Monday, August 15, 2016

Discussion: Colleen Hoover's books - Is there such a thing as too many feels?



Now listen, fellows, I LOVE LOVE LOVE everything about Colleen Hoover; her writing style, characters, her stories and her as a person.
I've long ago considered Colleen as a queen of writing. 
I would pick up anything she ever publishes. Anything.
She's so ridiculously talented, it's impossible not to. 
Whether I'll be able to finish it or not, that's the real question and the reason for this post. 

Do you know the feeling when a beloved characters dies?
What if the character doesn't die but keeps getting bad things happen to them over and over again, how would you feel then?
Really, it depends.
On what? On how emotionally connected to the characters you are.
And that all depends on how far the author has brought you to care for those characters. 

Imagine three people reading the same book.
At the end of the book, the protagonist dies.
One would feel great lose, sadness and depression.
The second would feel mildly sad but otherwise capable of quickly moving on.
The third one would feel nothing at all, put the book aside and forget all about it. 

As you probably know, if you read a colleen Hoover's book (well, maybe except for Maybe Someday), her books tend to have a... dark twist to them, and deal with some very sensitive subjects.
It's funny, really, because it's because Colleen can bring me to care for her characters so deeply that I'm unable to stay in the story when things are getting... way too dark for comfort.
It's because I fall for Colleen's books from the first page that when things take a dark turn... I just can't deal.

Am I prudish about darkness in books?
Not at all.
It may sound like a paradox but even though I am the type of HEA (all the way), I'm also the type who loves the darkness in books.
There are times, however, that It's impossible for me to deal and I end up bailing on the book. Like with Colleen's books.
I never quite understood the exact reason of why it's happening to me. Of why sometimes it works and sometimes it just doesn't.
But I believe it has to do with how good the author is of getting me into the story and characters.
And Colleen? One of the things I love about Colleen is how she's able to bring us all the happiness and swoon worthy moments and heart warming moments in the world before surrounding us with an ocean of of darkness. All in the same book. 

At one moment, you're swooning and laughing. At the other, you're heartbroken and crying.
Yes, She's that talented. 



Honestly? I'm not sure I made much sense in this discussion. 
I think I even managed to confuse myself. 
I was trying to portray my feelings about Colleen Hoover books, 
and that's how it turned out.
Like with writing a review, it's hard to capture the complexity of your feelings.
Feelings, after all, are not thoughts. They are something else.
When we try to capture them into words, it's like attempting to catch a tornado in a jar.
Sure, some of the wind will get in, but the tornado itself is still blasting and exploding with air.
You either end up either getting sucked in, turning your words into a mess of incoherent gibberish,
or slowly retreat back, savoring the bit of wind you got.
But that's just me talking. What about you





"Whatever this is and whatever we're doing seems too good and too right and too perfect and it makes me think of all the books I've read and how, when things get too good and too right and too perfect, it's only because the ugly twist hasn't infiltrated the goodness of it all."  
-- Hopeless, Colleen Hoover


14 comments:

  1. I have read all the books by this author and I love them all! Great post!

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    1. Thank you, Alexandra! :D
      She's amazing, isn't she? Such a fantastic author (:

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  2. I have Maybe Someday on my SOON TBR list, I'm going to read it soon I promise. Then I'll finally know Colleen Hoover! I think I'm missing a lot by not knowing her writing, whether I might like it or not. I'm really hoping I enjoy it!
    This is such an interesting topic Zoey. And your tornado bit was really nice, I loved reading that. You are great with metaphors!
    I tend to handle dark themes pretty well. I even look for them and love them. But when something is out of my comfort zone, I tend to pause my reading for a while before moving on. I don't shy away from it completely, though, because I might still enjoy the book or because I'm too stubborn to quit. But it's pretty understandable to keep away from something that makes you sad.
    Have you left many Colleen Hoover books unread because of this? Do you read the ending in a review or a summary or you just never know what happens? I'm such a curious person that I wouldn't be able to do that second option :P
    Very nice post Zoey, and lovely writing.

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    1. Maybe Someday? My favorite book by Colleen! :D
      I really-really-really hope you'll like it.
      Although... all of Colleen's books are basically contemporary romance and... I know you're not a fan of romance so... '^^

      Why, thank you :*)
      I always enjoyed comparing things to other things and using metaphors. Not of purpose... its just comes to me ^^
      Ah, your comments are what keeps me going, Esther :'D

      Keeping reading until the end of the book no matter what... that's really strong of you. Being able to finish the book despite not liking it... wow, that's either very amazing or very stubborn. Or maybe both (:

      So far... I left two of Colleen's books because of this (November 9 and It Ends With Us). And I read 6 Colleen books to their fullest (most of them not without difficulty to keep going despite the dark stuff).

      Me too! I'm beyond curious... I'm like a detective sometimes. And I always want to know everything about everything. It's both a blessing and a curse '^^
      I always try to stop myself for spoiling a books or a story, because many times before when I actually didn't know anything about the book... it was even a better expirience than knowing everything about it (:
      But I do spoil myself if I fear this book has a tragic ending\something bad will happen and such...
      So, really, it depends.

      Thank you-thank you-thank you so much, Esther!
      You always make me want to keep writing with your lovely comments ^__^
      Thank you! <3

      P.S: I know I haven't been on your blog for a while (I haven't been on my own blog for a while '^^)... I'm sorry about it. I was so super busy lately. It might take me a while. I read your newesr posts and loved them all! ^^

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  3. Colleen Hoover is literally the queen! She's one of my favorite authors of all time, even though I've only read Hopeless & Ugly Love. I'm having It Ends With Us as my next read! Haha. Have you read it?

    http://laxsourire.blogspot.my

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    1. *All hail queen Colleen Hoover* :D

      I haven't read It Ends With Us - too scared! - but I hope you'll love it (:
      Hopeless was one of my most favorite of Colleen... I loved that book.
      I highly-highly recommend you Maybe Someday by Colleen - it's my all time favorite by her and *such* a fantastic story.

      Thank you, Clara! (:

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  4. I am very shameful to say that I haven't read anything by Colleen Hoover before, even though I've heard nothing but great things about her. Her books are all on my TBR, though! Do you have any suggestions as to which one I should start with?

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    1. *gasp*
      Not to worry... we can soon fix this.
      Whenever someone who wants to read Colleen Hoover for the first time asks for my advice, my all time recommendation to them is Maybe Someday by Colleen Hoover. You can also stars with Hopeless, but I think Maybe Someday is the best choice of book by her to start with (:
      I really-really hope you'll love it as much as I did! ^^

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  5. I used to list this author as one of my favorites. I'm done reading books by her though because it feels like she uses these terrible tragedies as marketing ploys and plot twists and she's very emotionally manipulative to her readers (example: the author's note in IEWU). She is a really great author, but I think she needs to lay off the tragic events and cliche moments (and silly character names) and get back to the basics. I want a book like Slammed that can stand on its own because the characters and writing are amazing...

    Nereyda│ Nick & Nereyda’s Infinite Booklist

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    1. I agree.
      Colleen has talent that cannot be ignored.
      She's obviously a fantastic writer.
      I would have absolutely LOVED her books without the tragic\dark parts in them. Because I can see her characters stand on their own. They don't need tragedy to keep the story going.
      It's not to say I don't think tragedy here and there is important. It is, after all, a part of life.
      But there is tragedy and then there are Colleen's books.
      And honestly, it's just too much to bear sometimes.
      I'm desperatly-desperatly hoping to get back to books like Maybe Someday, Slammed and even Hopeless by Colleen.
      Because honstly, I used to *love* the twists in her books. Now I'm just dreading them.
      I don't think I would call it maipulation but it's definitely giving me - and other readers like yourself - a hard time.
      I can really understand where you anger and furstration about Colleen is coming from. Mine is not as strong but is definitely there.

      Thank you so much for sharing your thoughts on this discussion,
      Nereyda. I was really glad to see what you have to say (:

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  6. Her books defintely bring out so many feels for sure. I have to say The Slammed series is my favorite. Great topic, Zoey. :)
    New Bloglovin follower

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    1. I actually only read the first book in the Slammed trilogy, and while I did quite enjoyed it, my favorite is definitely Maybe Someday ;)
      Why thank you! For sharing your thoughts on this discussion and for the bloglovin follow :D

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  7. This is a really interesting post. Maybe Someday is, by far, my favorite of Hoover's books, and maybe it's because she stays away from the darkness in that one. Slammed is next on my list - again, probably the second lightest of her books. I think you might be onto something for me ...

    Nicole @ Feed Your Fiction Addiction

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    1. Yours too? Maybe Someday is such a beautiful story, isn't it? (':
      Yes... I'm pretty sure it might be part of the reason why it's my favorite book by Colleen too - it's the lightest of her books by far.
      I've been desperatly hoping for Colleen to write another book like Maybe Someday - oh, please!

      Thank you so much, Nicole! :D

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