How do you feel about CoHo?

Submitted by bishrexual t3_10ov4so in books

I read It Ends With Us a while back, and I genuinely liked it. I can’t remember how I felt about the writing styles, but I did think that the plot was engaging enough to warrant a 4/5 from me. I just finished reading Reminders Of Him, and gosh, I could hardly sit through it. I forced myself to finish it just so I could move on from the monstrosity. The plot is weak. The writing is immature. There is an unnecessary amount of smut in what I thought was supposed to be a story of grief and motherhood. I can’t believe ‘I froze because she has a perfect ass’ is really a sentence that reached the stage of publication. My question is - should I bother with It Starts With Us? I’ve gone through a bunch of reviews, but most of them are about general perspectives on CoHo. Is there anyone here who liked some of her books and still doesn’t recommend Starts? Does the sequel add value to the overall story? Or should I just skip it? Disclaimer - I cannot DNF!!! If I start a book, I have to finish it. So just giving it a shot is unfortunately not an option. Thank you!!

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FakeCowgirl111 t1_j6h0m6e wrote

I could not get past five pages of it starts with us and I’ve liked a couple of her books

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movingmoonlight t1_j6h4sq6 wrote

I feel like I should read at least one of her books for the internet clout, but everything I've heard about them makes me think it'll be too tedious an effort.

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unciellointain t1_j6hfwyu wrote

i don't know, not helpful comment, just wanted to say that i find it annoying that TikTok has made her so popular that she's referred to as CoHo, i just find it funny/ obnoxious

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honestlyicba t1_j6hps1u wrote

I’ve read five of her books ( I think) back when I was coming out of a reading slump and her books were all over the internet.

The emotional and physical abuse (not just present in It Ends With Us) really disturbed me but I read it while highlighting all the worse red flags from the characters.

It Ends With Us was supposed to have some moral message but it got completely lost ok me when the abusive husband literally have little to no consequence. Sure Lily stood up for herself at the end but like why doesn’t what’s his name Ryle? Kyle? get any real life consequences other than a divorce.

It is super disturbing and unsatisfying to read. I wanted him to go to jail.

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camilla_reads t1_j6hrhx6 wrote

Replying to honestlyicba (#1,610,449)

Yes! This was my major issue with IEWU too, I wanted actual repercussions for Ryle's behaviour. But instead it's some schmaltzy ending? Miss me with that. CoHo had a chance to tell a story about a woman finding the strength to report her abusive husband to the cops and prosecute him and instead she somehow romanticised it all to the point that people on TikTok are talking about how hot Ryle is and how he should be forgiven.

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camilla_reads t1_j6hrvlq wrote

I've read I think four of her books... It Ends With Us, Ugly Love, Verity and Layla. They were all very easy to read as her writing style is accessible and not complex at all. I found I preferred her thrillers (Verity/Layla) over the others which had been hyped up as romance. I have a problem with any of her books being advertised as romance because I feel they normalise really toxic behaviour from men and romanticise abusive relationships - and I don't just mean Ryle and Lily in IEWU. She is VERY good at writing incredibly unlikeable characters, which is why her thrillers appealed to me more. I think she's overhyped in all honesty and that her fanbase can be a bit intense sometimes.

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bishrexual OP t1_j6htmw8 wrote

Replying to camilla_reads (#1,610,842)

Agreed. Have you read Starts? Im wondering if there’s any resolution to this in the sequel. But from what I’ve gleaned, it’s mainly focused on justifying the whole Atlast having sex with underage Lily situation lol. So many problematic ideas. How did this author get so viral…

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camilla_reads t1_j6hxy2b wrote

Replying to bishrexual (#1,611,343)

I own a copy of ISWU (a moment of madness on my part) but haven't read it yet. I just asked my friends who have read it straight up: is it worth it? Apparently there are never any real repercussions for Ryle and yeahhhh... all the justification for the underage sex stuff too. Eeesh. Every book she has which is billed as romance seems to actually just have a bunch of problematic and toxic relationships in it, from emotionally manipulative men to full on stalkers who are made out to seem "sweet" and "misunderstood". And female characters who are just walked all over. It really bothers me that this is an author whose works are pushed all over at a very young demographic

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camilla_reads t1_j6i4mrm wrote

Replying to honestlyicba (#1,613,570)

Noooooooooo. Although saying that, she DOES have some YA books apparently. I've only ever read her adult ones though so I couldn't comment on what kind of relationships they portray but I think I'll go with: probably also toxic and problematic 🙃

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honestlyicba t1_j6i4xzb wrote

Replying to camilla_reads (#1,613,863)

Funny you said that because the one person who recommended CoHo to me (she said it’s her fav author) is in an incredibly abusive and controlling relationship.

There are real life consequences when you portray abuse and manipulation as romantic.

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camilla_reads t1_j6i5ji7 wrote

Replying to honestlyicba (#1,613,947)

This is the issue here, exactly. Not that she writes about these toxic relationships but that they're normalised and even romanticised. Imagine reading her books as an impressionable young teenager and thinking that's how relationships work, that it's oh-so-dreamy when a guy loves you SO much he flies into a jealous rage of another man so much as glances at you.

There are absolutely real life consequences to this kind of book being popularised and hyped as much as CoHo's are.

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honestlyicba t1_j6i8bev wrote

Replying to camilla_reads (#1,614,116)

You are exactly right. It’s not the subject matter itself (toxic and problematic relationships) but writing them in a way that makes it seems romantic to impressionable young minds.

When we are young we are like blank sheets of paper and if we start believing at that age that it’s okay to be with someone who lies and gaslights and manipulated, we would think it’s normal.

It’s not the young readers fault, the books are overhyped and honestly they don’t know any better.

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riahtouille t1_j6l5dw6 wrote

I read Verity first and hated it, but she was so hyped and loved that I thought I would try another book of hers. I figured that the smut and cringey writing and horrible, disgusting characters that I couldnt even like were just in that one book of hers, because she was a romance author attempting a thriller. But yeah... I read It Ends With Us and it was somehow WORSE than Verity. The smut is so stupid and pointless, the characters unbelievably cringey and flat, and her writing truly is 2012 wattpad vibes. I dont understand how people can read her books and feel good about them.

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