Author Spotlight
Addie Moore
As a self-proclaimed CoHort — Colleen Hoover superfan — I have read 17 out of 23 of her love-story thrillers. I’m a part of a Facebook group dedicated to talking about her books, and I can easily say I’m an expert on all things Colleen Hoover.
Normally, romance novels are filled with love at first sight, joyful courtships and happily ever afters, but not in Hoover’s world. She has secured her spot as a New York Times bestselling author by teaching us CoHorts to expect the unexpected. Each of her novels leaves you heartbroken, lost and in love with the antagonist that ripped every other characters’ heart out.
Infamous for her eerie details that make readers squirm in their seats, Colleen Hoover has led a revolution by turning a generation of screenagers into blossoming bookworms.
Verity
Screaming, crying, throwing up — I’m not kidding. The twisted mind of the famous writer and character, Verity Crawford literally made me queasy.
This book follows Lowen Ashleigh, a young, struggling author who is hired by Jeremy Crawford to finish his wife Verity’s award-winning, suspenseful book series. Verity was in a life-threatening car wreck — leaving her unable to function on her own — so Lowen is forced to pick up the pieces of her unfinished series, written from the antagonist’s point of view.
Once Lowen arrives, she stumbles upon an autobiography written by Verity. The manuscript includes details of her whole relationship with Jeremy — even details on the deaths of their twin daughters. As she reads the manuscript, Lowen gets a direct look into Verity’s past. Are Verity’s books authentic because the person writing them was the villain all along?
This book takes a unique angle on Hoover’s regular romance novels. The suspense and anxiety is almost too much to handle. It took patience to read, throwing it across the room after each chapter’s plot twist. “Verity” is a romance-thriller leaving you in shambles, unsure of which villain to believe.
Hopeless and Without Hope
The word “Hopeless” is tattooed in dark, black letters across Dean Holder’s arm. On the outside, it looks like a pointless tattoo but underneath, that one word represents a lifetime of trauma.
“Hopeless” follows Sky, a girl entering her senior year of high school — the first year she isn’t being homeschooled. Sky was never allowed social media, a phone, TV or any form of technology. Her mom Karen has been overprotective of her since she was adopted at 5 years-old.
Sky doesn’t remember anything from before the adoption. All she knows is what Karen told her — her mom died when she was young and her dad abandoned her and sent her to foster care. The only thing she has from her childhood is a silver charm bracelet, with no recollection of who gave it to her.
On her first day of school she meets Holder. The two are inseparable for days until Holder spots the bracelet on her wrist and bolts, leaving her confused and alone.
Hearing “Hopeless” from Sky’s point of view makes the end of the book even more emotional and shocking. If the story was told from Holder’s point of view first, the plot twist wouldn’t have made as much of an impact on the reader.
Each unexpected moment is even more heartbreaking and astonishing than the last. Hoover’s imagination is insane. I almost wonder what kind of crazy she has to be to come up with all of these devastating stories.
“Without Hope” is the exact same story as “Hopeless,” but this time from Holder’s point of view. As a child, Holder’s next door neighbor was kidnapped right in front of his eyes and he lost his twin sister Lesslie to suicide at the age of 17.
Holder’s perspective brings so much more depth and emotion to the bigger picture. In the first book, it’s easy to hate Holder’s attitude, secrets and aggressive personality, but after hearing the details of his past, everything makes sense.
The suspense and detail in this book are unsurpassed. Even for two of her less popular books, Hoover has never failed to leave me wanting to read more.
“Hopeless” left me in awe. The shocking twists and turns are almost too much to handle, but after reading “Without Hope,” with the knowledge of “Hopeless,” I now empathize completely with both Sky and Holder.
It Ends With Us
Taking TikTok and screenagers by storm, “It Ends With Us” is a hook, enticing you into Hoover’s work.
Being new to Boston to start her own flower shop, protagonist Lily Bloom doesn’t know anyone. That is, until she meets the heroic neurosurgeon Ryle Kincaid and they fall in love.
Lily grew up in an abusive household. She hated her father for being abusive towards her mother, and hated her mother even more for putting up with it and staying with him. The only thing that kept her going was her first love, Atlas Corrigan. Atlas and Lily dated on the down low to avoid her father catching them. The first time her dad saw Atlas, he was kicked out of the house and never seen again.
Every other chapter of the book flip-flops from Lily’s past with Atlas and the present with Ryle. This format makes the story so captivating, because the information from the character’s past helps you better understand their qualities in the present.
Once Ryle becomes a depiction of Lily’s abusive father, I immediately lose all of my respect for the hot neurosurgeon we all grew to love. Even Lily judged her mom for staying in the relationship — but this story helps people empathize with victims of domestic violence.
This book left me an emotional wreck. The anger and sadness felt towards both characters made it difficult for me to put the book down. “It Ends With Us” has left a permanent imprint in my mind, reminding me what is and isn’t an abusive relationship.
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