Meet Colleen Hoover, the controversial author taking BookTok by storm

• Colleen Hoover is the bestselling author of "It Ends With Us," which is being adapted into a movie.

• Hoover has published more than 20 books so far, and she's hugely popular on TikTok.

• But she's also been embroiled in controversies as her fame has grown.

Colleen Hoover began her writing career as a self-published author.

Hoover, 43, was working as a counselor at WIC, a nutrition program for women and children, in Texas when she started writing, according to USA Today.

While she, her husband, and her three sons were living in a single-wide trailer, Hoover found time to self-publish her first novel "Slammed" in 2012, The New York Times reported.

It immediately became successful, appearing on the New York Times bestseller list seven months after Hoover published it.

Hoover has written 24 books to date, and they fall in the young adult and new adult categories.

She went on to write 23 more books, most of which fall under the young adult or new adult genres, though she flirted with paranormal fiction in "Layla" and thrillers in books like "Never Never" and "Verity."

And although Hoover's books have romantic elements, her works also include themes of sexual assault, domestic abuse, and mental-health issues.

After her self-publishing success, Hoover signed book deals with multiple publishers, as The New York Times reported. According to the outlet, in the next few years, she is expected to release three new thrillers with the Hachette imprint Grand Central; two new romance novels with Atria, which is part of Simon & Schuster; and a new novel with Amazon Publishing's romance imprint Montlake.

Hoover's book sales are massive.

"It Ends With Us" is Hoover's most popular book so far, as over 4 million copies of the book have been sold since its release in February 2016, according to USA Today.

The outlet reported that its follow-up, "It Starts With Us," — which was released on October 18, 2022 — sold over 800,000 copies on its first day of publication.

It was also Simon & Schuster's most preordered book in history, Vulture reported.

Hoover's books have sold over 20 million copies, and according to Time, six of her books were on the top 10 New York Times bestseller list at once in 2022.

Hoover's self-published start as well as her social-media presence have contributed to her success.

Hoover's relationship with her readers has been more intimate than the average author since she self-published her books and could therefore cater directly to her audience. But her massive social-media presence makes her even more connected to her readers — and more successful.

Hoover has 1.4 million TikTok followers and 2 million Instagram followers. TikTok, in particular, has contributed to Hoover's success, as she became massively popular on BookTok during the pandemic, according to The New York Times.

The hashtag #colleenhoover has been used on TikTok over 4 billion times, and the tag for "It Ends With Us" has been used 2.5 billion times on the app, as of Thursday.

But some think Hoover's works are problematic.

Despite her popularity, some readers take issue with Hoover's approach to sensitive topics, specifically the portrayal of domestic abuse in "It Ends With Us."

In the novel, the love interest, Ryle Kincaid, physically abuses the main character Lily Bloom, and some think Hoover romanticizes him and his relationship with Lily.

"Though cocky and manipulative from the start, Ryle is portrayed as a man who desperately wants to be good but is tormented by inner demons," Jennie Young wrote for Ms. Magazine in 2022. "This is, of course, a tired cliché that's too often applied to abusive men."

Hoover also ends the book with Ryle and Lily co-parenting their daughter, with Lily chalking her situation up to two people having to "work through their differences" to raise a child, thereby normalizing interpersonal violence, Young argues.

Many social-media users agree with Young's analysis, criticizing Hoover on apps like TikTok.

But there are also millions who love Lily's story. Some have shared on social media that they found "It Ends With Us" moving, others said they fell in love with the characters, and many TikTok users count it as a book they always recommend to friends.

In January 2023, social-media users quickly condemned Hoover when she announced she was publishing a coloring book based on "It Ends With Us."

Social-media users found the idea of a coloring book based on a novel about domestic abuse "tone-deaf," with people commenting their criticism on Hoover's Instagram post announcing the book and posting TikToks about it.

"This is so gross. Why make a book about literal abuse into something as lighthearted as a coloring book?" one user wrote.

Another TikTok user, who described herself as a former fan of Hoover, said she was "disappointed to say the least" in the project and that she hoped the coloring book wouldn't end up being released.

The day after she announced she was publishing the coloring book, Hoover shared on her Instagram story that she asked her publisher not to release it following the negative reaction she received.

"The coloring book was developed with Lily's strength in mind, but I can absolutely see how this was tone-deaf," Hoover said in the statement.

Representatives for Hoover did not respond to Insider's previous request for comment on the matter, but a spokesperson for Atria Books confirmed to Insider at the time that the publishing house would not be moving forward with the project.

Despite the controversy, Hoover continues to win accolades and garner more commercial success.

In addition to the success of her books, Hoover will soon add film credits to her lengthy résumé.

"It Ends With Us" is being adapted into a film by Wayfarer Studios and Sony Pictures starring Blake Lively as Lily Bloom and Justin Baldoni as Ryle Kincaid. No release date has been announced for the film yet, but the pair were spotted filming for the movie in May.

The star-studded cast is sure to bring Hoover even more success, though some fans are skeptical of the film.

Lively and Baldoni are much older than the characters are supposed to be, so some fans are concerned about how it will compare to the novel. In addition, the first images shared from the set of Lively show her in a costume that doesn't match the clothes Lily is described as wearing in the book.

But others have voiced their excitement about the film on TikTok. Hoover's post announcing the cast of "It Ends With Us," where she praised her mother for removing her from a "scary situation" as a child, has over 16 million views as of Thursday, and others celebrated the casting of Jenny Slate as Allysa from the book.

People may have mixed feelings about Hoover, but the author's rise to fame is hard to ignore. As Jenna Bush Hager said when Hoover was named to Time's 100 Most Influential People list in April 2023, "Whether you count yourself a Colleen Hoover fan or not, her influence on the publishing industry is undeniable."

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