I read Colleen Hoover to see what all the hype was about!
Reading one of BookToks most popular authors!
In our year of quarantine and home isolation, many of us hate to admit we fell victim to the influence of the all-powerful app TikTok. We all found our niche within this app and became a part of a group at a time when groups were strictly prohibited. These include music-tok, fashion-tok, dance-tok, dog-tok, anime-tok… and the list goes on. Whatever your interest, there is a home for you within the phenomenon that is this app. I myself became lured into the grasp of book-tok, and I can’t seem to shake it. It is a constant circulation of different authors, and books that seem to re-appear over and over again until you have no other choice than to investigate for yourself. This is what happened to me with the author Colleen Hoover. I heard stories of people sobbing for hours, smiling through their blurring tears from a mixture of enchantment, heartbreak and overwhelming joy. After several months I decided I must know the feeling. After experiencing two of her books, I can confidently say she is everything and more than I even expected.
The first book that I read by this influential author was Ugly Love released in 2014, which tells the story of Tate Collins and Miles Archer. Their undeniable attraction to each other causes them to begin a sort of romantic relationship, without all the romance. With Miles’ inability to love, Tate agrees to his rules- never ask about the past, and don’t expect a future. As their relationship progresses, we get glimpses of why Miles is the way he is, and the progression of Tate’s feelings getting to the point of no return. This story had me smiling through my tears, and furiously obsessing over these characters. Her writing puts you inside the minds of these characters, where their pain becomes your own. On the other hand, their happiness becomes yours as well. I found myself physically unable to put the book down, and as a result completed it in a day and a half. If that is not the tell-tale sign of a good book, I’m not quite sure what else is. If you decide to take the trip with Tate and Miles you will find out the true meaning of soulmates, second chances, and redemption in a way you never expected.
The second book I read is arguably the most popular and heartbreaking of all her novels. It is near impossible to visit the book-tok section of this app, without seeing a soul recommending this book. That book being It Ends With Us, released in 2016. It tells the story of Lily who meets neurosurgeon Ryle Kincaid where sparks fly. With their relationship seemingly perfect, she is consumed with memories of her first love Atlas, where she begins to question everything she has with Ryle and had with Atlas. This story touches on not only the good side of love, but additionally explores the truly damaging. It is raw, heartbreaking, honest and above all profoundly beautiful. It reminds every one of the strengths and pain it can take to make the decisions that are best for you and for those you care about. Yet again Colleen Hoover had me unable to put down her book, and the desire to immediately pick it back up and start from page one. If you, like me, begin reading this, wondering what the title could mean, I can confidently say when you figure it out, you will have to stop and sit back to absorb all of the beauty it holds. It Ends With Us without a doubt, deserves its place in the spotlight, and I hope it never leaves.
I believe there is a sort of intimidation people have to read Colleen Hoover's books, because of the known sadness she induces. What people don’t talk about enough is that she never leaves you crying from sorrow. While she absolutely brings you to that place at one point or another, she leaves you blurry eyed from nothing but joyful optimism. I would recommend her books to anyone with a beating heart, and the desire to be taken on an exploration through the full spectrum of human emotion. She brings you on a roller coaster of feelings that never fails to drop you safely back on the ground, with the only tears in sight being those from knowing the ride is over.
