Colleen Hoover is one of the celebrated contemporary romance novel authors in the literary world today. Her books are known for their angsty, heart-wrenching, emotion-provoking, relatable, and sexy prose. CoHorts, Hoover's fanbase, are crazy over her characters that aren't only mature emotionally but holistically as well. And those attributes are often credited for how her books take readers on a journey beyond compare.
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| Photo from colleenhoover.com |
Over the past 12 months, I have devoured some of her books like a hungry shark -- a shark that only feeds on words that define what anyone could possibly feel when falling in and falling out of love. I still remember how I fell in love with fictional characters when I read Ugly Love. It did not escape me how I felt destroyed but brave to put myself back together when I finished It Ends With Us. Or how I still can remember how my heart almost jumped out of my chest cavity at that reveal in Verity.
So, you see, there's much to dissect and dig on every Colleen Hoover book. So much so, that I thought it better to revisit each book that I have read and let you in into a journey in every CoHo book that made their marks on me and into my shelf.
Colleen Hoover Books Ranked
Each Colleen Hoover book is different from one another. Although very few, some books are somehow connected with one another as in the case of Ugly Love and November 9. Nonetheless, here are some of the Colleen Hoover books I have read in the last 12 months in the order that I like them.
1. Verity
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| File Photo: Verity by Colleen Hoover |
Genre: thriller/romance
Publisher: Independently Published
Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
Published in December 2018, Verity follows the story of Lowen Ashleigh, a thriller author whose life took a 180-degree turn when she witnessed a man ploughed through a busy street in Manhattan effectively coursing her way into the life of Jeremy Crawford. Unbeknownst to Lowen, her meeting the morning of the accident was with Jeremy. The supposed sojourn meeting turned out to be far more consequential for Lowen when she was offered to co-write and finish the remaining novels in a series written by Jeremy’s incapacitated wife, Verity.
Eventually, Lowen accepted the offer. Secret upon secret revealed, Lowen was thrown into a cavernous pit of deceit and uncertainty. Escape, in as much as staying, gripped her. Until it’s too late.
Just as when we thought she could not come up with something new, she came back swinging with a wrecking ball. This novel was a complete departure from how she does romance the way she does. This has got my pulse running out of the door, took my breath away, and inspired me as a writer all at the same time. I thought this was original -- at least from my point-of-view -- and a good start to Hoover exploring other genres.
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2. It Ends With Us
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| File Photo: It Ends With Us by Colleen Hoover |
Genre: contemporary romance/women's fiction
Publisher: Atria Books
Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
It Ends With Us has a special place in my heart and will always stand out among the Colleen Hoover books on my shelf.
It tells the story of Lily Bloom, an ordinary teenager from the small town of Maine. And for Lily, five minutes was all it took to completely destroy her life-long held beliefs and definitions of the words love, relationships, and trust before she was thrown into a cavernous pit of melancholy. Before she had to find a way to keep swimming to the shore for salvation.
I think I should get this out of the way -- reading this book must come with trigger warnings for anyone sensitive to topics of violence. I'll leave that warning as it is because I do not want to spoil the whole book.
The book was very raw and emotional. You can't hate the characters no matter what angle you look at it because they are all coming from a reason. Hoover effectively tells a story with a timely issue and leaves us with a question so often left unanswered: why do we stay in situations, relationships, that break us to pieces beyond repair. It's her ability to saw this timely issue to a love story every reader can relate to, and actually bring the readers to a journey full of emotional booby traps, which makes Hoover an awesome author.
This is the book that eventually led me to say [Hoover's] writing just keeps getting better and better with every title she puts out. This book has left me to pieces I haven’t yet fully collected from the floor as I feel for both Lily and Ryle.
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3. Ugly Love
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| File Photo: Ugly Love by Colleen Hoover |
Genre: contemporary romance/new adult
Publisher: Atria Books
Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
Ugly Love follows the story of pilot Miles Archer and nurse Tate Collins who met at a time where their lives are in pieces, pieces they are trying to put back together. The last thing Miles wanted was love while Tate has not time to show it. And despite themselves, despite the undeniable attraction and firey sex, secrets are uncovered, old wounds unplastered, and love takes an ugly turn.
It's not the ending that made me love this book so much that reading it over again wouldn't be a problem. It's how palpable the emotions were when Miles ripped Tate open and leave her hanging, it the pain Tate felt when she learned of Miles' past, and the story on how they made it back to one another for the hope of it all. And of course, the firey sex.
Hoover was very successful in giving us a new way to feel the jitters brought about the idea of being in love with someone. The struggles, the conflicts, the undeniable truths and lies, and traps. What makes it not typical is how those jitters come in an unexpected way. It leaves you hanging, satiates you, salivates you, and leave you hoping for true love. This is a breath of fresh air for those who are tired of the cliches in romance novels. Also, this is not Fifty Shades of Grey repackaged. This is Ugly Love.
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4. November 9
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| File Photo: November 9 by Colleen Hoover |
Genre: contemporary romance/new adult
Publisher: Atria Books
Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
November 9 follows the story of two individuals whose lives have been intertwined by a fire that should have ripped them apart. Fallon, 18, was following her father's footsteps by being an up-coming star. Not long before her star took a full-on blaze as a supernova did she find it put out when a fire broke out at her father's house. She was lucky to be alive to tell the tale but at the expense of her career.
Ben, 18, a double-major student who found himself reeling and spiraling down a gyre. He's been through a tough patch as a result of the events two years ago that did his life a full 180 degrees turn. He continues to push himself to do better—be better—but every time he tries, he falls.
Both individuals still trying to get over the demons of their separate pasts, unsure where their lives are going to take them, not knowing the demons themselves were born of the same thread that sawn their lives together that November night.
I enjoyed this book. The twists in this book--and there are a number of them--are nothing like the ones we've read in other Colleen Hoover titles before.
Read the full review on Goodreads.
5. Confess
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| File Photo: Confess by Colleen Hoover |
Genre: contemporary romance/new adult
Publisher: Atria Books
Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐
Love is mutually exclusive with sacrifice. But willingness is a different narrative; willingness is something not all of us can magically hand over—unless life and its complexities leave us upended and, seemingly, with no choice. Confess puts a wedge between love and sacrifice, and willingness is its redemption.
This book follows the story of an underground but widely popular artist Owen and single-mother Auburn. Auburn's life is scattered but she is making ends meet to make it work -- for her and for her son, AJ. When she met Owen, he was just another faceless member of the crowd. Unbeknownst to her, Owen has met Auburn years before at a hospital.
Owen met Auburn's boyfriend, Adam, lying on his deathbed at that hospital. Owen painted Adam a portrait out of the materials bought to him, materials he will no longer be able to use. Upon seeing it, Adam asked Owen to mail the portrait to Auburn not knowing that Adam did not only entrust the portrait with Owen but Auburn as well.
Going a few titles back, it becomes so apparent how sacrifice is a recurring theme in all Colleen Hoover books. Confess lines itself with the same essence that Regretting You and It Ends With Us shelves themselves in. This book is not only graced with beautifully commissioned paintings but also oozes with signature CoHo storytelling.
Hoover creates a world that keeps getting better and complex with every title she puts out. She’s relevant and relatable; only a few writers can do that.
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6. Regretting You
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| File photo: Regretting You by Colleen Hoover |
Genre: contemporary romance/women's fiction
Publisher: Montlake Romance
Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐
Regretting You is a book that saw Colleen Hoover's departure from Atria Publishing Group. She did mention she will always treasure her history with Atria and will miss some people -- her editor most especially. She cited indie publishing as the main reason for her departure and the perks it brings.
This book follows the story of Morgan Grant who finds herself treading through a mess she’s been left with by her sister and husband following a devastating crash that killed them both. Morgan had to deal with denial as secret after a secret unravels before her, an old tie being reconnected following the demise of her sister and husband, and a teenage daughter who’s yet to know the truth behind her father and aunt’s death.
There was so much writing on how painful marital betrayal looks and feels like in this book, which Hoover was able to hit spot-on. There was so much vulnerability in the way Morgan had to deal with the loss and confronting the truth of the ordeal to which she has not subscribed to. And there was so much rawness in the emotions felt between two generations—Clara and Miller, Morgan and Jonah.
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7. All Your Perfects
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| File Photo: All Your Perfects by Colleen Hoover |
Genre: contemporary romance/new adult
Publisher: Atria Books
Rating: ⭐⭐⭐
I really applaud Colleen Hoover for writing this book that not only is a signature CoHo storytelling but also touches, again, on a very sensitive topic. What I like about Colleen Hoover books is that each romance book tackles different issues that usually reel a relationship. And just when I thought Hoover has run out of topics to write, she gives us All Your Perfects.
I felt that the plot in the book is an original one in the sense that the issue is very sensitive, raw, and real. We get it, each book promises a happy ending. But Hoover has been successful in telling this story that follows the marriage of two people who met an ungodly circumstance.
My only negative takeaway from All Your Perfects is I felt Quinn's suffering after what happened to her lacks the emotional rawness a woman should and could feel. I wanted more. Maybe she could have lashed out more. Lost her sense of self more. I felt her suffering was rushed to reach the climax and eventually denouement.
This book is not my favourite CoHo book. But this book is a signature CoHo book; it has everything that made us love Colleen Hoover with every title she releases.
Read the full review on Goodreads.
8. Maybe Someday
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| File Photo: Maybe Someday by Colleen Hoover |
Genre: contemporary romance/new adult
Publisher: Atria Books
Rating: ⭐⭐⭐
I really wanted to say that I loved this book but I just didn't. Hear me out.
I didn't mean that I downright disliked the book. I totally can relate to Ridge and Sydney's love story. I even actually can relate to Ridge's words; that how it was even possible to feel love evenly for two people at the same time. I totally respect Sydney for not being a bitch and jump right into Ridge's lap when the opportunity presented itself. She was dignified and respectful of Ridge and Maggie that way.
So you might ask why I can't love the book the same as other Colleen Hoover books? For me, it was the monotony of the plot in general. I didn't feel conflicted enough in the way I felt when reading November 9, or I didn't feel the mad monarch butterflies in my stomach when I was reading Ugly Love. I didn't felt the heart-tugging and wrenching storytelling the way I felt when reading It Ends With Us. And therein lies the meat of what I am trying to say. For me, this book was one of those rather a stepback titles in Colleen Hoover's catalog.
Nonetheless, it was not a boring read. It was different -- something Colleen Hoover is good at. It was lyrical considering both Ridge and Sydney are songwriters. It was relatable as mentioned. And above all, it was still a good read.
Read the full review on Goodreads.
9. Layla
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| File Photo: Layla by Colleen Hoover |
Genre: contemporary romance/fantasy/paranormal
Publisher: Montlake
Rating: ⭐⭐
Among the Colleen Hoover books I have read and owned, Layla stands at the bottom of the pile. It's a book that I can describe as Boring at best, disappointing at worst. The book has been hyped to a stratospheric degree only for it not to live up to that hype and expectations.
Layla follows the story of Leeds, a member of a band who performed at a wedding one night and met Layla. The two hit it off following that night. Leeds stayed with Layla and fell in love with her. But everything changed when Leeds met Willow, an entity that seems to have taken shelter in the house Leeds and Layla are renting.
Leeds later learned Willow is able to possess a body and to further communicate with Leeds, she has taken possession of Layla's body at Layla's expense. This has led to Leeds falling for Willow. And it has taken a toll when Leeds resorted to tying Layla and prevent her from escaping when she somehow got an idea of what is happening.
I wasn't particularly a fan of what Leeds did to Layla; undermining her mental illness and subjected her to a domestic violence-ish situation after he and Willow held her against her will. I felt that it was hypocritical for Leeds to even feel for Layla after what they had done when halfway through the book, he already established he fell out of love and fell for a goddamn ghost who had an inconspicuous ulterior motive.
But more than that, this book just flatlined after it took off. The pacing was okay but the story that was supposed to go with the pace was nothing like the titles Hoover wrote before. I love Colleen Hoover, especially after Verity. Every title prior to Layla was really worth the time. I did not like this book at all.
Read the full review on Goodreads.
Reading Colleen Hoover Books in Order
Colleen Hoover has published a total of twenty-two books and novellas. Some books have had to be written as a novella to connect it with stand-alone books. I guess that's also to explore the world that Hoover created to quench the thirst of readers for more.
With this record, how do you go about reading Colleen Hoover books? Say no more. Below is the order in which you can start reading her catalog. Those marked with an asterisk are stand-alone books, which you can read without going over the novellas.
Non-Series
- Ugly Love (2014)
- November 9 (2015)
- Confess (2015)
- Too Late (2016)
- It Ends with Us (2016)
- Without Merit (2017)
- Never Never: The Complete Series (2017)
- Verity (2018)
- Regretting You (2019)
- Heart Bones (2020)
- Layla (2020)
Hopeless Series
- Hopeless (2012)*
- Losing Hope (2013)
- Finding Cinderella (A Novella) (2013)
Perfect Series
- All Your Perfects (2018)*
- Finding Perfect (2019)
Maybe Someday Series
- Maybe Someday (2014)*
- Maybe Not (2014)
- Maybe Now (2018)
Slammed Series
- Slammed (2012)*
- Point of Retreat (2012)
- This Girl (2013)
Takeaways
Readers are into Colleen Hoover and her books because of their angsty mature romance storytelling. Each book is completely different from the other. Pick one book and you'd get domestic violence as the overarching issue but you'll also get letters written to Ellen DeGeneres. Pick another and you'd get a book with the heart-wrenching story of a single mother and a catalog of beautiful paintings.
My ratings, reviews, and rankings are of my own making based on my own considerations. They may differ from yours; you might agree with me to some degree. Your opinion is valid as the opinion of the other reader. Nonetheless, I guess we can agree on one thing: Colleen Hoover is a master of playing with emotions and packaging them beautifully in her books. Plus there are always the hot male characters and beautiful female characters having naughty hanky-panky party for two. No one gets away with that!
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