When you’re young you just want to be older, and then later you wish you could go back to being a kid.
-Before I fall by Lauren Oliver
‘You know, you want to think you’re… You want to think you’re not like other women, but you are, you know. You’re still… that’s still how the rest of the world, how men are going to see you. Like, I know you hate labels, but like… You live in a woman’s body. You’re vulnerable. No matter what you think, you’re vulnerable, and sometimes, you’ll need other people. Friends. Me.’
- Boy Parts by Eliza Clark
TW: Rape, Abuse
Photo Link: Echo Wang
Why I dislike Colleen Hoover : The decline of reading critically
Colleen Hoover is an American author who rose to fame after her books got popular on “Book Tok.” Book Tok is a “side” of tik tok that reads and reviews books. Her most popular novels are November 9, Ugly Love, Verity and It ends with us. Personally I’ve only read It ends with us, but from excerpts of her novels I don’t plan on reading them.
Anna Todd is a popular fanfic author who wrote the infamous After series. So popular it got picked up for…. How many movies? Too many. (4) Anna and Colleen both have two things in common. Both terrible popular writers who romanticize and write hard topics beyond their writing skills.
Even though my dislike for her is strong, there are a few things that I think she has accomplished. She became a popular known-romance author. Her novels are easily accessible because of the simplicity of them. I can admit that! I believe that readers of Colleen Hoover should develop better reading comprehension skills.
I feel so strongly about my dislike of Colleen Hoover because I’ve read many, many romances. I’m a very picky romance reader. I can’t stand abusive, toxic, possessive men. Why would I want to surround myself around men like that? Now my preference strongly influences my dislike but not fully. Colleen Hoover doesn’t believe in Trigger warnings. Trigger warnings aren’t new, but to the modern political world people don’t need them! But here's the thing, Colleen Hoover doesn’t use them! Despite her constant use of rape, abuse, violence in almost all of her novels. Now this is debatable, why would this be bad? Because she believes it “Spoils” the story. Telling me that she uses these real life traumas solely on plot twists. If you look at most of her reviews from stans most will say they LOVED the plot twists. That is what Collen Hoover is, a “Romance” writer who writes rape as a plot twists. These characters do have “Happy Endings.” Spoiler for november 9 : She gets with the guy who burned her house down. Caused the burn damage on her skin and killed her mother in the fire. If that’s not a meet cute, I don’t know what is.
Colleen Hoover also included a rape scene in her novel November 9. Later apologizing and having it removed from the novel. She later deleted her apology from facebook and never spoke about it again. Now this is relevant to Colleen Hoover’s character. When a girl online spoke about the sexual assault against her son, Colleen Hoover blocked the girl and continued to defend her son. Now of course not everything on the internet is true, but with the way she writes men makes me wonder how she views men. She also markets her novels as romance.
Is simplistic writing bad? Of course not, simple language is what gets people reading. Most people wouldn’t read if they started with Crime and Punishment by Fyodor Dostoevsky.
I don’t hate Colleen Hoover fans, or the younger teenage girls for enjoying it. I just wish that the romance genre, although dominated by women, was less misogynistic and saw female characters as true, fleshed out characters. I believe that Colleen Hoover could improve the quality of her craft and her writing, by not calling her novels “Romance” and picking up a dictionary once in a while.
I think the moral of this story is that not all popular writers are good, some just get lucky.
been thinking a lot about anticipatory grief lately. i love you so much that i know losing you will devastate me. i haven't lost you yet but i already miss you. we still have time, but it won't be enough. i think about what i would say at your funeral, and say some of it to you now cause i need you to know how loved you are before you go. you will go where i cannot follow, but you will never really leave me. it won't make it hurt less but it is a part of healing somehow.
Do not fall in love with people like me. I will take you to museums, and parks and monuments, and kiss you in every beautiful place, so that you can never go back to them without tasting me like blood in your mouth. I will destroy you in the most beautiful way possible. And when I leave, you will finally understand, why storms are named after people.
— Caitlyn Siehl
adonis, tr. by khaled mattawa
taylor swift was literally so accurate when she wrote gold rush because i don’t like anticipating my face in a red flush and i don’t like that anyone would die to feel your flush cause everybody wants you and everybody wonders what it would be like to love you and walk past quick brush and i don’t like slow motion double vision in rose blush and i don’t like that falling feels like flying till bone crush and everybody wants you but i don’t like a gold rush
practically every character in The Secret History played a role of someone that they were not.
richard and bunny played themselves as rich, when in fact they were poor.
charles and camilla played themselves as pure, when in fact they were weaved with immorality.
francis played himself as cool, when in fact he was an anxious mess.
henry played himself as intellectual, when in fact he was blinded by his own stupidity, wealth, and ego.
julian played himself as a father figure, aiding to the care and minds of the Greek students, when in fact he was conniving and egocentric, swept away by his own gain, unlike a true father.
mrs corcoran played herself as a victim and sorrowful mother of a lost child, when in fact she only cared about her own appearance in front of the camera.
hell, even dr roland played himself as a psychologically-forward man, deep in intellect, when in fact he was nearing dementia and a complete gobble of a man.
i mean, gosh, this theme plays out so grandly. putting up a front and hiding your real self. whether for gain or by self consciousness.
Average dark academia reader be like yes I'm gonna ignore the obvious point of the book (warning against elitism and living in a fantasy) and romanticise my way out of everything until i find my own group of pretentious friends. What are you gonna do, stop me??
Thank you for tagging me @imlovelace <3
Rules: Pick a song for every letter of your url
This is fun😁
F- floating by alina baraz (ekali remix)
A- all we know by chainsmokers
E- envy the leaves by madison beer
R- rare by selena gomez
I- in my head by ariana grande
E- erase me by said the sky
L- lacy by olivia rodrigo
I- I'm tired by labrinth
T- teenage dream by olivia rodrigo
E- everything matters by aurora
R- regardless by raye
A- anxiety by blackbear
T- take me to church by hozier
U- unmiss you by clara mae
R- revival by selena gomez
E- enjoy the ride by krewella
Tags: Whoever wants to do it 💌
tag game
rules: pick a song for every letter of your url and tag that many people.
thanks for the tag @sugarcoated-lame
a: ancient dreams in a modern land - marina
t: tangerine - glass animals
t: the world’s first ever monster truck front flip - arctic monkeys
a: alaska - banks
b: boys - atta boy
o: overlap - catfish and the bottlemen
y: yuk foo - wolf alice
l: lightning - charli xcx
e: e.v.o.l - marina
w: wtf love Is - tove lo
no pressure tag: @rxgirlie, @sailor-aviator, @catb-fics, @icouldntfindquiet, @icarus-star, @angelsanarchy, @vanmccannsfridge and @lostinthefandoms11
i’m a slow reader, i feel no shame in admitting that. it takes time to appreciate the words- i want to savor them, really see them, have them penetrate my mind before going the next and doing it all over again