Margaret Colleen Hoover (born as Fennell; born December 11, 1979) is an American writer who mainly creates books in the romance and young adult fiction genres. Her most famous book is It Ends with Us, published in 2016. She published many of her books herself before a publishing company took over. As of October 2022, she had sold about 20 million books. In 2023, Time magazine named her one of the 100 most influential people in the world.

Early and personal life

Hoover was born on December 11, 1979, in the city of Sulphur Springs, Texas, to her parents, Vannoy Fite and Eddie Fennell. She lived in Saltillo, Texas, and graduated from Saltillo High School in 1998. In the year 2000, she married Heath Hoover, and the couple has three sons. She earned a degree in social work from Texas A&M University – Commerce. Before becoming an author, she worked in social work and teaching.

Career

In November 2011, Hoover began writing her first novel, Slammed, with no plan to publish it. She was inspired by a lyric from an Avett Brothers song, "Head Full of Doubt/Road Full of Promise," which said, "decide what to be, and go be it." She included lyrics from the Avett Brothers in the story. Hoover published Slammed herself in January 2012. She did this so her mother, who had just received an Amazon Kindle, could read it. A sequel, Point of Retreat, was published in February 2012. After a few months, Slammed was reviewed by book blogger Maryse Black, who gave it five stars. Sales of Hoover's first two books then increased quickly. Slammed and Point of Retreat reached #8 and #18, respectively, on the New York Times Best Seller list in August 2012. Atria Books republished the novels on August 10, 2012. A third book in the series, This Girl, was published in April 2013. After Slammed became successful, Hoover left her job in social work to write full-time.

Hoover's novel Hopeless was self-published in December 2012. It follows a girl who was homeschooled during elementary school before attending public high school. The book reached #1 on the New York Times Best Seller list and stayed there for three weeks. It was the first self-published novel to top the list. A companion novel, Losing Hope, was published in July 2013.

Finding Cinderella is a free novella Hoover published in 2014. It includes characters from her novels Hopeless and Losing Hope. A paperback version was released with bonus features, such as a new ending and Hoover's own "Cinderella story." Maybe Someday, published in March 2014, is the first book in a small series about a boy and a girl who write music together and fall in love. Musician Griffin Peterson created a soundtrack for the novel. Links in the e-book or a QR code in the paperback directed readers to a website where they could listen to the music.

Never Never, a collaboration with Tarryn Fisher, was originally sold as three separate novellas. These were later republished as one complete book. The young adult thriller/romance novel follows teenagers Silas and Charlie, who wake up with no memory. The story follows their journey to recover their memories, uncovering lies and secrets along the way. Their relationship evolves as they work to remember who they are. Hoover and Fisher alternated writing chapters and editing previous content. They did not know how the story would end, but Hoover said the experience was one of the most enjoyable writing projects she had ever done.

Hoover's novel It Ends with Us was published in 2016. She described it as "the hardest book I've ever written." The novel includes domestic violence and was written to support victims of domestic abuse. It was inspired by Hoover's childhood experiences growing up in a household with domestic violence, which continued into her adult life. The book's main character, Lily, experiences domestic violence as a child, witnesses her father's abuse toward her mother, and later faces abuse in an adult relationship. As of 2019, the novel sold over 1 million copies worldwide and was translated into more than 20 languages.

In 2021, Hoover gained popularity due to attention from the BookTok community on TikTok. Because of this, It Ends with Us reached #1 on the New York Times Best Seller list in January 2022. A film adaptation of It Ends with Us, directed by Justin Baldoni, began filming in May 2023. The movie was released in August 2024 and received mixed reviews but was a commercial success, earning over $350 million worldwide. Hoover has said in interviews that the novel was inspired by the domestic abuse her mother endured. After the film's release, several studios expressed interest in adapting her other books.

A sequel to It Ends with Us, It Starts with Us, was published on October 18, 2022, by Atria Books. Simon & Schuster announced a large marketing campaign for the novel, which became the publisher's most-preordered book ever. A planned coloring book for It Ends with Us was canceled in January 2023 after online criticism about the book's subject matter.

In October 2022, Simon & Schuster UK acquired two standalone novels by Hoover.

As of October 2022, Hoover had sold more than 20 million books. Alexandra Alter of The New York Times wrote in 2022 that Hoover is the best-selling novelist in the United States, and her audience is larger and more loyal than those of other successful authors.

The movie Reminders of Him, written by Hoover and her producing partner Lauren Levine, opened in March 2026. It is based on Hoover's 2022 novel.

Awards and achievements

In 2022, six of Hoover's books were listed in the top ten positions on the New York Times paperback fiction bestseller list. The books and their positions included:

• Slammed (#8)
• Point of Retreat (#18)
• This Girl (#9)
• Hopeless (#1)
• Losing Hope (#6)
• Maybe Someday (#3)
• Ugly Love (#4)
• Confess (#4)
• November 9 (#9)
• It Ends with Us (#1)
• Verity (#2)

Works

• It Ends with Us (2016)
• It Starts with Us (2022)

• Slammed (2012)
• Point of Retreat (2012)
• This Girl (2013)

• Hopeless (2012)
• Losing Hope (2013)
• Finding Cinderella (novella; 2013)
• All Your Perfects (2018)
• Finding Perfect (novella; 2019)

• Maybe Someday (2014)
• Maybe Not (novella; 2014)
• Maybe Now (2018)

• Slammed (2012)
• Point of Retreat (2012)
• Hopeless (2012)
• Losing Hope (2013)
• Finding Cinderella (novella; 2013)
• This Girl (2013)
• Maybe Someday (2014)
• Maybe Not (novella; 2014)
• Ugly Love (2014)
• Confess (2015)
• November 9 (2015)
• Never Never (2015, digital; 2023, physical) a three-part novella series co-written with Tarryn Fisher
• It Ends with Us (2016)
• Too Late (2016)
• Without Merit (2017)
• Maybe Now (2018)
• Verity (2018)
• All Your Perfects (2018)
• Regretting You (2019)
• Heart Bones (2020)
• Layla (2020)
• It Starts with Us (2022)
• Reminders of Him (2022)
• Woman Down (2026)

• "A Father's Kiss" from The Kiss (An Anthology of Love and Other Close Encounters)
• "Saint" from One More Step (An Anthology)
• "The Dress" from Two More Days (An Anthology)