Photo-Illustration: Vulture
This article was originally published on October 25, 2022. The movie adaptation of Colleen Hoover’s It Ends With Us is now in theaters.
Even if you’ve never read a Colleen Hoover book, chances are you’ve seen one — if not on a bookstore or library shelf, then perhaps on the New York Times Best Sellers List (in the fall of 2022, more than half of the top-ten titles in paperback fiction bore her name) or on TikTok (where her readers regularly work themselves into an emotional frenzy). She is the best-selling author in America now and likely for the foreseeable future.
While there are “overnight success” elements to Hoover’s career arc, her popularity has been years in the making. Her first novel, Slammed, was self-published in 2012, but it wasn’t until 2021 that her books really started popping off worldwide, and since then her fan base, which has dubbed itself the CoHorts, has grown in both number and level of devotion. On the heels of her 2022 novel It Starts With Us, the mega best-selling sequel to It Ends With Us, we asked Hoover to annotate her catalogue, offering perspective and memories on a collection of books that a growing number of fans are consuming so ravenously.
Slammed was my first novel, but at the time, I wasn’t considering it a novel. I was just writing a story in my spare time. I had three young boys and a full-time job working as an infant-nutrition specialist for WIC. My days were long, and in the evenings I had the boys, so after I put them to bed I would take some “me” time and work on the book. I enjoyed visiting with the characters. They consumed me pretty quickly and because I didn’t have any type of publishing knowledge or experience, I didn’t think about what would happen once I finished writing their story. It took about three months to write before I finished the book and began the editing process. There was no pressure at all because I didn’t think anyone was going to read it. Now when I write, I know people are going to read what I write and that can get in my head. It adds a bit of external pressure that didn’t exist with Slammed.
Layla involves the paranormal, and I don’t really believe in the paranormal, so it was a challenge to write a book about something I want readers to feel is believable when I, myself, don’t feel it is. I wrote several outlines but nothing stuck until I decided to make the main character skeptical. At first, when Leeds began communicating with Willow, I wasn’t sold on his reaction. It wasn’t until I rewrote the scenes between him and Willow to reflect how I personally would react — with skepticism — that I realized it’s what the book needed. That’s when I finally connected with the book — when I could put myself in the main character’s shoes. I probably won’t be taking a stab at the paranormal again, even though I’m happy with how the book turned out. It was a struggle for me to get into, and I like to write things I’m excited about.
This answer changes depending on who’s asking, but lately I’ve been recommending Reminders of Him the most. It’s a good example of what people get from my books because the characters are flawed and relatable and the story tugs at the heartstrings. It encompasses a little more of the heartache, emotion, and character struggle that my other books contain. I wrote it during the height of the pandemic, so that may be why I put the characters through so much pain and torture. It was a reflection of my feelings about the world at the time. If readers feel pulled to that one, they might enjoy moving on to the rest. Unless they’re a huge fan of thrillers. If that’s the case, try Verity first. But Verity is super-dark and very different from my other novels, so if someone isn’t used to reading that type of book, I’ll tell them to steer clear of it.
Definitely It Ends With Us, although Verity runs a close second. That’s so fun to me because It Ends With Us and Verity are two completely different books: It Ends With Us is more of an inspirational read that tugs at your heartstrings. Verity is dark, twisted, and can be an uncomfortable read at times. I like that my readers’ tastes land on opposite ends of a reading spectrum, and I especially love it when their two favorites are books that are nothing alike. It reinforces my decision not to stick to one genre.
Slammed was my first experience writing a book, so when the plot twist happened, it surprised even me. I remember sitting at my computer writing the scene, and when someone walked up who shouldn’t have been there, I felt shocked and unprepared. Sometimes when I write, it feels like I’m watching a movie and simply describing what I see. In fact, before I became a writer, I used to read scripts in lieu of watching movies. I enjoyed them as much as watching a movie, but it only took half the time. I think that’s why I write with less detail and tend to keep things fast-paced with plot twists, because those are the best stories to write — the ones that surprise me.
Verity was the first major jump outside of my usual genre. Before Verity, I had written young-adult and contemporary romance, but the books always fit neatly into a romance genre. Verity was so different from my other books, so I wasn’t sure if the readers would follow me to a different genre entirely, but they most definitely did in a big way, and I couldn’t be more grateful. As a writer, my dream has always been to write what I’m in the mood to write.
Probably all of them. I’m my own worst critic, so I never feel like my books are at a point that they can’t get better. But I’ve learned a lot over the past decade of writing, so if I had to choose, Without Merit would definitely be one I would rewrite. I handled situations with Utah’s character in that book in a way I wouldn’t with the knowledge I have now.
All Your Perfects is probably the saddest book I’ve written, but the connection between Quinn and Graham is one of my favorites. By the end of the book, I wanted everything in the world for these two characters, which is why I ended up tying their story to my Hopeless series. It gets confusing because All Your Perfects is a stand-alone, but if readers want to see a glimpse into the future for Quinn and Graham, they definitely need to follow All Your Perfects up with the novella Finding Perfect.
Anywhere near water. Whether that’s a lake or a beach or a pool, I always feel inspired by the sound of water. My issue is that once I get really going on a book, I like to be in that spot every day when I write until I finish the book. So it’s hard for me to start writing a book on vacation or on an airplane, or anywhere else that won’t be a permanent location for me. I tend to tie the feelings of the book to the place where I began writing it, so when I start a new book, I try to find the constant in water.
I like that readers hold authors accountable on TikTok. Myself included. Whether that’s for phrases we’ve used in the past that we have since learned are not acceptable, or readers expressing that they want more diversity and representation. I’m appreciative that they speak up. I’m always working to be and do better, and TikTok has been a platform that ensures an author knows the ways they can and need to improve.
If an idea ever came to me, Verity. That was a lot of fun to write. It was my first foray into thriller after years of writing romance, so it was fresh and new and felt freeing. Not that writing romance feels constrained, but I enjoy switching things up. Until Verity, I really only switched up the age ranges of my characters and hadn’t yet played around with an entirely new genre. The book consumed me for two entire months, at least 12 hours a day. There are a lot of different directions that a sequel could go, and the ending (and additional ending) leave plenty of room for me to explore. As it stands, I’m happy with the way it ends, but I do sometimes toy with the idea of writing a book about the Verity character Crew.
It Ends With Us. I’ve received so many messages from readers who were touched by this book in big ways, and that will never get old. I love that so many could connect to a story that was inspired by my mother, and one I felt determined to write. My mother is one of the strongest women I know, so it was hard for me to reconcile the independent mother I grew up knowing compared to the woman who stayed with an abusive man for two years when I was a toddler. I couldn’t fathom how she could remain in that situation, so I wrote this book as a way to see things from her perspective. It was difficult stepping into my mother’s shoes because I realized I was somewhat judging her experience, and that judgment came from a place of inexperience. In writing this book, I was able to see how difficult that relationship must have been for her, to love someone who sometimes treated her badly, and then to somehow find the strength to leave that situation with two young daughters and no financial help. I intended to write a book inspired by her abusive marriage, but in the end I believe that took a turn, and instead I began writing a book inspired by her strength.
