Please, no more Colleen Hoover movies

Please, no more Colleen Hoover movies Categories: Opinions Please, no more Colleen Hoover movies Megan Michaels, Reporter October 14, 2026 Illustration by Nora Ford In the past several years, it seems like there has been a surge in book-to-movie adaptations, but what is the quality of some of the books that are being chosen?  Some of my favorite movies of all time have been book adaptations, such as “Pride and Prejudice” (2005) and “Little Women” (2019). This is certainly not a criticism of all book-to-movie adaptations, but an analysis on why mediocre books are getting chosen out of the millions of high-quality titles available.  The genres of the books that are being chosen typically fall under drama, romance, mystery, or some hybrid genre. It seems to be that these books get chosen because they have what the American public appears to be looking for: a hot guy role to cast, heaps of romance tropes and big, dramatic scenes. Noticing this, a common theme that these adaptations have is that they typically stem from books with a female readership. Women have created spaces on social media and in their communities to talk about recent tropes that keep them turning to the next page. “BookTok” has blown up in recent years as a literary nook within TikTok, created to promote books and share a love of reading. While the books being talked about are not necessarily the most literary or the deepest, BookTok has been able to bring together a community on social media, something that is very hard to do.  So it’s a shame then that the film industry and various authors of said books try and turn these into movies, when often they are not meant for the big screen. And in the end, do not translate well, either by picking the wrong cast or changing the plot in fundamental ways. Some books are meant to stay books.  What is Hollywood trying to gain out of this? Is it simply profit-driven or is it to keep up with the trends of social media?  Colleen Hoover is a standout example of this phenomenon, as three of her books have been turned into movies within the last three years. First, “It Ends With Us” in 2024, then “Regretting You” in 2025 and now “Verity” in 2026. While she is a controversial figure due to some readers citing her plotlines as a romanticization of abuse or endorsing problematic storylines, many of her works have become bestsellers. It is fair, then, to assume that the film industry saw her success and saw the audience she reached and wanted a piece of the action. Hoover began the snowball that has now become an avalanche of book-to-movie films circulating BookTok’s literary traffic.  And it’s not just movies. Countless TV shows such as “The Summer I Turned Pretty,” “Off Campus” and “My Life with the Walter Boys,” are just a few of the books that have been marketed towards young women. While I do thoroughly enjoy some of these shows, there is little to no depth in their storylines, as they usually emphasize the “broken hot guy” archetype and the “I can fix him” attitude from the woman lead. These are somewhat dangerous ideas to push towards young women, similar to what readers may say of Hoover’s work.  These adaptations were never going to be good movies or TV shows because the books are also not top quality. Yet, it goes farther than that. Casting big-name stars is an attempt at trying to get the audience that read these very books to watch the adaptations. Casting big-name stars may drum up publicity, but casting is usually not book-accurate, and many of the actors in these shows and movies lack acting experience or can’t embody what the role demands.  Examples include: Blake Lively in “It Ends With Us.” Gal Gadot in “Death on the Nile,” Lily Reinhart in “The Love Hypothesis,” Glen Powell in “The Running Man,” Dakota Johnson in “Verity,” and Joey King in “Uglies.”  What’s intriguing about many recent adaptations is that audiences have shown they don’t really like many of these films. Looking at the IMD website, which lists all of the book-to-movie adaptations, the overall reviews of many movies and TV shows listed are average about 5-6/10 stars from thousands of watchers. Mediocre books that may have found success on the page are rarely transferred onto screens with the same success. The film industry needs to pick and choose its adaptations more wisely. Making bad movies stemming from middling books, and often spurring potentially harmful ideals of love towards women, should not be something Hollywood continues to do.  Instead, perhaps they could create films that originate from substantial literature. The success of “Little Women” and “Pride and Prejudice” still lingers today, and while there are romantic characteristics in such movies, they stem from quality source material. If Hollywood were to start thinking about making movies and TV shows from superior books, public opinion would shift more positively toward book-to-movie adaptations.  View Story Comments 0 Like This Story Share on Facebook Share on X Email this Story Print this Story Leave a Comment Tags: literature movies More to Discover More in Opinions My Owala is working overtime Smile for Flock! EDITORIAL: UK Flock-Off! Not aliens, just human UK couch burnings are a one-of-a-kind fan experience 2026 or 1950? Gender inequality is an ongoing trend