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It Ends with Us: the Book That Rose Colleen to Fame—Where Did We Go Wrong?

Art & Literature

December 08, 2024

“There is no such thing as bad people. We’re all just people who sometimes do bad things.”

This quote reflects Colleen Hoover's philosophy as an author. Colleen Hoover, Goodreads Choice Awards winner, first gained attention in 2012 with her self-published novel Slammed. The book was widely acclaimed, marking the beginning of her successful career. She followed it up with three more books, but her career hit a lull for a period.

The real fun began in 2022 when her novel It Ends with Us went viral on Booktok.

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The Problem with Marketing: Romance or Trauma Tale?

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

How did this seemingly harmless book turn out to be so problematic? That was always the problem, wasn’t it? The book was marketed as a “harmless young adult romance” novel, which never aligned with the heavy themes of rape, domestic violence, and abuse.

Marketing this book as “romance” when the main plot revolves around the protagonist in an abusive relationship is nothing but insensitive. It almost feels as though Hoover is set out to write a romance novel but, wanting to stand out from millions of other YA authors, added the domestic violence angle to it.

It is often pointed out by fans that the domestic violence portrayed in the book is generally exaggerated and inconsistent. This issue stems from the narrative itself, where Hoover is hyper-focused on producing shock value rather than accurately portraying the complexities of domestic violence.

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

Her attempt to add emotional weight can come across as forced, making the story feel unauthentic, and pushing it away from being a book where we learn to empathize with victims of abuse. This point is further reinforced when Hoover tried to profit from selling coloring books based on the novel. To claim that it is disrespectful is putting it mildly.

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The Issue with Ryle: Humanizing Abusers Without Accountability

The primary issue lies in Ryle’s writing as a character. He is portrayed as a man striving to be better but constantly failing due to his anger issues. While we can justify the need to humanize villains there’s a glaring problem.

Hoover constantly throws Ryle’s abusive behavior under a rug by attributing it to his trauma, claiming that he simply “blacks out” when he’s angry. Now this leads to two issues: the abolition of accountability and also a logical contradiction.

Take, for instance, the infamous “magnet” scene. Where Lily comes home after a long day of work, only to find Ryle furiously 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 just the right spot for her to see. So how, then, does Hoover claim that Ryle “blacks out” and is unaware of his actions when he clearly plans this scene in advance?

There is an apparent issue with consistency in Hoover’s writing where she claims one thing and absolutely contradicts it in the next chapter, which further reinforces the point that she is hyper-focused on generating shock value rather than authentic story telling.

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Hoover seems to strive for impactful storytelling while simultaneously attempting to cater to a YA audience on platforms like TikTok, already saturated with the promotion of smut disguised as novels. She understands her audience and clearly tries to appeal to them, but in doing so, she loses credibility as a writer to be taken seriously.

Failed Attempts at Empowering Women

Another issue is her attempt to empower women, which completely backfires because of bad execution. You cannot write a book about domestic violence with blocks of romance—it undermines the entire point. Time and time again, Hoover portrays Lily as overly sentimental and dependent on men.

By the end of the book, it’s implied that she gets back with Atlas or at least wants to in the future. The ending is entirely insensitive, as it detracts from the heavy, important themes of the novel.

This point is further proven when countless fans’ on Tiktok admit that their main takeaway is the fact that she reunites with Atlas rather than the lesson learned from the abusive relationship. Furthermore, there’s the target audience—young readers who most likely haven’t been in a relationship themselves. It raises the question: what example are we setting for young readers? While Hoover isn’t obligated to write morally upstanding characters, when you are aware that your target audience is young impressionable minds, you hold a degree of responsibility.

A Call for Responsibility

All in all, Hoover's books are deemed problematic because she tends to romanticize sensitive topics, and generally does not write with enough care. This creates an issue throughout her entire body of work. As writers, we hold power in every word we say, and for a bestselling author like Hoover, her words affect the minds of thousands of teens each year. Let’s keep in mind to be mindful and careful about how we influence the next generation.

Hana K
1,000+ pageviews

Writer since Sep, 2024 · 3 published articles

Hanah is a sophomore majoring in Applied Mathematics, but beyond her love for numbers, she harbors a secret passion for writing. Balancing both comes naturally, though she tends to keep her love for words more private.

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