the book that made Colleen famous – Where Did We Go?

“There are no bad people. We’re all just people who do bad things sometimes.”

This quote reflects Colleen Hoover’s philosophy as an author. Goodreads Choice Awards winner Colleen Hoover first gained attention in 2012 with her self-published novel Slammed. The book was well received and marked the beginning of her successful career. She published three more books, but her career stalled for a time.

The real fun began in 2022 with her novel It ends with us went viral on Booktok.

The problem with marketing: romance or trauma story?

Colleen Hoover’s most popular book: It Ends With Us.

How could this seemingly harmless book become so problematic? That’s always been the problem, right? The book was marketed as a “harmless young adult romance novel” that never dealt with the serious themes of rape, domestic violence and abuse.

Marketing this book as a “romance novel” when the main plot revolves around the protagonist in an abusive relationship is simply insensitive. It almost feels as if Hoover wanted to write a romance novel, but to differentiate himself from millions of other young adult authors, he added the aspect of domestic violence.

Fans often point out that the domestic violence portrayed in the book is generally exaggerated and inconsistent. This problem arises from the narrative itself, in which Hoover focuses too much on creating shock value rather than accurately depicting the complexities of domestic violence.

Hoover herself has mentioned in interviews that her parents’ abusive relationship inspired the book, but the execution of the story often feels more like a plot device than a genuine exploration of trauma.

This attempt to add emotional weight can feel forced, making the story feel inauthentic and diverting from a book that teaches us to develop compassion for victims of abuse. This point is reinforced when Hoover attempted to profit from sales of coloring books based on the novel. To say it’s disrespectful is putting it mildly.

The problem with Ryle: humanizing perpetrators without accountability

The main problem lies with Ryle’s nature as a character. He is portrayed as a man who strives to be better but constantly fails due to his anger issues. While we can justify the need to humanize villains, there is one glaring problem.

Hoover constantly covers up Ryle’s abusive behavior by attributing it to his trauma and claiming that he simply “faints” when he is angry. This now leads to two problems: the abolition of accountability and also a logical contradiction.

Take the infamous “Magnet” scene, for example. Where Lily comes home after a long day at work only to find Ryle angrily waiting for her. This scene follows a rape and a brutal beating.

The book makes it clear that Ryle plans the entire encounter, from waiting for her to placing the magazine in exactly the right place for her to see. How then can Hoover claim that Ryle is “fainting” and unaware of his actions when he clearly plans this scene in advance?

There is obviously a problem with consistency in Hoover’s writing when she states one thing and completely contradicts it in the next chapter, reinforcing the point that she is more focused on creating shock value than authentic storytelling.

Image source: Ozan Çulha from Pexels

Hoover seems to be striving for impactful storytelling while trying to appeal to a young audience on platforms like TikTok already saturated with advertising for smut disguised as novels. She understands her audience and is obviously trying to appeal to them, but in doing so she loses her credibility as a serious author.

Failed attempts to empower women

Another problem is their attempt to empower women, which completely backfires due to poor implementation. You can’t write a book about domestic violence with romantic blocks – that undermines the whole point. Hoover repeatedly portrays Lily as overly sentimental and dependent on men.

At the end of the book it is implied that she will return to Atlas, or at least wants to in the future. The ending is completely insensitive as it deviates from the heavy, important themes of the novel.

This point is further proven as countless fans on Tiktok admit that their main takeaway is the fact that she is reuniting with Atlas, rather than the lesson she learned from the abusive relationship. In addition, there is the target group – young readers who most likely have not yet had a relationship themselves. The question arises: what example are we setting for young readers? Although Hoover is not obligated to write morally upstanding characters, you do bear a certain degree of responsibility when you realize that your target audience is young, impressionable minds.

A call to responsibility

Overall, Hoover’s books are considered problematic because she tends to romanticize sensitive topics and generally writes about them with sufficient care. This is a problem that runs through her entire work. As writers, we have power in every word we say, and with a bestselling author like Hoover, her words influence the minds of thousands of teenagers every year. Let us remember to be mindful and careful about how we influence the next generation.