If you have so much as glanced into the literary world within the past 10 years, you have heard of Colleen Hoover. Popular for her romance and thriller novels, she’s an author who will rip your heart out and then gently put it back in its place. Colleen is known for her heart throbbing romance novels, and within the past two years has also been recognized for her award winning thriller novel, Verity. Readers are starting to expect more of a balance between the thriller and romance novels that Colleen Hoover publishes in the future. It is now a decision for Colleen Hoover to make in regards to whether she prefers writing under the romance genre, or is willing to explore more into the genre of thriller as she did beautifully with Verity. 

On any given week for more than a year now, the 42-year-old author, Colleen Hoover has had three to six books on Publishers Weekly’s top 10 bestseller list. Presently, three of her top five titles are in the New York Times’ combined with print and e-book fiction. The most popular of these novels, It Ends With Us, isn’t even new. It was published six years ago. It Ends with Us was #1 on the Publishers Weekly adult list and #1 overall in the first six months of 2022, selling a total of 925,221 novels in the United States alone. A forthcoming sequel to that novel , It Starts With Us, has recently been published this past October. Most readers who are unsure on which of her numerous award winning novels to pick up, the public usually gravitates towards her most popular young adult romance novels such as Ugly Love and It Ends With Us. Not much controversy surrounds the argument that Colleen Hoover is the most renowned romance author in the Gen-Z era. However, readers are starting to urge for more from the author on top of her specialities in the romance department, into more action packed, teeth clattering pieces under the genre of thriller, that correlates with her writing style in the fan favorite Verity novel she published in 2018. It is evident that Colleen Hoover prefers writing romance, considering her twenty-two novels under the genre.  It is now a matter of whether Hoover is willing to shift gears and rear towards exploring the thriller genre, as she did once with Verity or pursue the road to romance as she has for the past ten years. 

Harrison High School Sophomore, Katie Marini has read “ten Colleen Hoover books.” Katie relates to the majority of readers in the literary world that when Colleen Hoover is referenced, the first thing that comes to mind is  “a female author, who mainly publishes romance novels.” Hoover fans, such as Katie, also find common ground in the opinion that “ Colleen Hoover writes my favorite romance novels.” Supporting this claim by justifying that “her writing is so well written that you really understand the complexity of each character and their emotions.”Despite the admiration surrounding Colleen’s expertise in the romance genre, many readers can attest to their “favorite book definitely being Verity.” Although Verity has clear components of romance between the protagonist and the prominent male character, Jeremy, the core of the novel surrounds  “a psychoactive plot that is totally engaging and is also completely different from what she usually writes. It was almost refreshing to read something that wasn’t so romance based.” Leading directly into the growing request that further Colleen Hoover novels should welcome more of a  balance between heart throb and the intriguing aspects of suspense seen so rarely in her past pieces. There is no doubt in the love fans have for “the way her novels are structured.” Colleen is notorious for structuring her novels to have a developing plot that alternates between the perspective of the characters. Pivoting towards the thriller genre would not eliminate “a big plot twist that completely switches the storyline.” However, rather invites other novels “such as Verity, where Colleen Hoover beautifully executes each and every part of her story, and digs into the part of you that wants to solve more than problems of love but the mystery of terror, that the protagonist Lowen is feeling throughout.” Evidently, “I definitely feel that Colleen Hoover specializes in a specific genre.” The real question lies in whether Colleen is willing to break apart from romance and dive further into the genre of thriller. There is no question that whatever Colleen decides readers will “always be invested, and always read her books in one sitting because I can not physically put it down.” The concern is how long romance will satisfy the needs of the reader after her beloved publication of Verity. 

Harrison High School Sophomore, Marisol Pepushaj, became a frequent reader of Colleen Hoover from that point when “seeing my math teacher reading It Ends With Us.” In that time, Marisol has read “six of Colleen Hoover’s books.” Covers ranging from,“November 9, Ugly Love, Confess, Reminders of Him, and Verity.” Marisol recognizes, “ from the books I have read, she is one of the best authors who writes romance novels and I enjoy reading her work.” There are numerous aspects of Colleen’s writing techniques that are inviting to a reader, “the one thing that primarily attracts me to reading more Colleen Hoover books is the way I can connect with her characters and how her books are never slow-paced which is what keeps me interested.” Marisol distinctly remembers “the time I read my favorite book by Hoover. November 9,  had an insanely interesting plot but also some of the most loveable characters with tragic backgrounds that made you feel sorry for them but also connect with them as people.” This unbreakable connection that Colleen is able to make between the reader and the stories characteristic is through the chemistry she has mastered to create amongst the lovers in her novels. This skill explains why “Colleen Hoover specializes in romance novels because of the chemistry she creates between the characters and the plotline.” So much credit is given to Colleen for her ability to draw such a strong bond with her readers and her books, and this talent was also seen in her thriller novel Verity. When this is taken into account, “I don’t think Colleen Hoover should stay constricted to one genre because as much as I enjoy her romance books, I really loved Verity, one of her thriller novels because of the enthralling story.” Colleen does not need to stay confined to the romance genre in order to enhance the quality of writing. Evidently, “I would love to see more of her thriller books if they are as good as Verity, and maybe even horror books because she definitely has a way of making you feel terrified even through the pages of her books like I felt reading Verity.”