Reading-order feature · Spoiler-free
4 Colleen Hoover series to catch up on—and the correct reading order.
The catalog has four connected groups. Here is what belongs together, where to begin and which final book is easiest to read too early.
The short version
You do not need one universal order for every Colleen Hoover book. Most of the catalog is made up of standalones. The four groups below are the exceptions, and each works best when its internal sequence is preserved.
- Slammed: Slammed → Point of Retreat → This Girl
- Hopeless: Hopeless → Losing Hope → Finding Cinderella → All Your Perfects → Finding Perfect
- Maybe Someday: Maybe Someday → Maybe Not → Maybe Now
- It Ends with Us: It Ends with Us → It Starts with Us
This is our site-focused spin on the August 18, 2026 Top Ten Tuesday topic, “Book Series I Want to Catch Up On.” It is an editorial reading-order list, not a personal reading diary.
01 · Three books
Start at the beginning with the Slammed series
Slammed is the cleanest starting point if you want to see the catalog develop from its debut. Point of Retreat continues Layken and Will’s story, while This Girl revisits earlier events from Will’s perspective and belongs last.
Correct order: Slammed, Point of Retreat, then This Girl.
Catch up on it if: you want a compact young-adult trilogy built around first love, grief, family responsibility and performance poetry.
02 · Five books and novellas
Save Finding Perfect for the end of the Hopeless sequence
The Hopeless group is the one most likely to surprise readers because All Your Perfects can look like a separate adult romance. The official catalog places it inside the five-book sequence, and Finding Perfect draws together characters and information from the preceding four works.
Correct order: Hopeless, Losing Hope, Finding Cinderella, All Your Perfects, then Finding Perfect.
Catch up on it if: you like connected stories that change viewpoint and gradually reveal how apparently separate characters belong to the same emotional arc.
03 · Three books and novellas
Use Maybe Not as the bridge to Maybe Now
The official book page notes that Maybe Someday can stand on its own and that the spinoff Maybe Not can also be read separately. For the complete sequence, however, both should come before Maybe Now.
Correct order: Maybe Someday, Maybe Not, then Maybe Now.
Catch up on it if: you want a music-centered relationship story whose supporting cast becomes increasingly important across the series.
04 · Two books
Read It Ends with Us before It Starts with Us
This is the shortest catch-up project: two books in direct sequence. It Starts with Us continues after the first book’s epilogue, so reversing them would reveal relationship outcomes before their context is established.
Correct order: It Ends with Us, then It Starts with Us.
Catch up on it if: you want a two-book arc about ending a harmful cycle, co-parenting and the possibility of a different future. Both books address mature relationship themes.
Which series should you choose first?
- Choose Slammed for the earliest, shortest young-adult trilogy.
- Choose Hopeless for the largest connected sequence and the most cross-book context.
- Choose Maybe Someday for music, shifting perspectives and a prominent supporting cast.
- Choose It Ends with Us when you want the quickest two-book catch-up.
If you would rather compare all 25 books, return to the complete publication-order table.
Sources and participation note
Series groupings and age labels were checked against the author’s official books catalog. The placement of Finding Perfect was cross-checked against its official book page, and the flexible order note for the Maybe Someday series against the official Maybe Someday page. Sources reviewed August 10, 2026.
Top Ten Tuesday is hosted by That Artsy Reader Girl. Participating sites create their own list, link to the host and may add the direct post URL to the weekly Linky when it opens.