Summary

• "It Ends With Us" sold over 4 million copies on TikTok, but controversy surrounds its abusive relationship storyline.
• The casting for the movie adaptation of "It Ends With Us" caused backlash from fans of the book.
• Another one of her popular novels would be a better choice for a film adaptation as it has no controversy, complex characters, and a thrilling plot.

It Ends With Us has been confirmed to be getting a big-screen adaptation, but Hollywood should have gone with a different Colleen Hoover novel instead. "BookTok" is a side of TikTok dedicated to s sharing their opinions and recommendations on novels of all genres, and many of the sensations to come out of it have been adapted on-screen. Colleen Hoover is one author, in particular, whose work has gone viral on the platform. She has published 26 books, in total, and many of them have become massive successes.

One, in particular, has gained unprecedented success on TikTok. According to should have gotten the adaptation treatment instead.

Verity Has The Built-In Audience But Has Less To Overcome Than It Ends With Us

Despite It Ends With Us being a BookTok staple, the book and film adaptation have a large amount of controversy attached to them. The storyline has been accused of romanticizing abuse through its main characters. It is seen as especially problematic due to the fact that Hoover has a largely young reader base, as a result of TikTok, who are impressionable and could get the idea that abusive relationships are normal and okay.

The casting for the It Ends With Us movie also proved to be a challenge and has generated backlash from fans of the book. Colleen Hoover shared with Today that she feels she made the main character, Lily, too young in the books. The movie then corrected this by casting Blake Lively, but that caused upset because now the actress doesn't match the description of the character in the book. Considering It Ends With Us has two major problems with its subject material, it would have been a better choice for Hollywood to adapt another one of Hoover's popular novels.

Verity would have been a better Colleen Hoover film to turn into a film adaptation because it does not have any of the controversy attached to it. Its subject matter has not been accused of romanticizing abuse or any other unhealthy themes, which already sets it up for more success than It Ends With Us. It also does not have a character age problem, as Colleen Hoover has not expressed any grievances about the way she wrote the characters. And, even if she did have regrets about the main characters' ages in Verity, their ages matter less to the overall story than in It Ends With Us.

Verity Has All The Makings Of A Movie Hit

Aside from not being plagued with issues from the get-go, Verity also has all of the makings of a movie hit. The storyline is riveting and unique, following the story of a struggling writer who stumbles into the task of finishing a bestselling series for an injured author. While the job seems easy enough, she ends up finding herself entangled in the dark secrets of the reclusive author and trying to navigate the murky waters of what's real and what's fiction.

Plot aside, Verity has a number of things going for it that would translate very well to the big screen. The characters, for example, are deeply complex, and their relationships with one another are fascinating. The ending is one that has readers thinking about it long after its conclusion, which can lead to viewers going to see it multiple times.

The book is a perfect blend of the romance and thriller genres, which would allow a movie to appeal to a wide range of audience preferences. The storyline has also set up a number of opportunities for visual engagement, thanks to flashbacks and contrasting settings, which would be able to be well-translated on-screen. Plus, Verity deals with sensitive subject matter, like mental health and abuse, but in a much more tasteful manner than It Ends With Us.

A Verity Film Adaptation Might Actually Happen

Given how many things Verity has going for it, it's no surprise that a film adaptation is actually a possibility. In 2021, it was announced that the project was in development at Amazon Studios. Unfortunately, there has been no further comment on it since, though. This leaves its fate up in the air, as there is no further indication as to whether or not a Verity movie is still happening or if the idea has been shelved.

Source: The New York Times, Today