Remember last week’s Podcast Roundup, when I said I picked up It Ends With Us by Colleen Hoover at Target? I’ve seen her name plastered all over every #bookstagram and online book club, but I’ve had zero interest in reading any of her books, or many of the other popular modern novels I see posted about.
Why? Not because I don’t think they are good books, but because most of the modern novels I’ve read are just… flat? I end up yelling at the book in the margins, much the way I watch some tv shows and movies. Why would you DO that? Just don’t and none of this would have happened! Really?! You didn’t see that coming? Ugg! I feel like they stir up ugly and useless feelings in me for no other reason than to keep me reading. And nothing is ever resolved.
Oooh! Bad capitalism. LOL. As much as I grump, I’m not against these books at all. They just aren’t my cup of tea. I feel like I’m watching a trainwreck. What do you call that? There’s a word… Rubbernecking! I’m only reveling in other people’s drama, instead of eliminating and solving my own problems.
So, why did I buy and read another one of these books? To give it a fair shake. Maybe this one is different, and that’s why everyone is reading it and books like them. And besides, It Ends With Us was right at there on the shelf out front at Target when I did my quick browse through while picking up a few essentials, not cleaning supplies though because it looks like people that shop at Target don’t really clean much… but I digress.
Saturday morning, after finishing A Gentleman in Moscow, I decided it was time to read something lighter, something I could finish quickly and move on from, so I picked up my recently acquired copy of It Ends With Us while all the other books on my TBR shelf rolled their bookish eyes. “I’ll read you! I promise! This is for social science. It’s important.”
It’s Monday morning, and I’ll admit it is a great book, and Colleen Hoover deserves the praise, especially since she’s knocking out more than one of these, but…
Yes, there’s a “but.”
It’s not my kind of book. There’s nothing in that makes me feel closer to humanity as a whole, as the classics do. It doesn’t sing to me, or make me sigh out loud. It doesn’t make me feverishly copy down lines from it in an attempt to keep that particular arrangement of words in my mind forever. It isn’t art. It’s entertainment, and not the kind of entertainment I usually enjoy.
I’m about forty pages from the end of the book I as I write this, so I’ll finish it today and give you my final thoughts tomorrow morning. Beyond this ARE spoilers, so don’t read on if you plan on reading this book.
Two Spaces to WARN you… Thar be Spoilers Ahead… and Davy Jones waitin’ for them that don’t obey!
I lied… it’s beautiful… jeepers… stupid book making me ugly cry on my couch! Good thing I finished reading it before getting in the shower. I needed some time in hot water to relax the tears away.
She did the right thing, in every way, but FFFF… it hurt so much! I’m still getting upset relaying how upset I was yesterday when I finished the book. Great job, Colleen Hoover! Now I understand what all the hub-bub was about. You’re brilliant. Really.
And then I read her Note From the Author at the end, suddenly it DID help me relate to humanity like I hope every novel will. What an amazing way to pay a tribute to your mother’s strength. It made me think, “How can we support women so that they can have the kind social structure to allow them NOT to have to stay in situations of abuse?” It’s not an easy task. I’ve worked in a pregnancy clinic here in my area, and resources are slim for women leaving abusive or unhealthy conditions regarding their families. Pregnant or not, it’s complicated. If I had a magic wand to do anything in this world, I’d wave it over that problem.
Will I be snatching up the next Collen Hoover book? Probably not, but I won’t pass up a cheap one at a used bookstore. And I won’t be looking down on the people that read them anymore. They’re great books and I can definitely see why they are so popular.