Colleen Hoover has become quite a popular author in #BookTok and I couldn’t be happier. I first found her books back in 2014 (maybe even earlier idk) without even knowing what I was getting into. It could be all in my head but over the years I’ve seen her writing style change from focusing on teenaged protagonist to more mature ones. There’s a CoHo book to relate to for every stage of your life. Each book makes you think and forces you to evaluate how you would act if you were the main character in the book. Every story pulls every possible emotion out of you. And while I sing her praises and you may think I’m biased, I have come across some of her books that I just can’t get into or didn’t like. I still LOVE her as an author but some of them just weren’t for me and that’s ok.
Starting off the CoHo journey I will always recommend the Hopeless series.
I know this technically doesn’t count as just one book but once you’ve read Hopeless how can you not finish the series?? A bit of a spoiler here, Losing Hope is basically the same story as Hopeless but from someone else’s perspective which gives so much more insight to the story. Think of it as the Midnight Sun to Twilight. It’s a great coming-of-age series (they’re in high school) and a perfect introduction to all of the twists and turns this amazing author is known for. I don’t know how she does it but she manages to make the happy parts of this story soar while making the sad parts of the story cast such a dark cloud. I love how each piece of information is revealed bit by bit and each time you think you have the whole picture, another shoe drops.
On that same vein of amazing books that turn into amazing series, is the Maybe series.
I always like books that teach me something while telling a story. The fact that there’s a deaf character in the book forces you to see all the things we take for granted in a relationship. I know the story doesn’t focus on the fact he’s deaf but it does a great job of normalizing it. He goes through all the same things everyone else does, has the same kind of thoughts and by reading from his perspective, he seems just like everyone else. I also just love stories about music and songwriting so all in all I already liked this series before getting very far into book 1. I think the fact that a lot of their communication is done through text is also interesting. People tend to be a bit more honest in text than what they would say out loud. Even if they are standing right in front of the person they’re texting. I remember really loving the Maybe Now book and thinking about aspects of it long after I finished reading it. For a book to be able to do that really speaks to how well it’s written and the power of this author.
You can’t do a Colleen Hoover book tour without talking about It Ends With Us.
I first read It Ends With Us back in 2017. That’s six years ago and while there were details that got lost, the way that book made me feel after reading it never left me. I remember getting to a point that I thought was the happy ending of the book only to realize I was only about a third of the way through and my heart sank. By then I had read my fair share of Colleen Hoover books and knew to expect some sort of twist. It was (maybe still is) one of those books that I will always recommend to others but can’t bring myself to read it again. I did do a skim through of it when It Starts With Us came out just to get a refresher and it was still as powerful the second time through. I am probably the only one that wasn’t immediately happy when It Starts With Us was announced. I was pretty happy with how the first one ended and wasn’t really searching to know more. I went through enough with the first one. I can probably do a separate review of it but I’m not a fan of this one. It didn’t have the same feel as the first one and to me felt a bit rushed. I’m glad Lily got her happy ending but there were aspects of the book that just felt disconnected from the first. All in all, I will still recommend the series because that might just be me and I still absolutely LOVE the first one.
Now, I can’t leave without giving my take on It Ends With Us being made into a movie. At first I was very excited. I’m always excited when a book I’ve read gets the opportunity to reach more people by being a movie or tv show. I am however not excited by the pictures of the wardrobe from filming or really how Blake Lively looks as Lily. I love her as an actress and I really like following her as a person but this isn’t how I pictured it in my head as I was reading. A part of me kind of wishes a newcomer was given the chance for this role, like Abigail Cowen.
Some other sites wanted Theo James to be cast as Ryle and I can’t help but agree. It’s like they aged up the entire cast and put these current big names in instead of trying to stay true to the book. 😦 I don’t have very high hopes for it but I’ll for sure watch it.
And there you have it. Your Colleen Hoover homework has been set. Happy reading!! 🙂
Carla Jones 
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