Do you need to read Colleen Hoover books in order?

Mostly no; most are standalones. The exceptions are It Ends With Us and It Starts With Us, the Slammed series, the Hopeless series and the Maybe Someday books.

Colleen Hoover Books: Where to Start and What Order to Read Them

In short: Most Colleen Hoover books are standalones, so start with the one that fits your mood: It Ends With Us (2016) for her defining novel, Verity (2018) for a dark thriller, Ugly Love (2014) for romance. Only a few series need an order, like It Ends With Us then It Starts With Us. The Verity film, with Anne Hathaway and Dakota Johnson, opened on October 2, 2026.

Cover art collage for several Colleen Hoover novels. — Where to start and what order to read them.

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Pick by mood

Her defining book: It Ends With Us (2016). Lily falls for a neurosurgeon and confronts the pattern of abuse she grew up with. It became a BookTok phenomenon years after release.
A thriller: Verity (2018). A struggling writer is hired to finish a famous author's series and finds her unsettling autobiography. Hoover's biggest departure.
Romance: Ugly Love (2014), November 9 (2015) or Confess (2015).
Family drama: Regretting You (2019), about a mother and teenage daughter after a loss.

The series that need an order

It Ends With Us: It Ends With Us, then It Starts With Us (2022).
Slammed: Slammed, Point of Retreat, This Girl.
Hopeless: Hopeless, Losing Hope, then the novellas Finding Cinderella and Finding Perfect.
Maybe Someday: Maybe Someday, Maybe Not, Maybe Now.

The films

It Ends With Us (2024), starring Blake Lively, earned about $351 million worldwide despite poor reviews. Regretting You followed in October 2025 and Reminders of Him in March 2026. Verity, directed by Michael Showalter with Anne Hathaway and Dakota Johnson, opened on October 2, 2026 to weak reviews but a strong box-office start. Reading the book first keeps Verity's twists intact.

Frequently asked questions

Which Colleen Hoover books have been made into films? It Ends With Us (2024), Regretting You (October 2025), Reminders of Him (March 2026) and Verity (October 2, 2026).

Are Colleen Hoover books suitable for everyone? Check content notes first. Several deal with domestic violence, sexual assault, grief or suicide, and Hoover herself added a note to It Ends With Us about its subject.

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