Colleen Hoover, an American author known for her young adult fiction novels, has become one of the most renowned authors among a young generation of readers. However, her notoriety has come with plenty of controversy. While it may seem as though Colleen Hoover is a talented writer with creative ideas who has managed to rise to the top and gain the recognition she deserves, looking into her legacy within the reading community and specifically within the #BookTok community on TikTok reveals a different story entirely. 

Colleen’s rise to fame began after her book, “It Ends With Us” began to gain lots of traction among the reading community in 2016. Her popularity skyrocketed in 2022 after she became a highly recommended author on BookTok, as an increasing number of TikToks were dedicated solely to Colleen Hoover book reviews and recommendations. 

The biggest aspect of Hoover’s novels that captures the attention of her readers is the absurd plotlines that are captivating due to their shock value. This is seen in books such as “Verity” or “‘November 9”. Hoover often romanticizes abuse in her novels, promoting a “dark romance” theme in her works, despite advertising them as typical romance novels without any trigger warnings or mention of the dark themes. For instance, in her novel, “November 9”, the main love interest, expresses his desire to use physical force on the main character to make her stay with him as she leaves and gets into a taxi.

This is concerning as a large portion of her fanbase is composed of young readers. It could be argued that Colleen Hoover should be more conscious of the age group being exposed to her novels and write stories that showcase healthy relationships for her young audience to be influenced by. 

Hoover initially received lots of admiration due to the way she handled the heavy themes of domestic abuse in “It Ends With Us”. However, this admiration quickly turned into outrage when Hoover made a blatant attempt to capitalize further off the book’s success by creating a colouring book that would include scenes from the novel. On her initial post announcing this colouring book, many fans expressed their disapproval, with one comment stating, “This is not okay. The colouring book shouldn’t be a thing.” Colleen Hoover later posted an apology for her “tone-deaf” idea, stating that the colouring book would not be published. 

In spite of all of her perceived faults, Colleen Hoover has managed to reach the likes of John Grisham in an industry notorious for its ruthless competition and often unlucrative career opportunities. One can only imagine how her career will move forth from here, but it is likely that her books will continue to inhabit the shelves of bookstores throughout the world for years to come.