SOMETIMES THE ONE WHO LOVES YOU IS THE ONE WHO HURTS YOU THE MOST.
Lily hasn’t always had it easy, but that’s never stopped her from working hard for the life she wants. She’s come a long way from the small town in Maine where she grew up – she graduated from college, moved to Boston, and started her own business. So when she feels a spark with a gorgeous neurosurgeon named Ryle Kincaid, everything in Lily’s life suddenly seems almost too good to be true.
Ryle is assertive, stubborn, maybe even a little arrogant. He’s also sensitive, brilliant, and has a total soft spot for Lily, but Ryle’s complete aversion to relationships is disturbing. Even as Lily finds herself becoming the exception to his “no dating” rule, she can’t help but wonder what made him that way in the first place.
As questions about her new relationship overwhelm her, so do thoughts of Atlas Corrigan – her first love and a link to the past she left behind. He was her kindred spirit, her protector. When Atlas suddenly reappears, everything Lily has built with Ryle is threatened.
With this bold and deeply personal novel, It Ends With Us is a heart-wrenching story and an unforgettable tale of love that comes at the ultimate price.
Colleen Hoover is the #1 New York Times bestselling author of Slammed, Hopeless, Maybe Someday, Maybe Not, Ugly Love, Confess, November 9, It Ends with Us, Without Merit, and All Your Perfects. She has won the Goodreads Choice Award for Best Romance three years in a row―for Confess (2015), It Ends with Us (2016), and Without Merit (2017). Confess was adapted into a seven-episode online series.
In 2015, Colleen and her family founded The Bookworm Box, a bookstore and monthly subscription service offering signed novels donated by authors. All profits are given to various charities each month to help those in need. Colleen lives in Texas with her husband and their three boys.
Visit ColleenHoover.com.
I choose this book after seeing so many people talking about it on Instagram and Tiktok and seeing Colleen Hoover’s name everywhere! I had never read one of her books before, so I thought I would give it a try.
This is a different type of love story; it is quite an emotional and passionate read with a lot going on. It shows that things are never just black and white but many shades of grey.
The subject matter is quite intense; Hoover’s words are beautiful and raw while going some way to explaining the situation, why people stay, and their thought processes, though of course, this will be different for everyone.
The story is about life choices, personal limitations, difficult situations and grey areas; sometimes, life just doesn’t work out how you expect.
The characters are all somewhat imperfect. I particularly enjoyed the Lilly / Atlas relationship, which was sweet and long-lasting. Hoover builds up the characters and shows their perfection before stripping them down again, revealing their flaws.
I love that we follow Lilly from a teen through to adulthood. Her letters to Ellen DeGeneres are superb, full of emotion and a real story of what’s happening in her life. I also liked that she didn’t want to be a sheep from a young age and instead wanted to help and protect Atlas.
Ryle is perfectly flawed, the dream man on the surface with such a dark and dangerous underside. However, he was superbly written, and while you want to hate him, you also feel kind of sorry for him. Lilly is probably my favourite character overall, though.
The ending felt a little rushed, and I wanted to know more about Atlas. I also didn’t like how Lilly’s feelings changed so quickly – one minute, she was devastated and the next pining after another. I can see why she finds it so confusing! Finally, I feel unsure why Lilly is still keeping so many secrets at the end, almost like she is still protecting Ryle, which is disappointing.
In all honesty, I didn’t enjoy this as much as I had expected; I think all the hype probably didn’t help. The story felt predictable from the beginning, although it was built in a slightly less predictable way.
The book is about heartbreak, strength and breaking cycles, which is an excellent thing and hard to accomplish. At times the book had a slightly “50 shades” feel that I didn’t enjoy. However, it was interesting to see everyone’s thoughts on Ryle and how unsuspecting they all are, possibly the book’s most authentic part.
I feel a special mention should be given to the ‘Note from the author’ at the end of the book. It’s very raw and emotional while explaining the connection between the author’s life and the book. It feels courageous and extraordinary to include this.
| Title | It Ends With Us |
| Author | Colleen Hoover |
| Series | N/A |
| Format | Kindle |
| Page Count | 384 Pages |
| Genre | Literary Fiction |
| Publisher | Simon and Schuster UK |
| Release Date | 2nd August 2016 |
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