Book Review: It Ends With Us by Colleen Hoover

“I feel like everyone fakes who they really are, when deep down we’re all equal amounts of screwed up. Some of us are just better at hiding it than others.”

TRIGGER WARNING: Domestic Violence

Lily is a 23 year old who lives in Boston and we are introduced to her at her father’s funeral where she says nothing during what was supposed to be a eulogy. That same night she meets Ryle Kincaid, a neurosurgeon and a whirlwind romance ensues even when he says he is not a relationship type of guy. We get to know Lily better as she flashes back to her childhood via her journals. We see how Ellen (the celebrity and talk show host) was a focal point in her life and the important part it played when she meets the first love of her life, Atlas Corrigan at age 16.

Flash forward to present day and life is good for Lily. She starts a lifelong dream of owning a flower shop and her new employee, Alyssa who also happens to be Ryle’s sister becomes her best friend and things are good with Ryle – until the first incident happens and we enter into a journey with Lily as she asks questions about her present and explores her past to determine what her future will be.

“Just because someone hurts you doesn’t mean you can simply stop loving them. It’s not a person’s actions that hurt the most. It’s the love. If there was no love attached to the action, the pain would be a little easier to bear.”

I have actually never read a Colleen Hoover novel and to my knowledge, this was a change of pace and I am glad this was my first venture into her world. This was a story that was about the complexities of life with a sensitive topic as its focal point and it was written and depicted very well. I think the book summary doesn’t do it justice as it portrays it more like a romance novel with a love triangle involved which is not the case at all. What I liked most about this book were the many layers. Yes, it had domestic violence but it was not the only focal point. This is also a story about friendship, PTSD, family problems, homelessness and that made it rich.

“All humans make mistakes. What determines a person’s character aren’t the mistakes we make. It’s how we take those mistakes and turn them into lessons rather than excuses.”

I like that this book gave me perspective. We always think domestic violence is cut and dry and it’s this mean and evil person but Hoover paints a picture and makes you ask what happens when the person isn’t this mean ogre and is by all accounts a “great” guy. The fact that Hoover was able to make me feel conflicted even though it was clear as day is a testament to how well the book was written.

“That’s what fifteen minutes can do to a person. It can destroy them. It can save them“

At times, I felt Lily sounded juvenile but then I had to remember that she was 23. But that was me nit picking because another thing Hoover made me realize is, strength comes in different forms and in so many ways, Lily was strong. I enjoyed seeing the friendship develop between Lily and Alyssa because most romance novels focus so much on developing the relationship with the man but not nearly enough on the friendship, so seeing this support was refreshing. This book was not perfect. I gave it 3 stars because it did still have elements of the romance genre that I am not particularly a fan of. It gave me a glimpse to how other Hoover books might be. The elements I speak of are scenarios that aren’t necessarily always realistic. Where things just happen to work out easily that would otherwise in the real world be a headache.

“It stops here. With me and you. It ends with us.”

Overall, I do recommend this book because you get a combination of things and it was an easy book to get through in terms of writing. It wasn’t tedious which is still a mystery to me how it still maintained a fluffy vibe. One of my favorite things about the book was the author’s note, so if you get a chance make sure you read that. It gave context to why she wrote this book and how it was based on her personal experience. I liked seeing how it gave her a different view of her own mother and a different appreciation.

A lot of people have mentioned how it made them cry, I am personally not a book crier and I can’t say I felt that emotional rollercoaster that most felt but that’s personal. If you are the kind who looks to books for a good cry, this might do it for you.

Taynement