Anyone who reads romance books likely knows the name Colleen Hoover. And for those who don’t, she is a popular American author of romance and thriller novels. There are always mixed opinions on her books. Some think they are the best works of fiction, and others take a dislike to them for more reasons than one.
As an example, many critics argue that Hoover’s books romanticize toxic relationships, and that she doesn’t leave them entirely resolved. Many of her male characters are abusive, mentally and physically, which glamorizes the idea of toxic masculinity. In regards to not resolving the toxic relationships, Hoover creates a world where these relationships, specifically the toxic behaviors of men, can be resolved by loving words from the women. This degrades the female in the relationship to simply someone who is there to “fix” her significant other, instead of taking initiative for her own safety. And this further insinuates the embedded idea of “fixing” a toxic relationship that is too far gone.
Implied within this first idea is the way Hoover depicts her women. When they don’t have the idea that they can “fix” their significant other, they are often timid and need the man’s help to do simple tasks. Hoover has the women in her books passively disregard the abusive actions by the male leads. This can be seen by Lowen Ashleigh in Verity, Sky Davis in Hopeless, Merit Voss in Without Merit, and Auburn Reed in Confess. And while there is some character growth, they spend most of the novel as submissive objects in their relationships.
Additionally, it is also argued that Hoover’s books lack depth. Many of them follow very similar plotlines that are predictable from the beginning. It can be said that she overuses trauma in her books. Not just that, she doesn’t resolve the trauma, and instead brushes it away with “cliches” and shallow endings that don’t hold significance. Some readers could have experienced similar situations described. How would they feel to see their issues being pushed aside by a “I can fix him” complex from the woman, and a toxic one from the man?
Furthermore, the description and wording used in Hoover’s books are often described as vulgar, and explicit. In addition to this, there are tense scenes in many of her books that relate to the abusive relationships mentioned above.
However, by doing this, Hoover is spreading awareness for abusive relationships, and more people will become informed on how to help. It is also important to note that all of her books are fictional, with the exception of “It Ends With Us” which was inspired by real life events. Keeping in mind that these books are fictional can be hard to process, but also necessary to acknowledge.
All of this is an issue because her audience is mostly young teenage girls, many of whom are yet to be in a relationship. Although her books are advised for no younger than 14 years old, they are often found in the hands of teen girls who are influenced by social media, or through their friends. Though the official ages can vary from 15 to mid-thirties, the largest audience is definitely teens and women in their twenties. To these young girls, her books create the deception that all of these traits in relationships should be normalized, and maybe even encouraged.
All in all, Hoover’s books normalize many toxic behaviors and a weak sense of feminism that often fall into the too-young hands of teenage girls. And while it is mostly damaging for them, even women in their 20s and 30s may see this written behavior in books and think of it as normal as well. Overall, books written by Colleen Hoover encourage worlds where violent tendencies, fearful woman leads and little trauma resolution are all normalized, which is destroying the genre of romance and a sense of feminism.
