So, What’s This Colleen Hoover Controversy All About?

Of course there’s a Colleen Hoover controversy. The author has outsold the Bible and once held six of the 10 positions on The New York Times’s paperback fiction bestseller list. There are over 44 million posts on BookTok discussing her work, and she’s the second most followed person on Goodreads. (Just behind Stephen King and ahead of Sarah J. Maas.) This month, Blake Lively stars in a big-screen adaptation of It Ends With Us, one of Hoover’s most popular novels. No author can become that massively successful without some criticism or backlash.

However, the divide around Hoover is a thorny one. Fans in the CoHort, as her loyal followers are called, describe her stories as “raw,” “powerful,” and “heart-wrenching” depictions of women while others say she romanticizes abuse. How valid are the critiques? Here’s everything you need to know about the Colleen Hoover controversy in this edition of TL;DR.

Give me the TL;DR.

Basically, critics of Hoover say several of her novels—It Ends With Us, in particular—deliver an anti-feminist message, rely on misogynistic tropes, and even go so far as to romanticize domestic violence.

It reached a boiling point last year when Hoover announced the release of a coloring book based on the main character of It Ends With Us, a woman in an abusive relationship. Many criticized this as an out of touch and inappropriate way to sell merch, and the backlash was so vocal that Hoover and her publisher decided to cancel its publication. “I hear you guys and I agree with you,” Hoover posted on Instagram at the time. “No excuses. No finger-pointing. I have contacted the publisher to let them know I would prefer we don’t move forward with it. Thank you for the respectful discourse and accountability. Nothing but love.”

Her publisher, Atria Books, also issued a statement, saying it was meant to be “uplifting and empowering.”

Wait, I need more. What’s the background here?

The critique that Hoover’s work is anti-feminist extends to several of her novels—but for the purposes of this article, let’s just focus on It Ends With Us. Not only is it one of Colleen Hoover’s most popular books, but it’s also the first to get the big-screen treatment.

The book—and, presumably the movie—is about the cycle of domestic abuse; the main character, Lily Bloom, grew up with an abusive father and as an adult enters into a relationship with an abuser. She eventually leaves him, after becoming pregnant by him and realizing she doesn’t want to raise her daughter in that environment. However, she continues coparenting with him.

Hoover has been open about the fact that the book was inspired by the abuse her own mother endured at the hands of her father. The issue isn’t really that Hoover wrote about domestic violence; it’s in how the book and Hoover are marketed. Critics say that because Hoover and It Ends With Us are frequently categorized as “romance,” coupled with Bloom’s decision to continue coparenting with her abuser, it implies that this is something acceptable or, worse, aspirational.

What does the internet think?

“Hoover has curated an audience of young, impressionable minds, and the last thing they need to learn is that abusive relationships are okay and to be expected,” wrote one critic.

Said another, “Like too many books and movies, It Ends With Us feeds into the very structures of toxic masculinity that it purports to combat. It romanticizes red flags and glorifies a charismatic-but-dangerous man (he’s complicated! he’s damaged!) and it ultimately delivers a decidedly anti-feminist message.”

Those who defend Hoover say the book makes it more than clear that the author doesn’t condone violence given that Bloom leaves in the end.

Why should I care?

Well, it’s probably worth knowing how you feel about all this before buying a movie ticket to see It Ends With Us.

And regardless of how you—or any of us—feel about her writing, there’s no denying that when we look back at the defining voices of the 2020s in a decade or so, Hoover will be on that list. She’s simply too widespread to ignore. The debate around Hoover raises a broader issue: that the way women in publishing are categorized and marketed is extremely flawed.

It Ends With Us is a work of fiction, not a romance novel. So, yes, I agree with the critiques that the cover choice doesn’t accurately convey the themes of the book. As a regular romance and “chick lit” reader, it’s frustrating how often I’ll pick up a book that, frankly, shouldn’t be labeled as such. I don’t see the same happening with male authors. If Hoover had been billed as a literary fiction author, I don’t think there would be as much discourse. It seems like Hoover herself might agree. “I don’t like to be confined to one genre,” Hoover’s own Goodreads profile says. “If you put me in a box, I’ll claw my way out.”

Has Hoover responded to all this?

Besides apologizing for the coloring book fiasco, Hoover hasn’t directly addressed the accusations of romanticizing abuse. She has commented on criticism of her work, telling the Today show’s Jenna Bush Hager, “If people don’t like what I write, I just try to avoid that side of it. I get it. It doesn’t bother me at all. I feel like when you have five books on the bestsellers list, it’s very hard to be upset in any way by criticism. Because you know that people out there are enjoying your work, and I just keep my focus on that.”