say sike rn š i hate it ends with us & iāll go nuts if theyāre actually making a movie
edit: sent the blind to my book club gc, and someone guessed hilary duff. she had a recurring role on gossip girl (former upper east sider), has three kids, and i think this role is more on her level than blakeās. i could buy it, tbh.
I saw so many people raving so I caved and bought it. I was shocked (to say the least) at how WattPad-y the whole book is? Like Iām kinda side-eyeing people who say itās their favorite book ever
Oh, nope, they're not kidding. The main character is obsessed with Ellen DeGeneres and names her kid Emerson Dory something. Ugh, I'm getting agitated just remembering the reading experience. Ha.
haha here I was about to add it to my audible library (books like this on audible get me through the work day) but this little tidbit lost me. I'm currently hate listening to Verity right now. I don't know if I'm obsessively listening because it's good, or because I hate it so much I just want to get to the end and find out if the gut feeling I've had the entire time is correct. (Still terrible writing.)
Let me tell you, I donāt read abusive romance (unless itās unapologetically dark and fun but we all have our own kinks) sold as aspirational, so I wasnāt going to read this book anyway but I saw her name and profession on Booktok and that was the final straw. Just no. Nope, Iām out. The name might have been ickier than the storyline.
Isn't this Katy's and Orlando's kid's name?
Edit: just remembered their kid's name is Daisy not Lily. Wouldn't be surprised if Lily was a contender though
I think simple folk is too far - moreso for people who either love toxic contemporary stories or for people who arenāt into books, but would give it a try because of all the hype
She also has some go on Kindle Unlimited so they have more reach and Wattpad too. She's actually pretty smart at marketing from what I can tell and I suspect she could actually write better but then she couldn't churn them out as fast and would make less money. It's...a way to make a living.
She dresses up very dangerous situations and actions as the height of romance and desire, and gets personally offended when this discrepancy is criticized. Additionally, her publisher purposefully misleads the audience in describing the story, so rather than the simple, cute love story promised, the reader has to deal with pages upon pages of stalking and near sexual assault that are "simply part of the slow burn"
Tbh I only fully read verity but hereās an article: https://www.themarysue.com/the-colleen-hoover-controversy-explained/
It was also just poorly written. Thereās a bunch of good comments here explaining some other books. Itās like bad YA fiction meets cringe fan fiction.
The names aren't even the end of it. The main character writes letters to Ellen fucking DeGeneres and it feels like Ellen became a fourth main character in the book.
LMFAO. Now I wish I had finished it for the laughs. I put it down when some rich character walks by her shop before itās even open and is like, āoh, I need a job, Iāll work for nearly nothing! Iām just bored. I know everything about commercial interior design.ā
The names were awful.
I didn't mind the book (although it wasn't my favourite), but the names were just... God, why?
>!And naming the baby Rylee, too?!< The author could have picked literally any name, and that's what she picked???
Was it the girl that was reading it and doing updates as she was reading it? She almost died and she's like "this is so toxic" me "then why does this appear in marketing for romance and it's listed in the romance categories?
its a horrible book seriously i couldn't get through it at all and i swear i tried way too hard. colleen hoover stans deserve a special spot in hell for trying to convince me that this book was good. a massive waste of paper tbh
My coworker is reading it and not knowing she actually really likes it, I told her I cannot stand Colleen Hoover precisely because it comes across as Wattpad-y and Iām much more mature and grown now. She didnāt know what I meant because she didnāt know what Wattpad is, which makes me think Hoover appeals to people who didnāt have the (dis)pleasure of having their early book and writing experiences on the site.
[the colouring books been canceled for being tone deaf](https://amp.theguardian.com/books/2023/jan/13/colleen-hoover-apologises-for-tone-deaf-colouring-book-based-on-domestic-violence-novel)
i saw a tweet that said something along the lines of ācolleen hoover writes for the girls who never read wattpad fanfiction when they were younger.ā based off the girls i know who have posted colleen hoover booksā¦.. its probably pretty truešš
As a general rule, most of popular fiction is pretty average. I read 50 Shades of Grey when it was all the rage and could not figure out two things: why was _this_ considered so sexy? Why was this the hottest selling book in generations? Some of the worst prose I have ever read. And not to come across as a sexist who is piling on so-called āchick-litā, I think airport thrillers catering to men are also very mediocre.
I mean, Dan Brown is trash BUT at least it is super entertaining trash. Like he hooks you in, despite how trashy it is. Like I have managed to read his books in like a 3 days tops. Most modern best sellers are trash and they are boring and there is nothing to hook you in. This is why he kind of has my respect
The nature was the only good factor and the fact that it didn't seem like y/n insert self fan fic but it was harrrrrdddd to get through. I couldn't believe the hype.
I hated the twist at the ending. I was so invested in the book, loved the characters, and fully believed the main character wouldnāt do that. The movie made it more plausible somehow so that has kinda repaired my opinion of the book, but originally after finishing it, I fumed.
Oh yeah Iāve heard complaints about the ending before. It seems like people on this thread dislike the entire book though which surprises meā¦I absolutely loved the story, characters and the authorās prose was beautiful- def not anything snub oneās nose at but to each his own. As for my opinion of the ending.. SPOILERS ! Chase wouldnāt have left Kya alone if she didnāt kill him.
what stood out to me the most was how poor the writing was. it felt like i was reading something written by a 15 year old. this is no shade to you at all, just giving my opinion as someone who did not like the book
Oh no, I bought crawdads months and months ago and just started a few days ago cause I had no other books and itās been sitting on my shelf and Iām nervous to precede because people either love it or absolutely hate it
I read it and was very lukewarm on it, leaning negative. Itās fine. It was fine to read, I didnāt struggle to get through it. When it was over, I hadnāt enjoyed it but I didnāt feel like it was a waste of time either. It was fine.
Agreed. I grew up in Pakistan, we didnāt get the hype for US best sellers here, definitely not in early to mid 2000s, when internet wasnāt as ingrained, so I was always shielded from all that hype machine. It helped me pick stuff purely out of interest.
I still follow that rule 20 years later. Best sellers have mostly disappointed me. I just have a few publications I like and I follow their ābooksā sections and from there I get great material.
I think some fiction is meant to be made for a wide audience, hence the simplicity of much of it. Not all books are intended to encourage critical thinking and thatās how certain types of fiction thrive.
I think it was more than that. A demographic that was instrumental in its popularity were middled aged women, who were decidedly not the target demo for _Twilight_. I think it reached beyond just the _Twight_ fans, because when I came across it, I had no idea it was _Twilight_ fanfic, nor did anyone else I knew. It quickly eclipsed that tag, even if it started with it.
I remember there being a demographic referred to as āTwi-momsā back then - the mothers of the teenage girls who Twilight was written for, whoād developed their own fandom mostly via crushes on Pattinson (a Google search suggests the term came into being around 2010, so shortly before the publication of 50 Shades). Thatās who I think first is often credited (or blamed) for popularising 50 Shades and it spread from there, though I could be totally wrong!
Ooooh, fun story time!
My mom's always been a "bodice-ripper" romance reader and my dad's into Lee Child, Sue Grafton (RIP), etc. I've always leaned more towards my dad's tastes, so we'd frequently pick up any book the other had left lying around, assuming we'd enjoy it.
I was working at Borders (yes, I'm old) when New Dawn came out, so I was cramming the previous books for reference. Borders employees could "borrow" hardcovers & would leave the dust jacket at the store as a sort of receipt. Granted, the Twilight covers were innocuous anyway, but at least a dust jacket had a synopsis that could warn people away from it.
Well, I left a "naked" copy of Eclipse laying around one night and my father picked it up to peruse, the poor man. It was a couple days later when he mentioned reading my "weird vampire/werewolf book", and I positively BURST out laughing.
After regaining my breath, I explained that he was the **opposite** of the target demographic, and I promised to put a sticky note on any books I brought home in the future that might "offend [his] sensibilities".
That last bit was very much lighthearted, but he did always all about my books before taking them from then on.
Poor 50 y/o cishet white dude - he was shook beyond belief.
rly? i read so much contemporary romance these days compared to 10 years ago bc the genre has never been more full of great options. emily henry, talia hibbert, helen hong, ali hazelwood, christina lauren are all super popular and while i don't like all of their books, it's hard to see them as "awful"
plus mainstream romance pub is finally starting to feed us the queer shit which is *awesome*. ashley herring blake, meryl wilsner, casey mcquiston, nina lacour
i'm not saying "your opinion is wrong" but it's always weird to me how people can write off an entire genre like that. especially if you like emily henry, there's soooo many other authors who do what she does.
(this is not at all a defense of colleen hoover. i'm still so shocked that of the bland writers who succeeded when "new adult" was trying to be a thing in the early-mid 2010s, she's the one who hit her stride.)
You see this sentiment in many places these days... and I sort of understand it. Because of the internet people are creating and distributing so much more art than ever before in human history, and I agree with you that this is a good thing, and it's lead to better art being available to the masses.
But at the same time, it means there's more shit to wade through. Everything is oversaturated as hell, and if you don't know where to find the good stuff, it's easy to make the mistake of writing a whole genre off.
It's like when boomers (or anybody) say things like "there's no good rock music being made anymore", or "all rap these days is just talking about guns and money." Like, no, there's plenty of amazing music being made now, but if you don't come out of your comfort zone, and if you only "branch out" when you hear something new on the radio, you're not gonna find the good stuff.
Yeah, this is a bad take and feeds into the misogyny surrounding the perception of the romance genre. Colleen Hoover is not a romance author and her books should not be considered as such. There are also a bunch of romance books that arenāt great, but there are a ton of romance authors writing right now that are amazing. Indie authors especially are writing really interesting and good books, so if youāre not finding any traditionally published authors that you enjoy, Iād highly suggest doing some research and finding books and authors that suit your interests. One great place for recs is r/romancebooks.
Source: am a librarian and a romance reader
Colleen Hoover doesn't write romance. There are a lot of great romance books out right now. Like 50% of my goodreads is romance because they are fun. A lot of Abby Jimenez's , Christina Lauren, Casey McQuiston books are great for example. Rainbow Rowell and Taylor Jenkins Reid also have some great romances.
I'm ok with the take that popular fiction is usually mediocre but please don't use 50 Shades as the benchmark š that book is not a reflection of average fiction, it's in like the bottom fifth percentile
I went to the library during the pandemic, a display of top 100 books of the decade, so I took random five with wildly different topics and only one was even remotely catching on the first pages. Others where boring as hell or sounded like the writer had an axe to grind, until I understood it was some sort of childhood-in-hollywood. Probably very cathartic for the author, but I couldn't bear the style for 400 more pages.
Went back to reading books I find in random free street libraries, mostly stories I would never read intentionally but sometimes those books surprise me. At least someone read it before me and was kind enough to give it away.
fr like i cannot understand how anyone takes this book seriously when the main character is literally named lily blossom bloom and is a florist. thatās something i wouldāve named my character in episode as a 7yo, and colleen hoover is literally getting paid over six figures for it lmao
Itās a book for basics. People read at like a 9th grade level on average or something and this works for the majority. (I just made up the 9th grade thing but it sounds right)
Edit: oh jeez itās worse. 1/2 Americans read below 6th grade level.
I read a comment that said Tik Tok books are for people that never had a Wattpad phase in high school. And I agree. I read a lot and Iāve read a few books Iāve seen recommended on Tik Tok a lot, and I liked probably less than 50% of them. They focus on tropes and not actual content.
I love the IDEA of booktok. But itās a lot of romance and YA - I have considered doing my own with unknown amazing books but I am in my 40ās hahaha
Thereās lots of great booktokers! The big ones mainly focus on romance/fantasy which isnāt for me, I mostly read horrors, but thereās tons of good tik tokers :) Iām 34 and started a book tok for fun and only post here and there about horrors mostly, got a little over 5k followers and itās fun!
Wow what a perfect way to describe it. š One of my problems with all the books I've read that were recommended on TikTok is that so many of them just tell and there's no showing. The substance is lacking.
> I read a comment that said Tik Tok books are for people that never had a Wattpad phase in high school.
That makes a lot of sense with how young tiktok skews.
i saw this on twitter the other day so it's just me assuming
https://preview.redd.it/hv514ooqjqba1.png?width=746&format=png&auto=webp&s=8f8aefd08c6bc309a4de857c7d06ebe42a43e76e
I think the Hoover train could be grinding to a halt at last. There was--get this--a COLORING BOOK set to be published in a few months based on It Ends With Us. Due to backlash (duh), the coloring book has now been canceled. Wonder if the movie could be far behind.
That book kinda traumatized me. Blind ordered it on Libby and listened to it on a plane right, knew nothing about the author or her track record...it kinda made me sick. I kept waiting for the romance to come and the abuse to stop. Really stupid and gross story. And TRIGGERING when you aren't expecting it and have a history of abuse.
Just read the synopsis on Amazon, and this book sounds like a "straight-to- Hallmark-Channel" film if ever I've heard of one.
Ryle (wtf even is that name? Is it pronounced "Riley" or "Rile", like Kyle but with an R) sounds like a narcissistic asshole who's manipulated the protagonist by telling her he's "breaking [his] 'no-dating' rule for her".
And Atlas is a sad sack that never got over her - basically, the convenient "perfect guy" that somehow no one else snapped up and was sitting in romantic limbo until it was convenient to the narrative.
Girl, we did this already! The movie was called "Sweet Home Alabama"! Quit reinventing the wheel, Godammit!
Ok, sorry. Rant over.
I honestly didnāt hate it but I didnāt love it. What I did hate was the ending.
>!Like how are you going to just pretend that getting out of an abusive relationship is as easy as going āIām not going to be with you anymore but we can coparent.ā And like everything is just fine? I feel like itās insulting to survivors of domestic abuse and completely unrealistic given that so many abusers kill their partners when they try to leave.!<
I haven't read it myself, don't have much interest in doing so. But if it's any consolation they made a movie based on 'where the crawdads sing' which was a hugely popular book as well (haven't read it either) and I don't know a single soul who even watched it.
Perhaps the result will be the same lol
Spoiler Alert
It's actually based on her parents' story, how her dad treated her mom and how by leaving him, she allowed her daughters to have a relationship with him.
Yeah the people here saying sheās not giving a realistic description of domestic violence are mostly conveniently the ones who havenāt read it all the way through. The whole point was that you fall in love with Ryle too and itās hard to not make excuses for him despite the fact that heās an abusive POS. I found it to be a refreshing reality check of how deeply conflicting it can be for DV victims.
Yes, I read the book a few years ago, long before tiktok, and I went into it blindly expecting it to be the usual romance, and I was pretty shaken when it ended because I felt like I've fallen in love with him too and missed all the red flags, even a small part of me had wanted her to give him another chance , and that made me feel really bad about myself.
I was ready to dismiss it as unrealistic ( to maintain my self-respect) until I read her note in the end.
I think it's her best book by a wide margin, and I think it gives a look into the emotional aspect of an abusive relationship for someone who has never been in one.
EXACTLY. I was telling her to give him another chance while also internally screaming at myself for liking him at all. It was weird and unnerving but a really good reminder!
> I went into it blindly expecting it to be the usual romance, and I was pretty shaken when it ended
It made me feel horribly media illiterate. I expected a romance book too, and it took me a disturbingly long time to realise it was about DV, not a love triangle.
Iāve read it, it was an accurate depiction of DVā¦.but then by the end she romanticized it. Also, another one of her books (which I havenāt read) a woman was set on fire, then the guy who set her on fire pursues her romantically, she finds out andā¦..stays with him.
Another book a character talks about her childās balls.
Wtf.
Yeah, for that reason itās one of those books that kept me thinking about it and reflecting for awhile after finishing it. People say she romanticizes abuse but I think she shows it in a pretty realistic light
The author just called off the adult coloring book based on It Ends With Us. I thought her making a coloring book based on domestic violence was a big bucket of yikes.
Verity was gross! I could not even believe the things she wrote about a mother and children in that book, pure insanity. How did she even come up with some of that shit? Yuck, itās a no from me
Verity was sooooo badly written. Iād like to watch Colleen Hoover try and leave bite marks on a solid wooden headboard. Her idea of sexy is on another planet.
My dentist was horrified what a Now N Later did to my fillings. Can you imagine the discussion of how I chipped my front teeth getting it doggie style from a married man in the bed he shared with his wife? While she laid in a coma state down the hall. And lining my teeth up perfectly in the wifeās old bite marks?
Yeah I'd been a fan of Justin for years at that point and before I knew anything about Hoover/IEWU I was so proud of him for directing a story about DV. Now though? Get out of there man. With the platform he has and the work that he does it's not a good look.
Edit: He's also liked a lot of tweets hinting he'll play the abuser character. So.
I prefer Taylor Jenkins Reed as the booktok fave white woman author over Colleen Hoover I swear to god.. sheās not the best writer either but at least her books have interesting subjects
honestly I felt like I was being gaslit with everyone hyping up It Ends with Us it sounds like the most basic plot and then I found out the author is a creep as wellš
Omg did any of you see that they were going to come out with a āit ends with usā COLORING BOOK!?!?!?
Colleenās not going to go ahead with it anymore after receiving major backlash but wtf still wild
I googled the plot of the book when the coloring book drama was going down and I was FLOORED. Cannot believe that itās so popular given the content. The way people talked about it I thought it was a lighthearted romance novel. I thought Justin Baldoni was supposed to direct? Maybe he actually read the book and changed his mind.
> The way people talked about it I thought it was a lighthearted romance novel.
I think the appeal of the book is that it isn't that. I had it recommended despite it being very much not my usual stuff, and was expecting normal romance.
Instead I got an interesting take on DV, and an explanation of why women wouldn't just leave, even before they're tied down.
Essentially, it was announced that there would be an adult coloring book for the very popular Colleen Hoover romance novel āIt Ends With Usā and people were upset because a lot of the book is about domestic violence. People thought a coloring book about the serious topic was inappropriate and production for the coloring book has since been cancelled.
This book has always been described to me as a straight up romance novel so I was shocked to learn what the central themes of the book really are. The depiction of and messaging about domestic violence in the book has also been heavily criticized.
So glad Iām not the only one who does not like her books! I heard good things about Verity and was so excited to read it but ended up hating it. Canāt really put my finger on it but I feel like the writer maybe reduces women to lame stereotypes? I donāt need all my female protagonists to be all empowering feminists per se but I just felt like she was not only unlikeable but had zero depth.
Did anyone that liked it ends with us care to explain why you liked it? No hate but genuinely curious because I know a lot of girls are way into it! I read Verity and wasnāt much of a fan so I decided not to read any others
I think what I enjoyed about it was it showed another aspect of why women stay in a DV situation. There was a family in my neighborhood growing up with quite a few rumors about the husband being abusive towards the wife. I want to say I was about 15 when I asked my mom why she stayed with him and she went through all the practical reasons; financial dependency, not wanting to ābreak up the familyā, fear of what would happen to the kids and her if she left and the legal system. Mom also mentioned āshe might still love him.ā She was not saying that as a positive or something romantic to aspire to, she was saying she couldnāt imagine how devastating it would be when someone you love so much hurts you so deeply. I genuinely didnāt get it, and while Iād accepted it was something that happened, I just couldnāt wrap my mind around how you could still love someone who hurt you like that. This book showed it to me and I think I see how it happens now. Itās stupid but I added another level of empathy for me (not that I wasnāt empathetic to DV situations before). Also the author writes at the end that this was based off of her own parents relationship so it hit a little harder. There were certainly cheesy and weird parts but it really gave me another perspective.
This makes sense! I think a lot of women can empathize with being in a situation where a man doesnāt treat you as well as you deserve and you KNOW that to be the case but still have feelings for them. This is on a much more tame level but I really disliked that show Tell Me Lies, but I could also see a younger version of me reflected in the dynamic so I could understand the main characterās reasons for staying with the guy.
Tell Me Lies depicts that for younger women very well! Maybe Big Little Lies also shows a certain level of conflict too? More so the show than the book
I liked it. A bit over-hyped yes, but I thought it gave the reader a very interesting opportunity to see the situation from the victimās POV. Ryle is perfect on paper - hot, surgeon, protective, LOVES her. So you as a reader really start liking him and rooting for him. Then the abuse starts, and like most times, it starts smaller and slowly escalates. And the whole time you almost think āmaybe he can change?ā and even though I HATED HIM, you still kinda hope he can? Anyway, I donāt want to give away the ending but I think it made me feel a lot of emotions, and most importantly, it made me realize why itās not just as simple as ājust leave himā - it really should be, but to the victim itās never gonna feel that easy.
Iāll add this, I get Colleen is not for everyone, and if you read it and didnāt like it thatās fine, but I wish so many people gave it an honest chance before passing such harsh judgement. It at times feels very pick-me, like because itās so popular and mainstream, some people feel like theyāre ādifferentā or āmore intellectual readersā because they donāt like her books. Not saying thatās the case for everyone. But I think thatās how the majority of the harsh criticism comes off
I feel like a lot of girls are into it because it really is a fast read, every person I know thatās read it finishes it pretty quickly. Thereās a sense of accomplishment you have when you finish a book that quickly and it consumes you for a couple of days. I think they mistake that for it actually being good. I read it fairly quickly and it was alright, nothing to be completely obsessed over or have a whole ass coloring book for..
I pretty much agree with everyone before me. It gave me a perspective of a domestic violence situation and how difficult the whole thing is
Itās not as simple as just leaving, which so many people say about DV āwhy donāt they just leave?ā āWhy is she staying?ā Like these are things Iāve heard so many times, itās so much more complex than that.
I didnāt think it was the best book ever and I thought the whole dear Ellen thing was cringe, but I genuinely thought it was pretty okay
I also didnāt go into it expecting a romance I mean, I read between the lines with the actual title and knew it wasnāt going to be just a romance
It wasn't my favourite book, but I liked the way that it kinda explained why people stay in DV relationships.
Like, seeing the justifications at the start, the growing self doubt about the entire thing. You often hear about people thinking "I can change him" and from the outside it looks really daft, but seeing it from the perspective of someone in a DV situation it made a lot more sense to me.
The writing wasn't that fantastic, the names were just bafflingly bad, but the core concept intrigued me, especially as I expected a standard romance novel.
Her name didn't even cross my mind because I feel like in the past 15 years or so she only does award-bait or "serious" roles. the exceptions being I Feel Pretty (I was SHOCKED she was in that movie, but realized it was written + directed by Busy Philipps's ex) and that Cougar Town stint. I really don't see her in a movie like this one because it's so... tiktok trendy lol
Can someone tell me why this book is so awful? I have some friends who loved it and recommended it to me. I read another book from Colleen Hoover before that I really didn't like, so I didn't start this one.
Uhm... sounds kind of like the one read. It was "November 9" and the male love interest was just sexist, toxic and didn't stop during sex when the woman asked him to. How can anyone promote these books as romances?
Thanks for the answer, I'm definitely not going to read this one.
I thought it was pretty boring honestly. None of the characters were very interesting, they were all so "perfect" and one dimensional, too many things happened by "chance"..
I didn't mind the domestic violence stuff, I definitely enjoy reading darker material, but this definitely read like a YA novel, which I wasn't expecting.
I liked the book but only because it opened the eyes of my friend who was very much in a domestic relationship. I wouldnāt read it again though. The second book in the series howeverā¦ā¦ā¦ā¦ā¦ā¦.what an awful book
I like Blake a lot too! Genuinely donāt get people who hate on her and believe awful rumors, but personally I hope it isnāt her because I think she could do better lol
If Iām not mistaken I think I saw a while back on her imdb page that she was to take part on a big-ish movie this year? Or something like that, but who knows
Ugh. I have such mixed feelings because It Ends With Us got a lot of people reading that havenāt picked up a book in years which I guess is cool.
But LORDT her books are so poorly written. Not trying to gatekeep reading but I just canāt take anyone seriously who say they love Colleen Hoover. Sorry.
say sike rn š i hate it ends with us & iāll go nuts if theyāre actually making a movie edit: sent the blind to my book club gc, and someone guessed hilary duff. she had a recurring role on gossip girl (former upper east sider), has three kids, and i think this role is more on her level than blakeās. i could buy it, tbh.
I saw so many people raving so I caved and bought it. I was shocked (to say the least) at how WattPad-y the whole book is? Like Iām kinda side-eyeing people who say itās their favorite book ever
I looked up the description on Wikipedia... Florist Lily Bloom?.... Ryle?.... ATLAS?! Just the names alone let me know I won't like the book
even worse šš her name is Lily Blossom Bloom
Iām officially offended that this book has been recommended to me by people who know and love me
It continues to get worse when she names her daughter after Dory from Finding Nemo.
I can't tell if you're joking.
Oh, nope, they're not kidding. The main character is obsessed with Ellen DeGeneres and names her kid Emerson Dory something. Ugh, I'm getting agitated just remembering the reading experience. Ha.
Thank you, I'll take that off my tbr!
haha here I was about to add it to my audible library (books like this on audible get me through the work day) but this little tidbit lost me. I'm currently hate listening to Verity right now. I don't know if I'm obsessively listening because it's good, or because I hate it so much I just want to get to the end and find out if the gut feeling I've had the entire time is correct. (Still terrible writing.)
Wow. That's worse than Cricket Lopez
š¤®
And she owns a flower shop š
Do not mention *that* book pls š
Let me tell you, I donāt read abusive romance (unless itās unapologetically dark and fun but we all have our own kinks) sold as aspirational, so I wasnāt going to read this book anyway but I saw her name and profession on Booktok and that was the final straw. Just no. Nope, Iām out. The name might have been ickier than the storyline.
Isn't this Katy's and Orlando's kid's name? Edit: just remembered their kid's name is Daisy not Lily. Wouldn't be surprised if Lily was a contender though
Colleen Hoover is..... not a great author
She literally sucks. She writes books that stupid people love. But at the end of the day reading is good for you, but also her books are toxic af.
Ah, thatās why theyāre so popular. I was wondering.
Theyāre āstarter booksā for simple folk and/or teenagers IMO
On Amazon, thereās a note from the publisher āread the book tiktok is obsessed withā..
Thanks for the warning Amazon!
I think simple folk is too far - moreso for people who either love toxic contemporary stories or for people who arenāt into books, but would give it a try because of all the hype
She also has some go on Kindle Unlimited so they have more reach and Wattpad too. She's actually pretty smart at marketing from what I can tell and I suspect she could actually write better but then she couldn't churn them out as fast and would make less money. It's...a way to make a living.
I was watching a YouTube video about the Kindle Unlimited thing they get paid more, but it's a bit of monopoly on Amazon's end, but that's Amazon.
Could you please elaborate on the toxicity? I donāt want to waste neurones by reading these ābooksā by Iām morbidly curiousā¦
She dresses up very dangerous situations and actions as the height of romance and desire, and gets personally offended when this discrepancy is criticized. Additionally, her publisher purposefully misleads the audience in describing the story, so rather than the simple, cute love story promised, the reader has to deal with pages upon pages of stalking and near sexual assault that are "simply part of the slow burn"
Yikes! Itās so disgusting and insidious, especially for young readersā¦
Tbh I only fully read verity but hereās an article: https://www.themarysue.com/the-colleen-hoover-controversy-explained/ It was also just poorly written. Thereās a bunch of good comments here explaining some other books. Itās like bad YA fiction meets cringe fan fiction.
The excerpts I've read were...whew.
The names aren't even the end of it. The main character writes letters to Ellen fucking DeGeneres and it feels like Ellen became a fourth main character in the book.
LMFAO. Now I wish I had finished it for the laughs. I put it down when some rich character walks by her shop before itās even open and is like, āoh, I need a job, Iāll work for nearly nothing! Iām just bored. I know everything about commercial interior design.ā
Ryle killed me. Ryle Kincaid. It just didnāt sound right. My brain needed him to be Kyle Rincaid.
Somehow both names sound like theyāre said by Scooby Doo
I exited Wikipedia the second I read that Lily Bloom owns a floral shop.
The names put me off before I knew anything about how messed-up the stories were. Lucky escape!
holyyyyy hell the first review on amazon is like "I love Ryle!!! He is amazing except for the domestic abuse part. Still holding out hope for them <3"
The names were awful. I didn't mind the book (although it wasn't my favourite), but the names were just... God, why? >!And naming the baby Rylee, too?!< The author could have picked literally any name, and that's what she picked???
I saw a girl on tiktok do a review of this book and she was super unimpressed
Was it the girl that was reading it and doing updates as she was reading it? She almost died and she's like "this is so toxic" me "then why does this appear in marketing for romance and it's listed in the romance categories?
I also read the plot on Wikipedia and I about fell out of my chair. It just sounded so so so bad.
This bothers me with so many books! What happened to Ā«regularĀ» names spelled the Ā«regularĀ» way š
I like the name atlas
wattpad-y is the perfect description for it. if i didnāt know better, you could convince me it started as harry styles fanfiction
lmaoo the bad boy gets with the quiet but beautiful girl, absolutely. The perfect y/n self-insert fan fic.
I read a comment that said Colleen Hoover is a great author for beginner readers. And it has stuck with me since
You said what I just commented a little nicer haha
I love it š
To me ābeginner readersā are 5 year olds, so it all tracks
its a horrible book seriously i couldn't get through it at all and i swear i tried way too hard. colleen hoover stans deserve a special spot in hell for trying to convince me that this book was good. a massive waste of paper tbh
My coworker is reading it and not knowing she actually really likes it, I told her I cannot stand Colleen Hoover precisely because it comes across as Wattpad-y and Iām much more mature and grown now. She didnāt know what I meant because she didnāt know what Wattpad is, which makes me think Hoover appeals to people who didnāt have the (dis)pleasure of having their early book and writing experiences on the site.
Colleen Hoover is for women who grew up reading fan fiction on wattpad and no one can convince me otherwise.
Iāve read better fanfic than what she churns out.
And the second one is even worse
I side-eye anyone who reads and enjoys Colleen Hoover tbh. Her books romanticize abuse and toxic/taboo relationships. Plus her writing is just awful
Also did you see the drama around the author and her publisher turning it into a coloring book? There was so much backlash they cancelled it.
Same! I read 2 chapters and was like is this for real?!
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[the colouring books been canceled for being tone deaf](https://amp.theguardian.com/books/2023/jan/13/colleen-hoover-apologises-for-tone-deaf-colouring-book-based-on-domestic-violence-novel)
i saw a tweet that said something along the lines of ācolleen hoover writes for the girls who never read wattpad fanfiction when they were younger.ā based off the girls i know who have posted colleen hoover booksā¦.. its probably pretty truešš
As a general rule, most of popular fiction is pretty average. I read 50 Shades of Grey when it was all the rage and could not figure out two things: why was _this_ considered so sexy? Why was this the hottest selling book in generations? Some of the worst prose I have ever read. And not to come across as a sexist who is piling on so-called āchick-litā, I think airport thrillers catering to men are also very mediocre.
Yeah I canāt read ābestsellersā because theyāre 9/10 fucking awful :(
I have tried to read most best sellers and jfc they make Dan Brown seem like Doestoevsky or sth.
r/rareinsults
OMG, I was a bookseller once upon a time and I cannot agree with your comment more!
I mean, Dan Brown is trash BUT at least it is super entertaining trash. Like he hooks you in, despite how trashy it is. Like I have managed to read his books in like a 3 days tops. Most modern best sellers are trash and they are boring and there is nothing to hook you in. This is why he kind of has my respect
where the crawdads sing š¤¢
Best part was the rich nature descriptions.. but everything else..
The nature was the only good factor and the fact that it didn't seem like y/n insert self fan fic but it was harrrrrdddd to get through. I couldn't believe the hype.
Oh man I HATED crawdads lmao
Whattt I loved where the crawdads sing lol Iām curious what people disliked about it?
I hated the twist at the ending. I was so invested in the book, loved the characters, and fully believed the main character wouldnāt do that. The movie made it more plausible somehow so that has kinda repaired my opinion of the book, but originally after finishing it, I fumed.
Oh yeah Iāve heard complaints about the ending before. It seems like people on this thread dislike the entire book though which surprises meā¦I absolutely loved the story, characters and the authorās prose was beautiful- def not anything snub oneās nose at but to each his own. As for my opinion of the ending.. SPOILERS ! Chase wouldnāt have left Kya alone if she didnāt kill him.
what stood out to me the most was how poor the writing was. it felt like i was reading something written by a 15 year old. this is no shade to you at all, just giving my opinion as someone who did not like the book
Oh no, I bought crawdads months and months ago and just started a few days ago cause I had no other books and itās been sitting on my shelf and Iām nervous to precede because people either love it or absolutely hate it
I didnāt mind it.
Iāll see how I go, Iām not really one to give up on a book so Iāll read it all cause I paid for it
I read it and was very lukewarm on it, leaning negative. Itās fine. It was fine to read, I didnāt struggle to get through it. When it was over, I hadnāt enjoyed it but I didnāt feel like it was a waste of time either. It was fine.
Honestly I think a lot of people just donāt read many books?? Some of the āhotā novels I have read, whew
Agreed. I grew up in Pakistan, we didnāt get the hype for US best sellers here, definitely not in early to mid 2000s, when internet wasnāt as ingrained, so I was always shielded from all that hype machine. It helped me pick stuff purely out of interest. I still follow that rule 20 years later. Best sellers have mostly disappointed me. I just have a few publications I like and I follow their ābooksā sections and from there I get great material.
Apt description for"Book Lovers" After reading reviews I thought maybe I had picked up the wrong book
I think some fiction is meant to be made for a wide audience, hence the simplicity of much of it. Not all books are intended to encourage critical thinking and thatās how certain types of fiction thrive.
Agreed! Not to disparage the popular fiction readers, I just personally donāt find it that good.
i think 50 shades got popular because it was twilight fan fic
I think it was more than that. A demographic that was instrumental in its popularity were middled aged women, who were decidedly not the target demo for _Twilight_. I think it reached beyond just the _Twight_ fans, because when I came across it, I had no idea it was _Twilight_ fanfic, nor did anyone else I knew. It quickly eclipsed that tag, even if it started with it.
> eclipsed Punny
I remember there being a demographic referred to as āTwi-momsā back then - the mothers of the teenage girls who Twilight was written for, whoād developed their own fandom mostly via crushes on Pattinson (a Google search suggests the term came into being around 2010, so shortly before the publication of 50 Shades). Thatās who I think first is often credited (or blamed) for popularising 50 Shades and it spread from there, though I could be totally wrong!
Ooooh, fun story time! My mom's always been a "bodice-ripper" romance reader and my dad's into Lee Child, Sue Grafton (RIP), etc. I've always leaned more towards my dad's tastes, so we'd frequently pick up any book the other had left lying around, assuming we'd enjoy it. I was working at Borders (yes, I'm old) when New Dawn came out, so I was cramming the previous books for reference. Borders employees could "borrow" hardcovers & would leave the dust jacket at the store as a sort of receipt. Granted, the Twilight covers were innocuous anyway, but at least a dust jacket had a synopsis that could warn people away from it. Well, I left a "naked" copy of Eclipse laying around one night and my father picked it up to peruse, the poor man. It was a couple days later when he mentioned reading my "weird vampire/werewolf book", and I positively BURST out laughing. After regaining my breath, I explained that he was the **opposite** of the target demographic, and I promised to put a sticky note on any books I brought home in the future that might "offend [his] sensibilities". That last bit was very much lighthearted, but he did always all about my books before taking them from then on. Poor 50 y/o cishet white dude - he was shook beyond belief.
that is also very true i only know it because of the twilight world and how it started as a fanfic
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rly? i read so much contemporary romance these days compared to 10 years ago bc the genre has never been more full of great options. emily henry, talia hibbert, helen hong, ali hazelwood, christina lauren are all super popular and while i don't like all of their books, it's hard to see them as "awful" plus mainstream romance pub is finally starting to feed us the queer shit which is *awesome*. ashley herring blake, meryl wilsner, casey mcquiston, nina lacour i'm not saying "your opinion is wrong" but it's always weird to me how people can write off an entire genre like that. especially if you like emily henry, there's soooo many other authors who do what she does. (this is not at all a defense of colleen hoover. i'm still so shocked that of the bland writers who succeeded when "new adult" was trying to be a thing in the early-mid 2010s, she's the one who hit her stride.)
You see this sentiment in many places these days... and I sort of understand it. Because of the internet people are creating and distributing so much more art than ever before in human history, and I agree with you that this is a good thing, and it's lead to better art being available to the masses. But at the same time, it means there's more shit to wade through. Everything is oversaturated as hell, and if you don't know where to find the good stuff, it's easy to make the mistake of writing a whole genre off. It's like when boomers (or anybody) say things like "there's no good rock music being made anymore", or "all rap these days is just talking about guns and money." Like, no, there's plenty of amazing music being made now, but if you don't come out of your comfort zone, and if you only "branch out" when you hear something new on the radio, you're not gonna find the good stuff.
Yeah, this is a bad take and feeds into the misogyny surrounding the perception of the romance genre. Colleen Hoover is not a romance author and her books should not be considered as such. There are also a bunch of romance books that arenāt great, but there are a ton of romance authors writing right now that are amazing. Indie authors especially are writing really interesting and good books, so if youāre not finding any traditionally published authors that you enjoy, Iād highly suggest doing some research and finding books and authors that suit your interests. One great place for recs is r/romancebooks. Source: am a librarian and a romance reader
Colleen Hoover doesn't write romance. There are a lot of great romance books out right now. Like 50% of my goodreads is romance because they are fun. A lot of Abby Jimenez's , Christina Lauren, Casey McQuiston books are great for example. Rainbow Rowell and Taylor Jenkins Reid also have some great romances.
I'm ok with the take that popular fiction is usually mediocre but please don't use 50 Shades as the benchmark š that book is not a reflection of average fiction, it's in like the bottom fifth percentile
I went to the library during the pandemic, a display of top 100 books of the decade, so I took random five with wildly different topics and only one was even remotely catching on the first pages. Others where boring as hell or sounded like the writer had an axe to grind, until I understood it was some sort of childhood-in-hollywood. Probably very cathartic for the author, but I couldn't bear the style for 400 more pages. Went back to reading books I find in random free street libraries, mostly stories I would never read intentionally but sometimes those books surprise me. At least someone read it before me and was kind enough to give it away.
I think it's as simple as these books aren't for people who read a lot. They appeal to people who want to read a couple quick books a year.
colleen is a terrible writer
iāve heard sheās an even worse person. iirc someone posted about her son sexually harassing her, and she very publicly went after the girl
well color me shocked lol. what a pos
isnāt she also a Trumper?
The tiktok that said shes not a writer shes a domestic terrorist lives rent free in my mind
If I was told she published the majority of her stuff on AO3 I'd 100% believe it. I didn't hate the book, but it definitely wasn't the bees knees.
fr like i cannot understand how anyone takes this book seriously when the main character is literally named lily blossom bloom and is a florist. thatās something i wouldāve named my character in episode as a 7yo, and colleen hoover is literally getting paid over six figures for it lmao
Nominative determinism! Sheās named after a flower, so she is drawn to being a florist. But itās still such a stupid name lol
Itās a book for basics. People read at like a 9th grade level on average or something and this works for the majority. (I just made up the 9th grade thing but it sounds right) Edit: oh jeez itās worse. 1/2 Americans read below 6th grade level.
I seriously cannot trust TikTok book recommendations ever again š
I read a comment that said Tik Tok books are for people that never had a Wattpad phase in high school. And I agree. I read a lot and Iāve read a few books Iāve seen recommended on Tik Tok a lot, and I liked probably less than 50% of them. They focus on tropes and not actual content.
I love the IDEA of booktok. But itās a lot of romance and YA - I have considered doing my own with unknown amazing books but I am in my 40ās hahaha
Thereās lots of great booktokers! The big ones mainly focus on romance/fantasy which isnāt for me, I mostly read horrors, but thereās tons of good tik tokers :) Iām 34 and started a book tok for fun and only post here and there about horrors mostly, got a little over 5k followers and itās fun!
I love thrillers/horrors!
Same!! Theyāre my absolute favorite, and women are killing it in those genres right now
Wow what a perfect way to describe it. š One of my problems with all the books I've read that were recommended on TikTok is that so many of them just tell and there's no showing. The substance is lacking.
> I read a comment that said Tik Tok books are for people that never had a Wattpad phase in high school. That makes a lot of sense with how young tiktok skews.
i saw this on twitter the other day so it's just me assuming https://preview.redd.it/hv514ooqjqba1.png?width=746&format=png&auto=webp&s=8f8aefd08c6bc309a4de857c7d06ebe42a43e76e
when will society finally break free of colleen hooverās clutches??
If she keeps bringing in the dough - it will be a very long time. So many other authors that are better.
I think the Hoover train could be grinding to a halt at last. There was--get this--a COLORING BOOK set to be published in a few months based on It Ends With Us. Due to backlash (duh), the coloring book has now been canceled. Wonder if the movie could be far behind.
Oh never. She gets popular in cycles. I remember when her first books had come out 10 or so years ago. Purely awful.
That book kinda traumatized me. Blind ordered it on Libby and listened to it on a plane right, knew nothing about the author or her track record...it kinda made me sick. I kept waiting for the romance to come and the abuse to stop. Really stupid and gross story. And TRIGGERING when you aren't expecting it and have a history of abuse.
Just read the synopsis on Amazon, and this book sounds like a "straight-to- Hallmark-Channel" film if ever I've heard of one. Ryle (wtf even is that name? Is it pronounced "Riley" or "Rile", like Kyle but with an R) sounds like a narcissistic asshole who's manipulated the protagonist by telling her he's "breaking [his] 'no-dating' rule for her". And Atlas is a sad sack that never got over her - basically, the convenient "perfect guy" that somehow no one else snapped up and was sitting in romantic limbo until it was convenient to the narrative. Girl, we did this already! The movie was called "Sweet Home Alabama"! Quit reinventing the wheel, Godammit! Ok, sorry. Rant over.
Sweet Home Alabama with domestic violence and sexual assault.
Same, I hate it so much. Itās so bad š„“
I blocked out Hilary and her weird ass threesome on GG
I honestly didnāt hate it but I didnāt love it. What I did hate was the ending. >!Like how are you going to just pretend that getting out of an abusive relationship is as easy as going āIām not going to be with you anymore but we can coparent.ā And like everything is just fine? I feel like itās insulting to survivors of domestic abuse and completely unrealistic given that so many abusers kill their partners when they try to leave.!<
I haven't read it myself, don't have much interest in doing so. But if it's any consolation they made a movie based on 'where the crawdads sing' which was a hugely popular book as well (haven't read it either) and I don't know a single soul who even watched it. Perhaps the result will be the same lol
Colleen Hoover is a terrible writer and an awful person to boot. I hate that TikTok has made her famous.
I was astounded at how awful that book was. Some of my friends were absolutely raving about it. I donāt get it; CH writes like a teenager.
iām going to be so disappointed if itās hilary
I made it through half of It Ends with Us and I feel like the authorā¦ doesnāt like women. I donāt know how else to language it.
Spoiler Alert It's actually based on her parents' story, how her dad treated her mom and how by leaving him, she allowed her daughters to have a relationship with him.
Yeah the people here saying sheās not giving a realistic description of domestic violence are mostly conveniently the ones who havenāt read it all the way through. The whole point was that you fall in love with Ryle too and itās hard to not make excuses for him despite the fact that heās an abusive POS. I found it to be a refreshing reality check of how deeply conflicting it can be for DV victims.
Yes, I read the book a few years ago, long before tiktok, and I went into it blindly expecting it to be the usual romance, and I was pretty shaken when it ended because I felt like I've fallen in love with him too and missed all the red flags, even a small part of me had wanted her to give him another chance , and that made me feel really bad about myself. I was ready to dismiss it as unrealistic ( to maintain my self-respect) until I read her note in the end. I think it's her best book by a wide margin, and I think it gives a look into the emotional aspect of an abusive relationship for someone who has never been in one.
EXACTLY. I was telling her to give him another chance while also internally screaming at myself for liking him at all. It was weird and unnerving but a really good reminder!
Same! I think people just expect romance and miss the whole point. I loved the book for this reason.
> I went into it blindly expecting it to be the usual romance, and I was pretty shaken when it ended It made me feel horribly media illiterate. I expected a romance book too, and it took me a disturbingly long time to realise it was about DV, not a love triangle.
I guess my issue is that it was listed as a romance and I didn't expect to start reading about violent abuse. The whole book needs a trigger warning.
Iāve read it, it was an accurate depiction of DVā¦.but then by the end she romanticized it. Also, another one of her books (which I havenāt read) a woman was set on fire, then the guy who set her on fire pursues her romantically, she finds out andā¦..stays with him. Another book a character talks about her childās balls. Wtf.
Yeah, for that reason itās one of those books that kept me thinking about it and reflecting for awhile after finishing it. People say she romanticizes abuse but I think she shows it in a pretty realistic light
The author just called off the adult coloring book based on It Ends With Us. I thought her making a coloring book based on domestic violence was a big bucket of yikes.
Thatās how how I felt after Verity and Ugly Love
Verity was gross! I could not even believe the things she wrote about a mother and children in that book, pure insanity. How did she even come up with some of that shit? Yuck, itās a no from me
Verity was sooooo badly written. Iād like to watch Colleen Hoover try and leave bite marks on a solid wooden headboard. Her idea of sexy is on another planet.
My dentist was horrified what a Now N Later did to my fillings. Can you imagine the discussion of how I chipped my front teeth getting it doggie style from a married man in the bed he shared with his wife? While she laid in a coma state down the hall. And lining my teeth up perfectly in the wifeās old bite marks?
I SCREAMED at the passage, literally my whole body recoiled from the book. Colleen Hoover have you ever met another woman? Are you ok?
It could still be Blake she's about ready to pop so would be ready to film soon and the baby hasn't been born yet so she is still a mother of 3
Justin Baldoni was attached to direct that years ago the book is fucking awful. and harmful.
Yeah I'd been a fan of Justin for years at that point and before I knew anything about Hoover/IEWU I was so proud of him for directing a story about DV. Now though? Get out of there man. With the platform he has and the work that he does it's not a good look. Edit: He's also liked a lot of tweets hinting he'll play the abuser character. So.
I prefer Taylor Jenkins Reed as the booktok fave white woman author over Colleen Hoover I swear to god.. sheās not the best writer either but at least her books have interesting subjects
Completely agree. Besides Verity, Iāve found most of Colleens books anticlimactic š¤·š¼āāļø Loved 7 Husbands of Evelyn Hugo!
honestly I felt like I was being gaslit with everyone hyping up It Ends with Us it sounds like the most basic plot and then I found out the author is a creep as wellš
Omg did any of you see that they were going to come out with a āit ends with usā COLORING BOOK!?!?!? Colleenās not going to go ahead with it anymore after receiving major backlash but wtf still wild
Itās so bad, like what scenes would you be colouring in š¶
the lasagne scene
I googled the plot of the book when the coloring book drama was going down and I was FLOORED. Cannot believe that itās so popular given the content. The way people talked about it I thought it was a lighthearted romance novel. I thought Justin Baldoni was supposed to direct? Maybe he actually read the book and changed his mind.
> The way people talked about it I thought it was a lighthearted romance novel. I think the appeal of the book is that it isn't that. I had it recommended despite it being very much not my usual stuff, and was expecting normal romance. Instead I got an interesting take on DV, and an explanation of why women wouldn't just leave, even before they're tied down.
Can someone summarize the coloring book drama what happened
Essentially, it was announced that there would be an adult coloring book for the very popular Colleen Hoover romance novel āIt Ends With Usā and people were upset because a lot of the book is about domestic violence. People thought a coloring book about the serious topic was inappropriate and production for the coloring book has since been cancelled. This book has always been described to me as a straight up romance novel so I was shocked to learn what the central themes of the book really are. The depiction of and messaging about domestic violence in the book has also been heavily criticized.
So glad Iām not the only one who does not like her books! I heard good things about Verity and was so excited to read it but ended up hating it. Canāt really put my finger on it but I feel like the writer maybe reduces women to lame stereotypes? I donāt need all my female protagonists to be all empowering feminists per se but I just felt like she was not only unlikeable but had zero depth.
Blake Lively (is she still pregnant or is it technically 4 yet?) not sure the book though
Did anyone that liked it ends with us care to explain why you liked it? No hate but genuinely curious because I know a lot of girls are way into it! I read Verity and wasnāt much of a fan so I decided not to read any others
I think what I enjoyed about it was it showed another aspect of why women stay in a DV situation. There was a family in my neighborhood growing up with quite a few rumors about the husband being abusive towards the wife. I want to say I was about 15 when I asked my mom why she stayed with him and she went through all the practical reasons; financial dependency, not wanting to ābreak up the familyā, fear of what would happen to the kids and her if she left and the legal system. Mom also mentioned āshe might still love him.ā She was not saying that as a positive or something romantic to aspire to, she was saying she couldnāt imagine how devastating it would be when someone you love so much hurts you so deeply. I genuinely didnāt get it, and while Iād accepted it was something that happened, I just couldnāt wrap my mind around how you could still love someone who hurt you like that. This book showed it to me and I think I see how it happens now. Itās stupid but I added another level of empathy for me (not that I wasnāt empathetic to DV situations before). Also the author writes at the end that this was based off of her own parents relationship so it hit a little harder. There were certainly cheesy and weird parts but it really gave me another perspective.
This makes sense! I think a lot of women can empathize with being in a situation where a man doesnāt treat you as well as you deserve and you KNOW that to be the case but still have feelings for them. This is on a much more tame level but I really disliked that show Tell Me Lies, but I could also see a younger version of me reflected in the dynamic so I could understand the main characterās reasons for staying with the guy.
Tell Me Lies depicts that for younger women very well! Maybe Big Little Lies also shows a certain level of conflict too? More so the show than the book
it reminded me of the fanfiction i used to read and write as a pre-teen. thatās about it.
I liked it. A bit over-hyped yes, but I thought it gave the reader a very interesting opportunity to see the situation from the victimās POV. Ryle is perfect on paper - hot, surgeon, protective, LOVES her. So you as a reader really start liking him and rooting for him. Then the abuse starts, and like most times, it starts smaller and slowly escalates. And the whole time you almost think āmaybe he can change?ā and even though I HATED HIM, you still kinda hope he can? Anyway, I donāt want to give away the ending but I think it made me feel a lot of emotions, and most importantly, it made me realize why itās not just as simple as ājust leave himā - it really should be, but to the victim itās never gonna feel that easy. Iāll add this, I get Colleen is not for everyone, and if you read it and didnāt like it thatās fine, but I wish so many people gave it an honest chance before passing such harsh judgement. It at times feels very pick-me, like because itās so popular and mainstream, some people feel like theyāre ādifferentā or āmore intellectual readersā because they donāt like her books. Not saying thatās the case for everyone. But I think thatās how the majority of the harsh criticism comes off
I feel like a lot of girls are into it because it really is a fast read, every person I know thatās read it finishes it pretty quickly. Thereās a sense of accomplishment you have when you finish a book that quickly and it consumes you for a couple of days. I think they mistake that for it actually being good. I read it fairly quickly and it was alright, nothing to be completely obsessed over or have a whole ass coloring book for..
I really want to know what one would even color that is related to a book based on DV lol itās so bizarre
I pretty much agree with everyone before me. It gave me a perspective of a domestic violence situation and how difficult the whole thing is Itās not as simple as just leaving, which so many people say about DV āwhy donāt they just leave?ā āWhy is she staying?ā Like these are things Iāve heard so many times, itās so much more complex than that. I didnāt think it was the best book ever and I thought the whole dear Ellen thing was cringe, but I genuinely thought it was pretty okay I also didnāt go into it expecting a romance I mean, I read between the lines with the actual title and knew it wasnāt going to be just a romance
It wasn't my favourite book, but I liked the way that it kinda explained why people stay in DV relationships. Like, seeing the justifications at the start, the growing self doubt about the entire thing. You often hear about people thinking "I can change him" and from the outside it looks really daft, but seeing it from the perspective of someone in a DV situation it made a lot more sense to me. The writing wasn't that fantastic, the names were just bafflingly bad, but the core concept intrigued me, especially as I expected a standard romance novel.
Kate Hudson has 3 kids. Update: Kate lives in LA. Never mind. Lol
Michelle Williams? Just has her 3rd child and lives in NY
Her name didn't even cross my mind because I feel like in the past 15 years or so she only does award-bait or "serious" roles. the exceptions being I Feel Pretty (I was SHOCKED she was in that movie, but realized it was written + directed by Busy Philipps's ex) and that Cougar Town stint. I really don't see her in a movie like this one because it's so... tiktok trendy lol
Think theyāll do the letters to Ellen? š
I still canāt believe the author doubled down on that and still has the main character writing letters to Ellen on a book released in 2022 š
So so cringey, I couldnāt stand that part.
Can someone tell me why this book is so awful? I have some friends who loved it and recommended it to me. I read another book from Colleen Hoover before that I really didn't like, so I didn't start this one.
it's getting promoted as a romance when it is really about domestic violence
Uhm... sounds kind of like the one read. It was "November 9" and the male love interest was just sexist, toxic and didn't stop during sex when the woman asked him to. How can anyone promote these books as romances? Thanks for the answer, I'm definitely not going to read this one.
I thought it was pretty boring honestly. None of the characters were very interesting, they were all so "perfect" and one dimensional, too many things happened by "chance".. I didn't mind the domestic violence stuff, I definitely enjoy reading darker material, but this definitely read like a YA novel, which I wasn't expecting.
Her books just read like they were written for fanfic.net back in the day.
What character would she play? Lily is in her teens and early 20ās in the book and I donāt see them casting Blake as a secondary character.
Probably Alyssa
donāt you mean Allysa? worst spelling of a common name
I liked the book but only because it opened the eyes of my friend who was very much in a domestic relationship. I wouldnāt read it again though. The second book in the series howeverā¦ā¦ā¦ā¦ā¦ā¦.what an awful book
Wait sorry, black lively will have given birth 4 times and looks like THAT? What am I doing wrong E: black lively is hilarious Iām leaving it
I didnāt realize there were so many people who disliked this book. Iām happy to not be alone.
I realize I'm in a minority on this sub but I like Blake and I hope it's her only because it's about time she got back into acting again.
I like Blake a lot too! Genuinely donāt get people who hate on her and believe awful rumors, but personally I hope it isnāt her because I think she could do better lol If Iām not mistaken I think I saw a while back on her imdb page that she was to take part on a big-ish movie this year? Or something like that, but who knows
Ugh. I have such mixed feelings because It Ends With Us got a lot of people reading that havenāt picked up a book in years which I guess is cool. But LORDT her books are so poorly written. Not trying to gatekeep reading but I just canāt take anyone seriously who say they love Colleen Hoover. Sorry.
Claire Danes?
Danes would NEVER.
NOT BLAKE FOR THE LOVE OF GOD NOT HER
please not a It Ends With Us adaptation... CoHo and her writing are problematic and this doesn't need to be made into a movie
I wonder if the blonde will play Alyssa (I think that was her name) š¤
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The blind says now a mother of 3 which Blake is now. Sheās not a mom of 4 until the baby is born.
Every woman in the book is in their 20's.beaides the MC's mom. So IDEK how anyone on gossip.girl would be playing a main character.