Colleen Hoover’s novels have become a publishing phenomenon in the past few years. After self-publishing several books, her work was picked up by a major publishing house. By 2014, she had appeared on the New York Times bestseller lists for two novels. At points in the following decade, Hoover’s novels represented over half of the entries on the New York Times Bestseller List for fiction. She has sold over 20 million copies of her books, which she originally began writing for fun, as well as to examine meaningful questions about her own life.

There is some debate about whether the new adult genre—with which Hoover is frequently associated—is a necessary or redundant category. Proponents of the category tend to describe new adult as a gap between young adult fiction and adult fiction. New adult books often feature characters in late adolescence. They are essentially coming-of-age stories that offer a more vivid, grittier look at dysfunction than do many traditional young adult narratives.

Critics of the new adult label claim that they are simply young adult novels that are overly sexualized and focus on depression, drug abuse, neurological disorders, rape, and sex that often straddles the line of consent.