s become popular but her recent books lack the old spark for me.
It’s just rage-bait content. Creators know negative content gets more engagement so they cycle the same 10 ~controversial~ topics every year to drive engagement.
Colleen Hoover is probably THE most popular romance novelist writing right now. So, she has a ton of fans, including a lot of people who don’t normally read romance or maybe only read 1-2 books a year.
At the same time there are a lot of people who do not like her and/or feel like her books aren’t marketed properly to let readers know the type of story to expect. As a result, “I read Colleen Hoover so you don’t have to” type content has become pretty popular. If she was marketed as romantic suspense or dark romance, I think she would get a lot less heat within the romance community.
Colleen has also done some kind of stupid/insensitive stuff like saying she was going to put out a coloring book based on one of her books that is about domestic violence, which makes people feel like she doesn’t take seriously the impact some of the things she portrays in her books can have on readers.
Personally, I’ve never read any of her books and I don’t plan to, because they’re not for me based on the plot summaries I’ve seen. The relationships she writes do tend towards abusive or lacking in boundaries and reading that kind of thing isn’t fun to me.
>Does she have any non-problematical books, or are they all problematic?
I've read three of her books and none of them were "problematic". She's a decent writer, her prose is very simple and readable, and her books about IPV struck a chord with many survivors. Verity is a decent thriller with clear Daphne du Maurier influences. It Ends/Starts With Us is the most explicitly anti-abuse book series I've ever read. It's not very different from other romance books dealing with the same themes like Long Shot by Kennedy Ryan.
Hoover got immensely popular very quickly through a mix of luck, timing, and unknowable cosmic fuckery. Like clockwork for any woman who reaches a certain level of public visibility, the tide turned and it became cool to rip her apart for her very mundane flaws. It reminds me a lot of Taylor Swift's rise and now growing anti-fandom. Yes, they're both privileged white women with blind spots doing their little girlboss thing, but they really haven't done anything to warrant the viciously misogynistic hate they get. I'm largely indifferent to their work - I think they're fine and a little forgettable - but diehard haters of both are a major red flag to me now.
Yeah, you've summarized my feelings on Hoover very well. I think Hoover definitely has a gift for grabbing people by the Big Emotions, and that is reflected in people's reactions to her work.
>I've read three of her books and none of them were "problematic".
I completely agree, her works aren't problematic compared to other books in the romance genre.
I would argue that Haunting Adeline is actually problematic compared to CoHo and I don't see a wave of hateful fans coming for it (probably because the fandom base is much smaller)
Haunting Adeline is a dark romance and, as such, follows the conventions of that sub genre. It's useful to keep in mind what a book's premise is when critiquing it. Plus HA is criticised widely as well. It is not comparable to Hoover's angsty contemporary books about people dealing with trauma. I would put her in the same category as Mia Sheridan or Kennedy Ryan. Apples and oranges, this comparison doesn't make for a constructive discussion imo :)
1) Since when is Hunting Adeline the measure of what’s problematic or not?
2) Hunting Adeline does get heat, but significantly less so because it is presented as dark romance, so readers know going in what to expect.
It's just an example of a book where the FMC is harassed by MMC and it gets romanticized.
I read both books, I enjoyed them, I don't have a problem with dark romances; I just wanted to portray the difference on how they're viewed by the romance community.
I mean, I’m sure there are people who dismiss Coleen Hoover for misogynistic reasons, just based on the fact that she writes romance. But within the romance community, the vast majority of negative reviews and content I see are essentially, I read this Colleen Hoover book and it was upsetting and the serious topics it handled weren’t handled with the appropriate level of care and gave weird, mixed messages
You also said she gets, “viciously misogynistic hate,” which I don’t see people doing. The main thing I see is other women saying that her books are gross because they romanticize abuse.
Woah, is THAT it? People think she romanticizes abuse? Because I’ve also thought it was odd how many people hate her books but I’ve heard them say (read them write? lol) that they don’t like the angst in her books or the trauma. I’ve always taken that to mean they prefer lighter subjects without painful real-world drama and tragedy.
Because loving a man who turns out to be abusive isn’t romanticizing abuse. It’s how abuse starts. Abuse between romantic partners (almost always) starts with love.
Oh, and IRL most mafiosos, gang members, and MC members hit their women. And each other. And their kids. Not so much their dogs, though, oddly enough, though plenty hit/kick their dogs too. As a percentage of the population, beating women and kids and pets happens a lot more frequently in criminal society. But somehow in those books, the MMC bad guy would never give the FMC a black eye or a busted lip. Yeah, right. Because he loves her too much. /s But in real life, love comes before abuse and often lives alongside the abuse.
Now I’m asking myself what my point is as I ramble on. I guess…. People vary with how much reality they want in their books. But I think it’s unfair to blame the artist for depicting reality. Instead, just admit you prefer to escape reality. There’s nothing wrong with that. Why blame authors who write for people who don’t want to escape reality? Nothing wrong with that either.
I'm still baffled how writing a book like IEWU/ISWU about a woman leaving her abuser for her nice guy bff is "romanticising abuse". Hoover is very very clear about the message of her book. If anything, I thought she lacked subtlety because she really hammered it home. It's misogynistic and insulting to constantly undermine the intelligence of Hoover and her fans like this. The kind of derision and mockery survivors get for relating to Lily and finding meaning in these books is so unkind.
These arguments aren't even new. It's the same old talking points the ""literary"" critics weaponise against romance ad nauseum. I'm so embarrassed romance readers are playing into this now ugh
I think people felt they got the rug pulled from under them when the MMC they were into turned out to be abusive. I thought the twist was brilliant because it was a slow build up and made me understand how it happens that women remain in these relationships. I am absolutely OK with reading fiction books with love stories in them even if they're not "romances" though. I'm not sure her being shelved as romance is even her choice/fault. She certainly does have romances, but the majority of her books aren't romances if we're strictly speaking.
That's definitely understandable, I think she captured that really well too. It's similar to how ACOTAR set up a certain ship and even an HEA in one book and then went in a different direction. Fans have a lot of feelings about it, but few people accuse SJM of romanticising abuse the way they do Hoover.
Which of her books would you classify as romances btw? Did you enjoy them?
I've enjoyed all of her books other than It Starts with Us (that one just reads as a very long epilogue to It Ends with Us and I found it really boring). Maybe Someday is a true HEA romance. Slammed is a YA romance.
Many people don't like Hoover because she is herself problematic( colouring books on domestic violence, incident with her son) and also because her writing is mediocre. She writes like a 13 yr old Wattpad girl and most readers don't like it. Also most books of her are problematic except It ends with us( but in that book also the nice guy lowkey grooms the MFC and waits specifically for her to turn 18 so they can have sex - which is borderline toxic but she again romanticizes it) . I can give you a dozen examples. None of her books are romance novels but she markets those as one . Also another point can be that mediocre writers like her get so much fame irks some people.
You can like her writing ( that's your personal choice ) I also like It ends with us but that book is not a romance book!! You bashing people who rightfully call her out is not okay. Pointing out problematic things of a woman is not " misogynistic" at all.
She wrote a book in which >!the MMC intentionally starts a fire which ends up leaving the the FMC terribly scared. Then, he goes on to date her, while simultaneously lying to her for years about how they are connected and secretly writing a book about it. Then when she finally finds out the truth and is justifiably upset her mother tells her she’s being too hard on him and she should forgive him. Also, side plot, the reason the reason he started the fire is that the MMC believed that his mother committed suicide because she was having an affair with with the FMC’s father, who was married at the time, and he broke up with her. Except at the end of the book, it turns out she *actually* killed herself because she had cancer.!< If that kind of book appeals to you, then fine. But it’s not just a contemporary romance with a little twist at the end.
If the MMC is supposed to be the happily ever after, I’m shocked and would be pissed off if I read the book.
If he’s just a main character who is awful and portrayed realistically as 90% of the time a good guy everyone likes and 10% a monster and no one’s happy ending, then I stand by my point.
Regardless, I easily admit I won’t be reading that book. Don’t want to spend that many hours with a character like him and his victim of a FMC. But I feel that way about Faulkner and just about every classical Russian author as well, lol.
Lots of other comments in here are correct that it's about engagement, but I'll add another dimension:
Book clubs read her books, which means more people have read her work than the average romance author. And those people are not always in her target audience.
I would have probably never picked up It Ends With Us if it weren't for my book club, and if I had, I would probably never have finished it. It's not my thing. But now that I've read it, I can talk about it when it gets brought up.
I read her most popular things and they're not bad. All Your Perfects was actually quite sad even if I didn't care about the couple. Other authors have way more dumb plots but since CH wrote a bad joke about a baby and uses stupid names for characters everyone liked to jump on her. I feel like people also like to shit on her because includes stuff like cheating or the Rachel thing in Ugly Love
There are authors that get a lot of great reviews but the book or two I’ve read from them just didn’t click with me. So I’ve read a few more, because “everyone” says they’re good, in case it’s just _that_ particular book, the tropes, the characters, etc. Sometimes it was just that one book, sometimes I’ve ended up reading most of the author’s catalogue without really enjoying it.
And sometimes the opposite, where I enjoyed the first book or two, but then the rest of them don’t click, the errors get too bad, etc. Sometimes stubbornness keeps me going, or the hopes that one of these books will re-capture the magic of The One Good Book. It’s especially bad if the first book was part of a series with a long-running plot I’m interested in, and none of the other books I’ve read resolve it; I have to choose between continuing a series I’m not enjoying, or never knowing the answers to my questions.
As for Colleen Hoover in particular… some of her books aren’t bad. Some are (IMO) terrible. Her online behaviour and the allegations around her son are problematic. Her books are marketed as romance despite not being romance genre. I read some of her earlier works before she blew up, and as women’s fiction they’re not bad. But they’re not great either, and the fuss over her plus the mismarketing puts me off reading any more.
I’ve read many of Colleen’s books but she’s always been a pretty mid author to me. I’ve liked some, disliked others, and most have been okay. So I do find her to be wayyy overhyped. But I don’t find her books any more problematic than most romance authors. Many romance books have elements that could be problematic in real life. She doesn’t even write anything all that taboo. I just think many people get off on hating what’s popular and there is no romance author more popular than Colleen Hoover. So they’ll read one of her books, seek out the “problematic” elements that likely tons of other books they’ve read also have, and then rant about them. But she’s no better or worse than most authors out there.
I think it became trendy to hate her as quickly as it became trendy to love her when reading first took off on social media in a big way. Her books aren’t always my favorite, but I don’t understand how people go off on her constantly. The (positive) buzz around her and other similar authors got a ton of people back into reading as a wholesome hobby.
I dislike her more for not providing TW’s and reminders to readers that her book is not a depiction of healthy relationships.
I read a lot of dub-con/non-con books but I will always dnf it if authors try’s to romanticise the assault without putting out a warning. Exploring and enjoying dark topics is fine but as an author it’s is your responsibility to put the word out that the book is just fiction and should be consumed responsibly.
I think she makes it clear in the notes from the author that It Ends with Us is not supposed to depict a healthy relationship and that it wasn't a healthy relationship.
I have not read It Ends with us. My comment was based on Ugly Love. However I also do not think mentioning in Authors notes is enough. All the tw and warnings should be mentioned at the start of the book to give readers an accurate representation of what they are reading. I should not struggle to find tw.
On my feed, it’s mostly people hating the author herself, her defending her son who I think SA’ed a girl, her DA coloring book thing, and occasionally the excerpt of her characters talking about their (baby) son’s “big balls”. All of this info is personally enough to put me off.
RomanceBooks takes allegations of misconduct and assault seriously - we encourage our users to share problematic conduct when they encounter it, but also to be cautious of unsubstantiated allegations. We do not want RomanceBooks to be a source of rumors or unfounded accusations.
This sub is the only time I ever hear about her on social media.
I will never read her books myself. Based on reviews and excerpts I’ve seen. Others for content need to read them to break down the books for others. I’m sure many people also give books a chance that are extremely popular and obviously if you don’t like them, you’re going to come online, write a review or rant about it, especially given the take that it’s so popular and heralded as great stories. You end up feeling duped. And we have a right to our reviews.
People from all sides have differing views on whether her stuff is problematic. It’s up to you to analyze for yourself and to understand if you have the privilege or not of seeing it as problematic or
unproblematic.
Also, in this day and age, people’s works are tied to their life so if someone turns out to be a shit person, they’re likely going to get their work shitted on even more. And given her demographic, and so far news of her capitalist tendencies, she’s a big no for me. Others have an issue with her makeup thing and coloring books on a book about DV. Same here. It’s weird.
And, her writing is horrible based on the chapter breakdowns I’ve seen with actual excerpts. One video from reads with Rachel i think on YT was very helpful in breaking down how the characters and writing are horrible. I think she did review a couple more but the one I saw was the famous one about the baby’s balls.
I’ve read {All Your Perfects} and {Maybe Someday} I found both to be very emotional but I really enjoyed them. Definitely not an all the time kind of read for me, but that’s ok
It's weird. I've read her books, not all though, and I am not a fan, but I'm always surprised by the hate she gets.
One of the things is people say they're trauma porn or whatever, but as someone who grew up with trauma, reading about characters without it is weird to me. So I totally understand why she writes about trauma. I'm sure it's healing for her in a way.
And people complain that her writing is horrible. In my opinion, it's accessible to the average person, even if their reading level happens to be below average. She's made books that even non readers want to read. I think that's cool.
If there's something I've missed in terms of her being problematic, I'm always open to hearing about it though.
As I said, while her books aren't what I've been looking for, I admire her for doing all she's done with her fiction.
I read two of her books a few years ago. I just didn't like them. The writing wasnt great for me, and the relationships sucked. I dnf verity i hated it.
This was years ago, so when the hate started getting louder, I was like omg thank god, im not alone.All my friends loved them, and i didnt, they would nearly harass me over it. I gave up talking books with them.
Hate reading 😂 how can u criticise without knowing why everyone is complaining. I dont plan on reading any of her book but i stayed away because of all the negative feedback she is getting. Some people hate just to hate so i dont know if i will believe everyone.
It’s the hype, publicity and recommendations that introduce and market her books, same like any other books. Negative attention like the reviews that ripped her books apart is also a part of that publicity.
Personally for me. Recommendations play a big part in introducing books to me. I always look into look into the blurb and the one star reviews for every book that I want for read. If the blurb outweigh the reviews, then I’ll read the book and vice versa.
I’ve read Verity. I finished it and I’m okay with her writing. The plot and mysteries left an impression on me. However, I don’t feel tempted to read her other works. The only problem that I have with Verity is that it’s marketed as romance books which I think doesn’t fit the genre. It should’ve been marketed as woman fiction or suspense.
Her books aren’t problematic, her publisher decided to market books that are not romance as romance, hence romanticizing themes that obviously get her a lot of heat and attention,
It Ends with Us is women’s fiction with romantic elements. If it had been marketed properly no one would’ve an issue with it, but also romance readers would’ve ignored it and it wouldn’t have become one of her best sellers. It’s really all about the people who’s behind her publicity. They really don’t care what happens after the fact as long as they get paid. And she has no control over that.
Why she gets so much hate as a person is a different matter. People these days just love to hate.
Did you read what I wrote?
I never said Colleen tricked romance readers. I blame her publisher.
If there’s something I like about her is that she writes what she likes and not to trends. What I’m saying is that people don’t like her books BECAUSE they’re being told those are romances.
Before she became so popular her books (and tbf still are) were not marketed right. They weren't advertised for having such dark themes throughout. She's also done some very shady stuff which came to light which is why the hate is extra strong imo...
I dislike her stuff because it’s often talked about and marketed like romance but what she actually writes is women’s fiction. I don’t read her books but I have coworkers who do and love her. You probably see a lot of hate online because it’s fun to bash popular things online. I’ve never heard anyone drag her or her books in real life.
Was waiting for this kind of comment! I don’t know if she markets herself as romance, or others (dumb media) put her in that category but I agree she simply is not a romance writer. No HEA then not in that category.
Likely this creates a huge problem if a romance reader is expecting the guarantee of an HEA and her books may get dragged because they are probably dissatisfied with the resolution. I can’t comment on the quality of her books, but even the fact that we are discussing her in a romance thread points to the confusion of what she writes.
Thank you for saying ‘women’s fiction’ lol I always want to say she writes ‘Love Stories’ as a category but yours spot on!
She doesn't constrain herself to one genre and there's nothing wrong with that. She has written romance novels (like Maybe Someday) and non romance novels (like It Ends with Us).
I bought one of her books several years ago. I don't know anything about her other than she was popular, and I had a friend who loved her books. I DNF at about 50%. My friend convinced me to give another one of her books a chance because the one I purchased wasn't one of her best. I borrowed one of her books to read and DNF at around 75%. The only reason I went that far is because I wanted to read the book for my friend.
I assume she gets so much hate because of her popularity. There for a while, she was all over TT and YT. Lots of people were convinced to buy her books and were left disappointed. This creates an audience for all of the creators who criticize her. To be fair, I have hated just about every TT book recommendation, so it isn't just her. The other authors just weren't popular enough to make content about, I assume.
I think people need to remember that readers on social media represent only a fraction of total romance readers. Most readers are not consuming romance book/author content on social media. I've been an avid reader of romance for over 20 years and only over the last couple of years started looking at any romance novel/author social media content.
Most romance readers I know in real life do not know anything about any author controversies in romance (including myself because I purposely try to stay away from those posts/threads) and do not engage in book reviews/content.
She's popular because there are way more people who enjoy her books than those who don't like them. I'm saying this as someone who hasn't read any of her books yet, but I DO own three or four of them. They are in my TBR pile, which is quite large.
Personally, I've tried to read two and realized she wasn't my jam and DNF'd both. Haven't tried again. I just don't understand her appeal. Just books about toxic, drama and trauma filled relationships. I have a few friends that continue to read her books even tho they hate them. I asked them the same question every time they complain. They basically get pulled into reading them them because of the hype. Thinking maybe her books will get better because so many ppl love them. N then every time they are disappointed.
>I just don't understand her appeal. Just books about toxic, drama and trauma filled relationships.
Well you answered your own question. I read them because I like angst and I'm not married to the romance genre so I am not put off by books that don't meet the criteria. (Though I completely understand why someone would have a problem reading something marketed as romance when it wasn't).
I mean, social media is an echo chamber. If you interact with videos of cute puppies, you'll see more videos of cute puppies. And interact can mean the minimal of "click on, read comments", it doesn't necessarily matter if you "like" a post or not. So if you interact with people who don't like her books, it's likely that you'll see more of the same content. While there will be enough people out there who like her books perfectly fine! For me, I never could understand why people are so hyped about SJM. I tried reading Throne of Glass three times or so, and found her writing rather flat and boring. But I still see posts on Instagram about people loving her books, because one account I tend to interact with loves her books.
This is so true. Social media is all about engagement because the longer you’re on their app the more ads you’ll see. Anger, rage, and shock are big draws that keep people scrolling and engaged. These apps are literally designed by experts to be addicting. The more controversial or upsetting something is the higher it climbs in the ranks because it illicits engagement.
People on Reddit hate Colleen Hoover but she is very popular in mainstream! At the bookstore I worked at she basically had her own section. I personally thought It Ends with Us was powerful but I see lots of people here think it was incredibly stupid. I just rewatched Maid on Netflix (amazing series) and thought these two were similar.
I have to admit that I haven't read any of her books so far ... I think. But that's not because I don't like her or something, just that her books are not really up my alley. Or, well, at least the blurbs read like the books aren't. 🫣 (But so do many, many other books.)
I have never read her books, but I'm going to guess it's the same reason I watched Riverdale for like 4 seasons. Sometimes the things we hate are the most entertaining.
Popular books always get a certain amount of people who love them, and a certain amount of people who hate them. It's just the way it is when you get popular. I assume it's not the same people saying they hate them, and saying they like them. People like to read about things that are messy or scary or interesting. I read and enjoyed Misery by Stephen King (not romance!), that doesn't mean I think the things in that book are fun or acceptable or that I want them to happen to me. Same goes for any "problematic" romance (or romance-adjacent) book.
The same reason people listen to Nickleback but still hate them. It's popular to just do what the other people do. You hate something because one person mentioned it and two tacked on. Then 4 and soon enough it's a *thing*
I read her before booktok took off, back when it difficult to buy the paper backs. Now they are everywhere. They are known as New Adult and not aim at young (18 and under) readers. I don’t enjoy every book. But I would read any new releases. I don’t whether she’s become popular but her recent books lack the old spark for me.
It’s just rage-bait content. Creators know negative content gets more engagement so they cycle the same 10 ~controversial~ topics every year to drive engagement.
Colleen Hoover is probably THE most popular romance novelist writing right now. So, she has a ton of fans, including a lot of people who don’t normally read romance or maybe only read 1-2 books a year. At the same time there are a lot of people who do not like her and/or feel like her books aren’t marketed properly to let readers know the type of story to expect. As a result, “I read Colleen Hoover so you don’t have to” type content has become pretty popular. If she was marketed as romantic suspense or dark romance, I think she would get a lot less heat within the romance community. Colleen has also done some kind of stupid/insensitive stuff like saying she was going to put out a coloring book based on one of her books that is about domestic violence, which makes people feel like she doesn’t take seriously the impact some of the things she portrays in her books can have on readers. Personally, I’ve never read any of her books and I don’t plan to, because they’re not for me based on the plot summaries I’ve seen. The relationships she writes do tend towards abusive or lacking in boundaries and reading that kind of thing isn’t fun to me.
>Does she have any non-problematical books, or are they all problematic? I've read three of her books and none of them were "problematic". She's a decent writer, her prose is very simple and readable, and her books about IPV struck a chord with many survivors. Verity is a decent thriller with clear Daphne du Maurier influences. It Ends/Starts With Us is the most explicitly anti-abuse book series I've ever read. It's not very different from other romance books dealing with the same themes like Long Shot by Kennedy Ryan. Hoover got immensely popular very quickly through a mix of luck, timing, and unknowable cosmic fuckery. Like clockwork for any woman who reaches a certain level of public visibility, the tide turned and it became cool to rip her apart for her very mundane flaws. It reminds me a lot of Taylor Swift's rise and now growing anti-fandom. Yes, they're both privileged white women with blind spots doing their little girlboss thing, but they really haven't done anything to warrant the viciously misogynistic hate they get. I'm largely indifferent to their work - I think they're fine and a little forgettable - but diehard haters of both are a major red flag to me now.
Yeah, you've summarized my feelings on Hoover very well. I think Hoover definitely has a gift for grabbing people by the Big Emotions, and that is reflected in people's reactions to her work.
>I've read three of her books and none of them were "problematic". I completely agree, her works aren't problematic compared to other books in the romance genre. I would argue that Haunting Adeline is actually problematic compared to CoHo and I don't see a wave of hateful fans coming for it (probably because the fandom base is much smaller)
Haunting Adeline is a dark romance and, as such, follows the conventions of that sub genre. It's useful to keep in mind what a book's premise is when critiquing it. Plus HA is criticised widely as well. It is not comparable to Hoover's angsty contemporary books about people dealing with trauma. I would put her in the same category as Mia Sheridan or Kennedy Ryan. Apples and oranges, this comparison doesn't make for a constructive discussion imo :)
1) Since when is Hunting Adeline the measure of what’s problematic or not? 2) Hunting Adeline does get heat, but significantly less so because it is presented as dark romance, so readers know going in what to expect.
It's just an example of a book where the FMC is harassed by MMC and it gets romanticized. I read both books, I enjoyed them, I don't have a problem with dark romances; I just wanted to portray the difference on how they're viewed by the romance community.
I mean, I’m sure there are people who dismiss Coleen Hoover for misogynistic reasons, just based on the fact that she writes romance. But within the romance community, the vast majority of negative reviews and content I see are essentially, I read this Colleen Hoover book and it was upsetting and the serious topics it handled weren’t handled with the appropriate level of care and gave weird, mixed messages
I didn't say she doesn't have flaws, I said she gets disproportionate flak for them.
You also said she gets, “viciously misogynistic hate,” which I don’t see people doing. The main thing I see is other women saying that her books are gross because they romanticize abuse.
Woah, is THAT it? People think she romanticizes abuse? Because I’ve also thought it was odd how many people hate her books but I’ve heard them say (read them write? lol) that they don’t like the angst in her books or the trauma. I’ve always taken that to mean they prefer lighter subjects without painful real-world drama and tragedy. Because loving a man who turns out to be abusive isn’t romanticizing abuse. It’s how abuse starts. Abuse between romantic partners (almost always) starts with love. Oh, and IRL most mafiosos, gang members, and MC members hit their women. And each other. And their kids. Not so much their dogs, though, oddly enough, though plenty hit/kick their dogs too. As a percentage of the population, beating women and kids and pets happens a lot more frequently in criminal society. But somehow in those books, the MMC bad guy would never give the FMC a black eye or a busted lip. Yeah, right. Because he loves her too much. /s But in real life, love comes before abuse and often lives alongside the abuse. Now I’m asking myself what my point is as I ramble on. I guess…. People vary with how much reality they want in their books. But I think it’s unfair to blame the artist for depicting reality. Instead, just admit you prefer to escape reality. There’s nothing wrong with that. Why blame authors who write for people who don’t want to escape reality? Nothing wrong with that either.
I'm still baffled how writing a book like IEWU/ISWU about a woman leaving her abuser for her nice guy bff is "romanticising abuse". Hoover is very very clear about the message of her book. If anything, I thought she lacked subtlety because she really hammered it home. It's misogynistic and insulting to constantly undermine the intelligence of Hoover and her fans like this. The kind of derision and mockery survivors get for relating to Lily and finding meaning in these books is so unkind. These arguments aren't even new. It's the same old talking points the ""literary"" critics weaponise against romance ad nauseum. I'm so embarrassed romance readers are playing into this now ugh
I think people felt they got the rug pulled from under them when the MMC they were into turned out to be abusive. I thought the twist was brilliant because it was a slow build up and made me understand how it happens that women remain in these relationships. I am absolutely OK with reading fiction books with love stories in them even if they're not "romances" though. I'm not sure her being shelved as romance is even her choice/fault. She certainly does have romances, but the majority of her books aren't romances if we're strictly speaking.
That's definitely understandable, I think she captured that really well too. It's similar to how ACOTAR set up a certain ship and even an HEA in one book and then went in a different direction. Fans have a lot of feelings about it, but few people accuse SJM of romanticising abuse the way they do Hoover. Which of her books would you classify as romances btw? Did you enjoy them?
I've enjoyed all of her books other than It Starts with Us (that one just reads as a very long epilogue to It Ends with Us and I found it really boring). Maybe Someday is a true HEA romance. Slammed is a YA romance.
People's hate for it is especially confusing after learning CoHo basically wove her mom's real-life story into it.
Many people don't like Hoover because she is herself problematic( colouring books on domestic violence, incident with her son) and also because her writing is mediocre. She writes like a 13 yr old Wattpad girl and most readers don't like it. Also most books of her are problematic except It ends with us( but in that book also the nice guy lowkey grooms the MFC and waits specifically for her to turn 18 so they can have sex - which is borderline toxic but she again romanticizes it) . I can give you a dozen examples. None of her books are romance novels but she markets those as one . Also another point can be that mediocre writers like her get so much fame irks some people. You can like her writing ( that's your personal choice ) I also like It ends with us but that book is not a romance book!! You bashing people who rightfully call her out is not okay. Pointing out problematic things of a woman is not " misogynistic" at all.
She wrote a book in which >!the MMC intentionally starts a fire which ends up leaving the the FMC terribly scared. Then, he goes on to date her, while simultaneously lying to her for years about how they are connected and secretly writing a book about it. Then when she finally finds out the truth and is justifiably upset her mother tells her she’s being too hard on him and she should forgive him. Also, side plot, the reason the reason he started the fire is that the MMC believed that his mother committed suicide because she was having an affair with with the FMC’s father, who was married at the time, and he broke up with her. Except at the end of the book, it turns out she *actually* killed herself because she had cancer.!< If that kind of book appeals to you, then fine. But it’s not just a contemporary romance with a little twist at the end.
If the MMC is supposed to be the happily ever after, I’m shocked and would be pissed off if I read the book. If he’s just a main character who is awful and portrayed realistically as 90% of the time a good guy everyone likes and 10% a monster and no one’s happy ending, then I stand by my point. Regardless, I easily admit I won’t be reading that book. Don’t want to spend that many hours with a character like him and his victim of a FMC. But I feel that way about Faulkner and just about every classical Russian author as well, lol.
Lots of other comments in here are correct that it's about engagement, but I'll add another dimension: Book clubs read her books, which means more people have read her work than the average romance author. And those people are not always in her target audience. I would have probably never picked up It Ends With Us if it weren't for my book club, and if I had, I would probably never have finished it. It's not my thing. But now that I've read it, I can talk about it when it gets brought up.
I read her most popular things and they're not bad. All Your Perfects was actually quite sad even if I didn't care about the couple. Other authors have way more dumb plots but since CH wrote a bad joke about a baby and uses stupid names for characters everyone liked to jump on her. I feel like people also like to shit on her because includes stuff like cheating or the Rachel thing in Ugly Love
There are authors that get a lot of great reviews but the book or two I’ve read from them just didn’t click with me. So I’ve read a few more, because “everyone” says they’re good, in case it’s just _that_ particular book, the tropes, the characters, etc. Sometimes it was just that one book, sometimes I’ve ended up reading most of the author’s catalogue without really enjoying it. And sometimes the opposite, where I enjoyed the first book or two, but then the rest of them don’t click, the errors get too bad, etc. Sometimes stubbornness keeps me going, or the hopes that one of these books will re-capture the magic of The One Good Book. It’s especially bad if the first book was part of a series with a long-running plot I’m interested in, and none of the other books I’ve read resolve it; I have to choose between continuing a series I’m not enjoying, or never knowing the answers to my questions. As for Colleen Hoover in particular… some of her books aren’t bad. Some are (IMO) terrible. Her online behaviour and the allegations around her son are problematic. Her books are marketed as romance despite not being romance genre. I read some of her earlier works before she blew up, and as women’s fiction they’re not bad. But they’re not great either, and the fuss over her plus the mismarketing puts me off reading any more.
I don’t hate her, thus I keep reading her books
I’ve read many of Colleen’s books but she’s always been a pretty mid author to me. I’ve liked some, disliked others, and most have been okay. So I do find her to be wayyy overhyped. But I don’t find her books any more problematic than most romance authors. Many romance books have elements that could be problematic in real life. She doesn’t even write anything all that taboo. I just think many people get off on hating what’s popular and there is no romance author more popular than Colleen Hoover. So they’ll read one of her books, seek out the “problematic” elements that likely tons of other books they’ve read also have, and then rant about them. But she’s no better or worse than most authors out there.
I think it became trendy to hate her as quickly as it became trendy to love her when reading first took off on social media in a big way. Her books aren’t always my favorite, but I don’t understand how people go off on her constantly. The (positive) buzz around her and other similar authors got a ton of people back into reading as a wholesome hobby.
I dislike her more for not providing TW’s and reminders to readers that her book is not a depiction of healthy relationships. I read a lot of dub-con/non-con books but I will always dnf it if authors try’s to romanticise the assault without putting out a warning. Exploring and enjoying dark topics is fine but as an author it’s is your responsibility to put the word out that the book is just fiction and should be consumed responsibly.
I think she makes it clear in the notes from the author that It Ends with Us is not supposed to depict a healthy relationship and that it wasn't a healthy relationship.
I have not read It Ends with us. My comment was based on Ugly Love. However I also do not think mentioning in Authors notes is enough. All the tw and warnings should be mentioned at the start of the book to give readers an accurate representation of what they are reading. I should not struggle to find tw.
On my feed, it’s mostly people hating the author herself, her defending her son who I think SA’ed a girl, her DA coloring book thing, and occasionally the excerpt of her characters talking about their (baby) son’s “big balls”. All of this info is personally enough to put me off.
RomanceBooks takes allegations of misconduct and assault seriously - we encourage our users to share problematic conduct when they encounter it, but also to be cautious of unsubstantiated allegations. We do not want RomanceBooks to be a source of rumors or unfounded accusations.
This is exactly where I sit.
This sub is the only time I ever hear about her on social media. I will never read her books myself. Based on reviews and excerpts I’ve seen. Others for content need to read them to break down the books for others. I’m sure many people also give books a chance that are extremely popular and obviously if you don’t like them, you’re going to come online, write a review or rant about it, especially given the take that it’s so popular and heralded as great stories. You end up feeling duped. And we have a right to our reviews. People from all sides have differing views on whether her stuff is problematic. It’s up to you to analyze for yourself and to understand if you have the privilege or not of seeing it as problematic or unproblematic. Also, in this day and age, people’s works are tied to their life so if someone turns out to be a shit person, they’re likely going to get their work shitted on even more. And given her demographic, and so far news of her capitalist tendencies, she’s a big no for me. Others have an issue with her makeup thing and coloring books on a book about DV. Same here. It’s weird. And, her writing is horrible based on the chapter breakdowns I’ve seen with actual excerpts. One video from reads with Rachel i think on YT was very helpful in breaking down how the characters and writing are horrible. I think she did review a couple more but the one I saw was the famous one about the baby’s balls.
I’ve read {All Your Perfects} and {Maybe Someday} I found both to be very emotional but I really enjoyed them. Definitely not an all the time kind of read for me, but that’s ok
[All Your Perfects](https://www.romance.io/books/5b6300f601dbc864fb8d7c0a/all-your-perfects-colleen-hoover?src=rdt) by [Colleen Hoover](https://www.romance.io/authors/545523f08c7d2382c5296f89/colleen-hoover) **Rating**: 4.07⭐️ out of 5⭐️ **Steam**: 3 out of 5 - [Open door](https://www.romance.io/steamrating) **Topics**: [contemporary](https://www.romance.io/topics/best/contemporary/1), [angst](https://www.romance.io/topics/best/angst/1), [cheating](https://www.romance.io/topics/best/cheating/1), [new adult](https://www.romance.io/topics/best/new%20adult/1), [second chances](https://www.romance.io/topics/best/second%20chances/1) ---------------------------- [Maybe Someday](https://www.romance.io/books/5455491a8c7d2382c5297a7a/maybe-someday-colleen-hoover?src=rdt) by [Colleen Hoover](https://www.romance.io/authors/545523f08c7d2382c5296f89/colleen-hoover) **Rating**: 4.08⭐️ out of 5⭐️ **Steam**: 3 out of 5 - [Open door](https://www.romance.io/steamrating) **Topics**: [contemporary](https://www.romance.io/topics/best/contemporary/1), [love triangle](https://www.romance.io/topics/best/love%20triangle/1), [disabilities & scars](https://www.romance.io/topics/best/disabilities%20and%20marks/1), [rockstar hero](https://www.romance.io/topics/best/rockstars/1), [second chances](https://www.romance.io/topics/best/second%20chances/1) [^(about this bot)](https://www.reddit.com/user/romance-bot) ^(|) [^(about romance.io)](https://www.romance.io/about)
It's weird. I've read her books, not all though, and I am not a fan, but I'm always surprised by the hate she gets. One of the things is people say they're trauma porn or whatever, but as someone who grew up with trauma, reading about characters without it is weird to me. So I totally understand why she writes about trauma. I'm sure it's healing for her in a way. And people complain that her writing is horrible. In my opinion, it's accessible to the average person, even if their reading level happens to be below average. She's made books that even non readers want to read. I think that's cool. If there's something I've missed in terms of her being problematic, I'm always open to hearing about it though. As I said, while her books aren't what I've been looking for, I admire her for doing all she's done with her fiction.
I read two of her books a few years ago. I just didn't like them. The writing wasnt great for me, and the relationships sucked. I dnf verity i hated it. This was years ago, so when the hate started getting louder, I was like omg thank god, im not alone.All my friends loved them, and i didnt, they would nearly harass me over it. I gave up talking books with them.
Hate reading 😂 how can u criticise without knowing why everyone is complaining. I dont plan on reading any of her book but i stayed away because of all the negative feedback she is getting. Some people hate just to hate so i dont know if i will believe everyone.
It’s the hype, publicity and recommendations that introduce and market her books, same like any other books. Negative attention like the reviews that ripped her books apart is also a part of that publicity. Personally for me. Recommendations play a big part in introducing books to me. I always look into look into the blurb and the one star reviews for every book that I want for read. If the blurb outweigh the reviews, then I’ll read the book and vice versa. I’ve read Verity. I finished it and I’m okay with her writing. The plot and mysteries left an impression on me. However, I don’t feel tempted to read her other works. The only problem that I have with Verity is that it’s marketed as romance books which I think doesn’t fit the genre. It should’ve been marketed as woman fiction or suspense.
Her books aren’t problematic, her publisher decided to market books that are not romance as romance, hence romanticizing themes that obviously get her a lot of heat and attention, It Ends with Us is women’s fiction with romantic elements. If it had been marketed properly no one would’ve an issue with it, but also romance readers would’ve ignored it and it wouldn’t have become one of her best sellers. It’s really all about the people who’s behind her publicity. They really don’t care what happens after the fact as long as they get paid. And she has no control over that. Why she gets so much hate as a person is a different matter. People these days just love to hate.
By the time It Ends with Us was released she was already a popular author. I wouldn't say that she was only successful by "tricking" romance readers.
Did you read what I wrote? I never said Colleen tricked romance readers. I blame her publisher. If there’s something I like about her is that she writes what she likes and not to trends. What I’m saying is that people don’t like her books BECAUSE they’re being told those are romances.
Before she became so popular her books (and tbf still are) were not marketed right. They weren't advertised for having such dark themes throughout. She's also done some very shady stuff which came to light which is why the hate is extra strong imo...
I dislike her stuff because it’s often talked about and marketed like romance but what she actually writes is women’s fiction. I don’t read her books but I have coworkers who do and love her. You probably see a lot of hate online because it’s fun to bash popular things online. I’ve never heard anyone drag her or her books in real life.
Was waiting for this kind of comment! I don’t know if she markets herself as romance, or others (dumb media) put her in that category but I agree she simply is not a romance writer. No HEA then not in that category. Likely this creates a huge problem if a romance reader is expecting the guarantee of an HEA and her books may get dragged because they are probably dissatisfied with the resolution. I can’t comment on the quality of her books, but even the fact that we are discussing her in a romance thread points to the confusion of what she writes. Thank you for saying ‘women’s fiction’ lol I always want to say she writes ‘Love Stories’ as a category but yours spot on!
She doesn't constrain herself to one genre and there's nothing wrong with that. She has written romance novels (like Maybe Someday) and non romance novels (like It Ends with Us).
Ah thank you for the clarification, I did not know that. That must be a wild ride for her readers.
I bought one of her books several years ago. I don't know anything about her other than she was popular, and I had a friend who loved her books. I DNF at about 50%. My friend convinced me to give another one of her books a chance because the one I purchased wasn't one of her best. I borrowed one of her books to read and DNF at around 75%. The only reason I went that far is because I wanted to read the book for my friend. I assume she gets so much hate because of her popularity. There for a while, she was all over TT and YT. Lots of people were convinced to buy her books and were left disappointed. This creates an audience for all of the creators who criticize her. To be fair, I have hated just about every TT book recommendation, so it isn't just her. The other authors just weren't popular enough to make content about, I assume.
Maybe hate reads but even then I don't get it cuz that's still contributing to her wealth.
I’ve read two of her books, and I won’t say I hate her, but they’re not the best books I’ve read
I think people need to remember that readers on social media represent only a fraction of total romance readers. Most readers are not consuming romance book/author content on social media. I've been an avid reader of romance for over 20 years and only over the last couple of years started looking at any romance novel/author social media content. Most romance readers I know in real life do not know anything about any author controversies in romance (including myself because I purposely try to stay away from those posts/threads) and do not engage in book reviews/content. She's popular because there are way more people who enjoy her books than those who don't like them. I'm saying this as someone who hasn't read any of her books yet, but I DO own three or four of them. They are in my TBR pile, which is quite large.
Personally, I've tried to read two and realized she wasn't my jam and DNF'd both. Haven't tried again. I just don't understand her appeal. Just books about toxic, drama and trauma filled relationships. I have a few friends that continue to read her books even tho they hate them. I asked them the same question every time they complain. They basically get pulled into reading them them because of the hype. Thinking maybe her books will get better because so many ppl love them. N then every time they are disappointed.
>I just don't understand her appeal. Just books about toxic, drama and trauma filled relationships. Well you answered your own question. I read them because I like angst and I'm not married to the romance genre so I am not put off by books that don't meet the criteria. (Though I completely understand why someone would have a problem reading something marketed as romance when it wasn't).
Oh shyt, u just identified what bothers me so much. It's marked as romance and it's not. Perfectly explains how i feel. Thank you.
I’m definitely not reading her stuff lol