Colleen Hoover’s It Ends With Us Book Review

Today I’m going to be sharing my It Ends With Us book review.

I had conflicting feelings before reading this book. I vaguely knew that the subject matter was going to be tough to read. And let’s be honest. I am an emotional person and most Colleen Hoover books make me want to cry a little bit. Haha. She just really knows how to write an impactful story that connects you to the characters. So when I started listening to the It Ends With Us audiobook I didn’t know what to expect.

Right off the bat the story engrossed me. I loved Lily Bloom and the life that she created for herself in Boston. I rooted for her when she met Ryle, a successful doctor who just couldn’t seem to get her off his mind. And of course I loved the friendship between Lily and Allysa. It made me so happy that Lily found such a supportive and amazing best friend, purely by accident.

I’m not going to lie. This is a difficult book to read. Please be aware of the trigger warnings before going into this story. But like life, sometimes the most difficult situations come hand in hand with beautiful things, like friendship and reconnection.

Keep reading for my full It Ends With Us book review where I’ll be sharing my honest thoughts about this book.

Content Warning for It Ends With Us by Colleen Hoover

If you are sensitive to the following subjects, please be aware that they are mentioned in this novel:

  • domestic abuse
  • sexual assault
  • alcohol abuse

What is the book It Ends With Us about?

In this “brave and heartbreaking novel that digs its claws into you and doesn’t let go, long after you’ve finished it” (Anna Todd, New York Times bestselling author) from the #1 New York Times bestselling author of All Your Perfects, a workaholic with a too-good-to-be-true romance can’t stop thinking about her first love.

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 where she grew up—she graduated from college, moved to Boston, and started her own business. And when she feels a spark with a gorgeous neurosurgeon named Ryle Kincaid, everything in Lily’s life seems 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. And the way he looks in scrubs certainly doesn’t hurt. Lily can’t get him out of her head. 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. (from Amazon.com)

My Initial Thoughts

I’m always in awe after I read a Colleen Hoover because she does such a wonderful job of crafting her stories. Although the story is told in present day, we learn about Lily’s past through journal entries that she wrote when she was a teenager. This was a really cute idea because she writes her journal as letters to Ellen Degeneres, because Ellen is someone who she admires and Lily takes great comfort in her talk show. I enjoyed this way of telling the story because it felt very natural. Learning about Lily’s parents’ abusive relationship was sad, but it made me happy that Lily’s mom was finally free.

Tackling Domestic Violence in Fiction

This is a difficult subject to read about, and I’m sure it was even more difficult to write about. But I think Colleen Hoover did a good job of writing realistically. Lily spends so much of her life looking down on her mother. She doesn’t understand why her mother put up with her father for all those years. But she learns that you don’t really know what it feels like until you are in that situation. Things can just gradually get worse and worse until eventually, you’re not sure if there’s even a way to break the cycle of abuse. Lily’s mother was stuck because she didn’t have the resources to get out, and as an adult Lily realized that.

It’s funny how we have these ideas of our parents growing up. We make these assumptions about why they do the things they do. But it’s not until adulthood that we come to realize the truth.

Lily as a Main Character

I loved Lily. She was so sweet as a teenager in her journal entries. It was obvious in the way that she befriended a homeless boy named Atlas and helped to take care of him. And I loved her as an adult too. It was cool how she opened her own flower shop and I thought the process of how she hired Allysa to be her employee was so funny. I don’t know if I would consider this a romance novel exactly since that’s not really the most important part of the story. 

But as a heroine, Lily is A+ in my book. And as best friends, Lily and Allysa make the perfect pair.

Red Flags in Relationships

After I was finished reading this book, I sat with my feelings for a while. It doesn’t feel right to judge any of the characters because I haven’t been in any of the situations that they have been in. But I do wonder if some people can hide their red flags better than others. Something that is stated quite a few times in this book is how fifteen minutes can change everything. And I think that’s true in a lot of situations.

Frequently Asked Questions

Why is It Ends With Us So Popular?

It Ends With Us is a popular book because it shows both the good and bad in modern relationships. With the passing of time and the character development, Colleen Hoover shows how stress and worry and life can get in the way of even the best relationships. People make mistakes and they can ask for forgiveness, but sometimes saying you’re sorry just isn’t enough. It Ends With Us winds up being an emotional rollercoaster of a read with a huge plot twist.

Colleen Hoover has a writing style that sucks you in and won’t let you go, so I feel like that’s why a majority of her books become so popular with readers over time.

Is It Ends With Us Inappropriate?

It Ends With Us is best for readers 18+ as it features some mature themes and scenes of a sexual nature. Please see my content warning at the beginning of this review for more information. If you are triggered by sensitive subjects this may be a book to pass on.

Does It Ends With Us have a Sequel?

After It Ends With Us, Colleen Hoover published It Starts With Us. It Starts With Us is book #2 in the series and features the same characters from book #1 as they face new challenges in the real world.

Is It Ends With Us based off a true story?

No. But Colleen Hoover did use her personal experience from her own childhood to write about the physical abuse between Lily’s parents. She shares this in her Author’s Note at the end of the book. I think that’s part of what made this book feel so realistic.

Is It Ends With Us going to be a movie?

Yes, the movie version of It Ends with Us is out in theaters on August 9, 2024. It stars Blake Lively as Lily and Jenny Slate as Allysa. And I love both of these actresses so I am super excited to watch it. Maybe I’ll post my movie review after I go to see it!

In Conclusion

I was nervous to begin this book but after I read the first page, I knew I had to keep reading. The reading experience is difficult but so worth it because Lily is such a good person who deserves the best. She goes through a lot of emotional turmoil but she has good friends and support from her mother. It’s a heart-wrenching story but Lily works so hard to get her happy ending.

I’ll be completely honest. When I was listening to the audiobook, it gave me chills a couple of times. I didn’t actually cry but there were times when I was tearing up. It Ends With Us is an unforgettable tale of love, loss, reconnecting, and moving on.

It’s a damaged love story. And in this case, sometimes love is enough. And sometimes it isn’t. I feel like that’s the vital underlying message of this story. Like Lily’s Mom said, you have to know your limit. If you don’t stand firm in your limit it can be easy to fall into bad things and lose track of yourself and your life.

Anyway, I would definitely recommend this book. Lily Blossom Bloom is strong AF and I found her to be an unforgettable character and a really strong character. I’m looking forward to reading what comes next for her because while the end of the book was satisfying, I need to know what comes next. So I’ll be heading to the library soon to see if I can get my hands on book #2.

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