December 11, 2022
episode description
If you’ve spent even half a second on booktok, you’ve definitely heard about Colleen Hoover's books. But along with the thousands of fans gushing over the stories that she’s written, there are also a lot of people criticizing her novels. In this episode, we do a deep dive into booktok and the controversies surrounding her work to figure out how the reading community feels about it all.
Background Info Article: Who Is Colleen Hoover?
Criticism Article: Criticizing CoHo :(
Youtube Video: This Side of BookTok scares me
transcript:
Just as a quick disclaimer before the episode starts, I will be talking about Colleen Hoover's books. And there shouldn't be any spoilers in episode. But just in case you're worried about something like that, maybe come back to the episode after you finish, specifically Verity and It Ends with Us.
I also will be covering some sensitive topics like domestic abuse, nothing too intense, just dismissing them briefly, because she does cover some content like that in some of her books.
Today's episode is going to be about the patron going on, over Colleen Hoover's books. It's really crazy out there, y'all.Some strong emotions going around.
But when I was doing research for this episode, the first thing I did was Google, Colleen Hoover. And one of the first things in the search bar that popped up was "Why is Colleen Hoover so popular?" So we got some confused people out there wondering what the heck all the fuss is about. I just thought that was funny. Anyway, so brief, a brief background on Colleen Hoover or CoHo, as they call her is that she published her first book in 2012. And since then she's written 22, I believe 24 books by now, I think the other article is a little bit outdated now. It was published a couple months ago, and she published some books since then. Her most popular book is titled, It Ends with Us, which I have read. We'll talk about that a little bit later in the episode.
She's become really famous lately, because her books have been going viral on Tiktok. And for good reason. Her books are captivating, to say the least. But given her success on TikTok her Beiler success, a lot of parts of the book industry have been attempting to replicate her tick tock success.
And this, this brings us to our first topic of today.
Instagram authors.
I don't know if you guys have seen them. But Instagram authors are basically an author's Instagram page, I don't know if they run it, it seems like they run it. But either they or someone from PR is running their Instagram account, and kind of trying to beat the system to market books and to the audience. And they they do it in in the form of recommendations, like recommending books, when people are looking for books to read.
But they seem to be following this pattern that really successful Tiktok books had. And when I saw this, this approach being used for the first time, I thought it was really cool. Basically it was someone explaining like the plot of the book, maybe to like the middle part. And like the climax probably or like the twist in the story. And I'm talking about it as if it were like a TV show or movie. So it would be like imagine if—or there would be like, imagine if this happened. And they will explain a bunch of really crazy events. And then they would say, read my book to find out more or read this book to find out more. And I was like, oh, shoot, oh shit, I might actually read that book, that was a good plug.
But after the viral success of that video, everyone started doing it, especially Instagram authors. And to me, it was very cringy. Very, very cringy. Now, honestly, everything about social media kind of makes me cringe a little bit. So maybe take what I'm saying with a grain of salt. Because as someone who can barely keep an Instagram post up longer than three months, I might be a little bit biased. But I think you would agree with me if you saw these videos. It's kind of cringy.
And I think it's cringy because when the content is created by the author themselves, it feels like the video loses its authenticity. Like of course you're saying that the book is good and that I should read it because you wrote it.
And a lot of times there's I'll watch these videos on Instagram and I'll be like, "Oh, that actually sounds like it might be a good book." And then I look at the username and it'll say like, author or whatever. And it's like the author of the book that's been recommended in the video and then I'm like I don't even know if I'm gonna read that anymore. Actually, I changed my mind I'm no longer be interested because I don't trust you anymore. What is that? That's called ethos.
That might be ethos, you don't have good ethos, because then, how am I supposed to trust you? I would trust someone who is probably like a booktuber maybe or even just like a random person. Like, you know, just happened to go viral and they wanted people that read their book. I would trust that review so much more than these kinds of curated marketing attempts.
So we talked a little bit about people trying to take advantage of this surge in marketing, like, like through booktok. Let's talk about the weird side of booktok.
I found this video, this YouTube video that I watched today called "booktok scares me" and it's by Angel fruitcake. And it was interesting, the YouTuber said that she's, uh, she likes to read. So I don't, I haven't looked at the rest of their content to see if they're like, they usually make book content, or if this was just like, something that they want to talk about.
It's kind of like a commentator style video.
And she talks a lot about it was a really interesting video, and I for the most part, agreed with what she was saying. But she did talk a lot about middle aged woman being like, the main people making these videos, which if we're thinking about the cringy Instagram authors is true.But I've seen a lot of people my age, who are also making these videos and recommending books.
And she, she's right, there is a strange side to the booktok that sometimes I'm like, ooh, guys, this was a little too far. But I do think that there's beauty in fiction and allowing people to indulge in maybe more risque fantasies. But I think what she's kind of getting at in this video is that sometimes it's hard to tell where the limit is, for like this being a fantasy. And people who might not be thinking about this book as a fantasy like them wanting this to happen to them.
Like they become like detached from reality a little bit. And it's a little concerning. And honestly, to me, it is pretty cringy I'm gonna say this word a lot. It's cringy. And I'm like, oh, like, I don't want to associate with them. I don't even like when people say I like to read. I'm like, I don't know if I want to be lumped into that group because they're a little strange.
But when I think about other people on Tiktok that are also thirsting over people, or certain scenarios, and all of that it like like people who are thirsting over like Kpop singers, or like more recently, players in the world cup, it feels not as cringy when they do it, mostly because a lot of those people in the comment section are kind of self aware, to the point where the book community kind of feels like they're not. This side of booktok, the weird side, it feels like they're not self aware.
So like, the comments under Kpop, there's thirst traps that will say like, wow, I really need to touch some grass or something like that. Things that make light of it instead of the vibe that the weird side of book talk gives off where they feel you feel like the people are reading these books, because they really do want this stuff to happen to them in real life. Or they really like wish this was happening to them. And maybe they do. And I'm not shaming them. But when you talking about like stuff like incest, in like really weird scenarios like it. It's really strange.
It it's like, Oh, are we for realsies? Guys, are we were just playing around like we were just you know, having a little fantasy, a little, you know, a little escapism from our real life. I think that's why it feels so weird and uncomfortable and not because we're like kink shaming them or anything but because it feels strange, like it just doesn't feel— I'm like, Are you guys in on the joke too? Or, like, where's this? Is this a joke? Or are we worried for real?
But saying all that to say I do get a lot of good book recommendations from Tiktok. And I think something that the YouTube video is not taking into account or at least didn't mention anyway, is that you have to consider the shock factor or the plot, twisty vibe. And a lot of Booktok videos need to have to immediately capture the viewers attention, especially when you're working in like the shorter form content area. You kind of need that shock factor where you're like ah, I fell in love the two twin brothers and they both love me. And we're both gonna get married in the polygamous marriage. Like that's like oh, what? And you stay and you watch this video because you're like what is going on here? Like what the hell is this? That's why you stay.
So I do think that a lot of these videos are exaggerated to kind of catch viewers attention or get a lot of people talking about the video. So that's also something to consider when we're thinking about the strange side of booktok.
But I also do, I haven't been seen couple Instagram posts where people are just like posting screenshots of unhinged like, text with unhinged captions on booktok videos and like, oh, is this just out of context? Are we just spiraling? Like, are we just getting weird? Where are we going? And how far are we gonna go? What is the limit?
Those are things I wonder when I see those things. And especially because those Instagram posts are from people not in the book community and I'm like, Ooh, this is not a good look. To start making fun of us again, reading is gonna become weird and not intellectual.
Like it was when we were in middle school, which is, you know, hey, I read even then I'll read no matter what type of reputation reading gets, but we it was like, dang, we were just, we were just, you know, you get older. And you're like, actually reading is like, really cool. And reading is good for you. And a lot older, a lot of adults are like, I wish I read more, but it's the way we're going the direction we're going and at the speed that we're going. I'm pretty concerned with what people are gonna associate reading with.
So let's let's get back to Colleen Hoover, I kind of got sidetracked. That's okay, that's all that I do in this podcast anyway.
I've read at least four of her books. I've read Verity and I've read the It Ends with Us series both it ended us and it starts with us. I've also read Ugly Love and November 9. But I don't actually remember reading this because I think I read them about five years or so ago. So I don't remember a lot about them. I don't really have anything to say about it.
But Verity was amazing. I really liked it. It well. Here's the thing. I really liked that book. But there were many times, which my college roommate can attest to where I was like, Ooh, this is a little, this is a little a lot. I'm like, Oh no, this is kind of like it was giving weird vibes. But I, I finished it and I read it. And because it was like a horror thriller type genre, those things that made me feel a little bit uneasy. I was like, oh, that's part of the reading experience. And I recommend that book to a lot of people. So I really liked that book. It was a little unnerving, disturbing at some points. But I think the purpose of a good book is to make you feel something. Even if those feelings may not be pleasant. I mean, people watch sad movies to cry. And people watch scary movies to feel scared. And I don't know why we wouldn't treat books the same way.
Now onto the It End with Us series, I didn't have the problem with the book. Now granted, I'm not I don't have any, like personal experience with domestic abuse. But I think maybe a lot of people who are criticizing this book also didn't read the acknowledgments.
Because she does say that the book is based on or at least inspired by her mother's marriage, and how it was not a healthy relationship, and had instances of domestic abuse.
And it's kind of touching actually to read about a daughter who had judged her mother for not making the choice that she thinks that she would have made if she were in her shoes, you know, shedding light on the question, why didn't you leave sooner from the abusive relationship?
And that that kind of full circle moment where you you come back and reflect as an adult, or just when time has passed and you reflect on something you realize, Hey, maybe I was only looking at something from one perspective. Yeah. So I think that in itself is touching.
And I really, the book broke my heart, to be honest, it shed light on the victim's perspective on an abusive relationship and why it's so hard to leave those situations.
And the article, there's an article that I read, talking about this kind of discourse surrounding Colleen Hoover, and it was talking about how she romanticizes toxic relationships in this book. And really, it doesn't feel like that, well, maybe it can feel like she's romanticizing the toxic relationship. But to me, it felt like it was explained the internal struggle that a lot of victims have when they're trying to leave someone, and it feels like leaving them is impossible. And so her writing is making you feel like maybe she should stay and that double edged sword of wanting the reader to feel the same feelings as a protagonist in the book can maybe come across as romanticizing a toxic relationship.
But really I think what it does is explores the gray area between when someone feels like they should leave a bad situation, and when they're actually able to leave that situation. And then also like the gaslighting from the abuser was just so beautifully done. I think that it took
a lot of the focus away from the the abuser because I feel like in a lot of domestic abuse situations you hear about people talking about, Well, why didn't she leave sooner? Or why didn't he leave sooner? Why didn't they leave sooner? And why is it that the guilt, the blame— why is that then placed on the victim?
And instead, this book places the blame and the guilt on the abuser. And I guess in a sense, it is achieving that even within the discourse because the discourse is not saying like, Oh, this is a horrible protagonists because she's staying in a horrible relationship. No one's talking about making someone who's horrible seem like a great person, which
is achieving it's, it's the blame in the source discourse is being placed on the abuser and this on that male. What is he? I guess he's an antagonists?
There's no spoilers. Is there a spoiler? Maybe I'll put a disclaimer in the beginning. I'll put a trigger warning. And also, we'll put a content warning and also disclaimer about possible light spoilers.
There's not really any spoilers like I'm not citing specific events, but you get a general idea of kind of the vibe of the book, in case you were wondering if you should read it or not. I think it's worth read.
I think even if you don't like the book, like I said, I think all book good books are supposed to make you feel something even if that's like extreme hate, extreme dislike.
But what I don't like is the hate train that's kind of going on on social media. It feels like a lot of people on Tik Tok at least are criticizing Colleen Hoover, because they don't think that her success should be as big as it is like, for her books for given what her books are, they don't think that she deserves that amount of that amount of hype.
Which I mean, who are you to say that she doesn't deserve the hype that she gets if people like her books and more and more people like her or more people are telling others that they like it? What's the problem?
It feels like a lot like when I was in elementary school, and I was determined not to like Justin Bieber, because everyone else liked Justin Bieber, and I was like, Oh my gosh, I don't like Justin Bieber, because I'm not like other girls like, the vibe that it's giving me.
And. I did it multiple times elementary school, like when it was time for us to pick the instrument that we want to play in orchestra. If we applied to orchestra, everyone wanted to play violin, everyone, and I was like, I am not like other people I actually want to play viola I'm not even gonna apply to play violin, I'm gonna apply to play viola.
And I was like, wow, I'm like so superior because I think differently than everyone else. And that's the vibe that they're kind of giving me and it feels kind of immature.
Like you're allowed to have your opinion obviously and you're allowed to express your opinion but I don't really like the idea of bringing someone else down in the in the
with the goal of making yourself seem like different or get more attention.
Another thing that's interesting that Colleen Hoover has unfortunately been dragged into because of her I mean, I guess success come with comes with its vices, right?
But because of her fame a lot of people have been talking about on tick tock about how you can get her books for free. And someone I guess somewhere posted on Tiktok about Z library and how you get a bunch of free Colleen Hoover books on there.
But you know, definitely not good because authors deserve to be paid for their work. Even though me as a college student, I have my thoughts about Z library, but you get the implied message. Anyway, somehow she got dragged into it because this fan of Colleen Hoover's books was like you can get all of her books for free on Z library. And then Z library got like shut down.
I guess a bunch of people were going to go look and people got like mad at Colleen Hoover somehow because she was like tied to this some kind of crazy way. Which I mean, it's kind of crazy because a lot of people know about Z library and a lot of different Tiktoks and websites have talked about the library as a way to get free books, mostly as a way to get free textbooks, but also like just free books like free fiction books are free nonfiction books to read for enjoyment for fun.
So it's kind of like, how people could point fingers and be like, this is all Colleen Hoover's fault. Like I don't really think that's valid.
But it was kind of funny to see the people on Instagram comments getting mad, especially people who like, don't read. And were like, Who is this Colleen Hoover that's messing it up for everyone. Now I gotta pay for my textbooks next semester.
Chill out.
It affected us all, even people who like to read books, like now we all can't get our free books. Not that I did that. I didn't do that. But if I did use Z library, I would also be upset.
If I used it to get free books.
This whole discourse around Colleen Hoover are really intrigued me. Um, I feel like a lot of people who achieve her level of success are subject to some kind of controversy at some point.
And I kind of wanted to get to the root of it, or I guess not the root of it, but like, I was like, dang, what's going on here? Why is everybody so angry and in their feelings about this?
If you have any thoughts about the Colleen Hoover hate train, feel free to send me a message, or comment under a post on the Instagram @jumblepodcast, also check out our YouTube channel, things will be coming up uploaded onto our YouTube momentarily.
I'm really excited to get working on all those cool things and I have a couple cool ideas that I have in my mind. But once again, thanks for listening to me.
And I hope that tomorrow is more exciting than today. Even if today was fantastic. I hope that tomorrow is even more exciting and if today sucked, I hope that tomorrow all of your favorite things happen and you get your favorite food or your favorite show releases a new episode. Like I hope that tomorrow is a banger day for you. And I hope tomorrow is a banger day for me too.
do you think Colleen Hover's books are overrated?
There's too much hype
I've liked at least one Colleen Hoover book
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