On why I think Colleen Hoover is a detrimental writer
Now detrimental undoubtedly has a lot of meanings; however, here I write about how it causes harm to people's minds.
So, I have a confession- I used to love Colleen Hoover’s books, but then I grew up.
Before I write something remotely offensive, I need everyone to understand that this is MY opinion. As someone who loves books and is an intersectional feminist, it pains me to see a woman write anti-feminist books and profit off them.
A lot of people might not know this, but I am a lover of words- I love words, but at the same time, I sometimes loathe words. This carefully constructed contradiction reminds me of a quote from my favourite book- The Book Thief. It says:
“I have hated words and I have loved them, and I hope I have made them right.”
It is unfortunate that sometimes people- especially established writers- tend to forget the impact their words have on readers. One such example is the face of today’s discussion- Colleen Hoover.
Colleen is a smart writer, and there is no doubt about it. As a lover of words, the first thing I noticed about Colleen was that she knows her words- she knows when to use what word, and what sentence would make their readers look scarlet. But knowing her words doesn’t make Colleen the Jane Austen of the contemporary world.
If you are a reader that has devoured Colleen’s books, I am sure you understand how addicting her books are. One thing about Colleen is that her books often target YA females- and it is highly debatable whether such young females should be exposed to this monstrosity or not. Anyway, the question that looms over is- why is Colleen Hoover a detrimental writer despite writing addictive books?
So, there are two types of readers- the ones that don’t prefer the genre she writes about, and the ones that question her integrity. I am the latter.
While there are a lot of genres and sub-genres to turn to, some genre-defying books do talk about heavy subjects that induce trauma. However, these books usually have a disclaimer and don’t profit off plotting romance as their theme. Colleen’s books are a mixture of heavy dependence on traumatic incidents with a pinch of romance to misdirect readers.
I believe the reason her books are so addictive is because she knows her audience, and she knows that young females love having a looming figure that protects them from the bad guys. Moreover, romance novels are generally addictive because the ones that like the genre are giddy with the anticipation of the protagonists getting together.
Then again, it is perplexing to even be curious about what goes into Colleen’s mind when she writes books and profits off the romance part. A few examples of it are:
UGLY LOVE: The male protagonist, Miles, couldn’t commit for most of the book, and yet, the female protagonist, Tate, gives him chances after he overpowered her numerous times.
NOVEMBER 9: Ben (male protagonist) is the reason why Fallon (female protagonist) burned one side of her body- he knew that he was responsible for it, and yet approached her, maintained a flirty relationship for over three years and when Fallon got to know this, she forgave him.
ALL YOUR PERFECTS: Graham (MP) cheats on his wife that is not in a good mental condition after learning that she cannot have kids. She forgives him.
IT ENDS WITH US/ IT STARTS WITH US: Ryle, the antagonist is romanticised for most of the book only to turn out to be an abuser to Lily (FP). Lily never gets over her old boyfriend from school- Atlas- and gets excited at the bare minimum effort he puts into the relationship.
Do you see a pattern? Because I do. CoHo’s women don’t have a spine and they often get entangled in the web of good-looking men who do the bare minimum and get awarded with terms like ‘best fictional boyfriends’.
While genre-defying books do talk about things in gory detail, it’s not something people usually get inspired from. Romance, on the other hand, is everywhere; and if a writer as established as Colleen Hoover tells young girls to forgive banal male protagonists under the facade of blood-rushing romantic scenes- then that’s something to worry about.
Colleen romanticizes trauma that could inflict a lot of damage on someone who has experienced it or might have been through something remotely similar to what’s written.
That being said, some people like her books, and are not perplexed by the thought that Colleen often blurs the line between toxicity and non-toxicity. Unfortunately, I can’t do much but write a basic piece about why Colleen Hoover is a detrimental writer- the real change starts when we as a community recognize the faults and hold writers accountable for selling us trauma-inflicting books without trigger warnings often genre-fitting them as romance books.
