It Ends with Us A Novel

I’ve been captivated by Colleen’s books ever since I discovered her exceptional writing talent. She has a way of tapping into deep emotions and presenting them raw and unfiltered. After finishing “November 9,” which moved me to tears, I’m eager to watch its movie adaptation once I complete “It Starts with Us.” Colleen’s author’s note at the end of the book touched me deeply, bringing both sorrow and relief in knowing that others have overcome abuse. Ryle’s words, “good people do bad things,” resonate with me. I cherished Rylee and Lily’s relationship until I didn’t. It was profound when Lily recognized her mother’s struggles and understood that staying in an abusive situation doesn’t make someone bad, nor does being abusive define one as inherently evil. Prioritizing oneself is crucial, regardless of others’ understanding. Witnessing her mother’s suffering, Lily chose a different path for her daughter, aspiring for a life where her child is loved by two parents, even if they don’t cohabit. Her decision, made postpartum, was heroic. Colleen Hoover’s books justify their cost, and I’m excited for the film version of this stirring tale. These books have been an emotional whirlwind, but I’m thankful to have them in my Kindle collection. I highly recommend this book and eagerly anticipate the next one.

Great read so far!! The author is able to take you on an adventure and you’ll be able to feel and see the events taking place. The story is easy to follow and the issues are so important to everyone event. I hope this book helps current and future victims of domestic violence to seek resources and get the needed help and to know that it’s never your fault.Thanks for reading my review, I hope it helps!

I devoured this book in literally, no exaggeration, six hours. I spent six hours straight just eating up the content of this book. And I think it’s safe to say those six hours changed my life. This book was an EXTREMELY fast-paced read for me since I was on the edge of my seat the whole time. This book tackled the subjects of domestic abuse and gaslighting so well, and especially how hard it is to face those kinds of challenges. I highly appreciate and admire that Colleen Hoover had the courage to get up and write this novel, despite it being very personal to her and was probably extremely emotional to write. I don’t only admire her for it, I’m also GLAD that she did. This novel helps raise awareness of exactly how people going through or have gone through this kind of trauma REALLY feel. The book really captures how hard it is to escape those kinds of situations. And not only that but how to identify whenever you’re in one. Colleen Hoover builds up the story so that we feel every emotion that the protagonist, Lily Bloom, feels.

“In the future . . . if by some miracle you ever find yourself in the position to fall in love again . . . fall in love with me.”I’m going to start this review off with this statement: I didn’t cry while I was reading this book, but I did cry several days later when I was looking back on Lily’s story. That shows how emotionally charged this story is, along with the true power behind Colleen’s writing. I’m not going to give away any spoilers because you need to go into the book blind. If you want to know what happens, there are definitely some reviews out there that tell you the big twists and turns. But take my advice and don’t spoil this book for yourself. It will lose a lot if you go in knowing exactly what to expect. So seriously, don’t do it to yourself. Just let the beauty of Colleen’s writing sweep over you and sink in.“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.”This is honestly not only one of the best reads of 2016, but also one of the most (if not the most) empowering. I want to give this book to every man, woman, and even teenager (it’s definitely a NA/adult read) and tell them… READ THIS NOW! Do you want to know why? Because this book carries with it a very strong message, one that shows strength and courage that many people might not have at the time, but after reading will understand and gain. I honestly don’t know if there has ever been a time when I was prouder to be reading the heroine’s story due to her choices. Ultimately though, Colleen Hoover wrote a book that everyone can take something away from. Colleen always writes such unique stories, and this one is certainly no exception. But the one thing I will say is that this is truly her best book yet.“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.”Lily’s story is one that I never wanted to stop reading. If I know that I’m going to need to read a book in multiple sittings (which was the case with this book), I usually try to find a good place to stop. One in which, nothing major is happening and nobody is facing some drastic/perilous moment. Well you see the problem with this book is the fact that there is literally NO. GOOD. STOPPING. POINT! None! There was never a part where I felt safe in letting this book sit overnight because I knew that the story and the what if’s would play endlessly in my mind. So I stayed up and read it all in one sitting because I simply couldn’t stop. Lily was someone that I connected to right from the get go. I knew as soon as the book started that I would like her, and that never once stopped while I was reading. However, I didn’t realize how much her character would affect me while I was reading. As I said before, after I was finished reading, I couldn’t have been prouder of her decisions. The strength she had throughout the story to go through what she did, but also her resolve and conviction just made me constantly cheer her on. Lily is truly one of the most admirable characters that I have ever had the pleasure of reading about, and that admiration goes extraordinarily deep.“Life is a funny thing. We only get so many years to live it, so we have to do everything we can to make sure those years are as full as they can be. We shouldn’t waste time on things that might happen someday, or maybe even never.”I mentioned it briefly above, but this book has a very powerful message, and this message is actually carefully woven into the story from page 1. You obviously don’t realize it when you start reading the novel, but it’s there when you look back after finishing. And this is also why I’m going to reiterate the importance of going into the story blind, because just as unexpected and emotional it is for the reader to read and witness what Lily goes through, it is even more unexpected and emotional for Lily. This is where this book truly shines, because you as a reader feel like part of the story. There’s a very slow burn while reading, one in which we get to know characters and see the develop in the ways that we as humans get to know each other…but then Colleen rips that metaphorical rug out from under all of us, and shocks us with one revelation after another. But you know what? That’s exactly how life is sometimes…sometimes you never see things coming in a million years and you have to figure out how to deal with these radical changes you never thought would happen.“It stops here. With me and you. It ends with us.”Where this book really got me though was the meaning of the title. Throughout the entire time I was reading, I kept wondering what the title meant. Because come on…this is Colleen Hoover and literally EVERYTHING has some significance (no matter how small). And when I got to the part of the story where the title finally made sense, guys let me tell you…this had an impact on me like no other. I just sat there with my book in my hands staring at the page for a solid 5 minutes. It is the perfect title for the perfect book.“Fifteen seconds. That’s all it takes to completely change everything about a person. Fifteen seconds that we’ll never get back.”I connected with this book in my own way, and for that I am extraordinarily thankful to Colleen Hoover for even writing this book. The author’s note at the end was just as powerful and amazing as the rest of the story, but it shows just how personal this story was for her to write. I applaud Colleen for writing this book and not “making things easy” for the main character or glossing over the “bad parts.” This is an incredibly realistic book that makes you realize many things and leaves an imprint on your soul. It’s important to remember that everyone must make extraordinarily difficult decisions in their life, and not everyone will agree with them. If this book even empowers one woman to take steps in making an important decision, the Colleen Hoover did her job. And I count myself lucky to have had the honor of reading this story because I am a changed person because of it!Happy reading 🙂

THE STORY:Lisa: I went into this story completely blind. I do this quite a bit, honestly, and it almost always pays off. But with this book especially, I think going in blind is the way to go. If that’s not your reading style, I’ll give you just a bit of background.Lily hasn’t lived the easiest life. After graduating from college she moved to Boston where she opened her own business. Things were finally looking up for her. All of her hard work had paid off. She runs into a local neurosurgeon and immediately feels a connection with him. Ryle, especially wearing his adorable scrubs, is easy on the eyes and such a charmer. He’s also a player and only wants one-night-stands. He refuses to get into a relationship for several reasons, one of them being he just doesn’t have the time outside of being a doctor to be in a real relationship. The sparks start flying and Lily realizes she’s quite interested in Ryle… that is, until a blast from her past, Atlas, reappears, and brings up allllll kinds of confusing feelings.Becca: Yes! I 100% agree with Lisa, if you can go into this one blind then I recommend that you do! It was absolutely incredible to experience each moment and have no idea what was going to happen next!I don’t want to say too much and spoil the story for anyone. I will say that this book does span a large part of Lily’s life. We see her as a teen and also as an adult, it was very well done and I enjoyed the blend of past and present.THE CHARACTERS:Becca: Oh these characters… where do I begin?! I absolutely loved Lily! She had been through so much in her life, yet she persevered and followed her dreams. She was strong and fought for what she believed in. I loved learning about her past and being with her in the present. I felt as though I knew her, I understood and empathized with very thought and every emotion.When Lily met Ryle, I fell for him as instantaneously as she did. He was strong, confident, funny and of course sexy in scrubs 😉 Their relationship was a whirlwind that wrapped them up so quickly and I was in it with them! When things got tough for them, I felt every moment as harshly as they did.When Atlas (the blast from Lily’s past) appears it throws this whole story in a different direction. Of course, we meet him with young Lily and then again later in the book. Atlas has this smooth, quiet confidence about him. He comes from absolutely nothing and makes something out of himself. I admired and respected him and I fell for him big time!I know some of you are probably sniffing out a love triangle and freaking out. In my opinion, that is NOT what this is. Some may call it a love triangle on a technical basis, but it really is not and I urge you not to skip this one for that reason because that term is to cliched for what this book actually is.Also the secondary characters in this book, Lily’s parents and Ryle’s sister and her husband are truly imperative in this story. They are just perfect and add so much to the story.I do not think that there is another Author out there who can make me fall in love with characters quite so hard. CoHo develops her characters so well that I feel as though I know them! I had so many feels for these characters that my heart couldn’t handle it! In the past I have loved many CoHo characters (and I still do) but none made me feel what these characters did and none made me feel quite so much that I was a part of their story. Trust me when I say these are characters that you want to meet.Lisa: That’s so, so true, Becca! I agree that CoHo has an amazing ability to make us fall in love with ALL characters, even the not-so-easy-to-love ones.I’m honestly not sure I would categorize this as a love triangle. I know others have, but I disagree. (view spoiler)My favorite characters in this story were, as Becca mentioned, the secondary characters. Specifically Ryle’s sister and her husband, who are wonderful additions to this beautiful story. I also enjoyed the family dynamics and how everyone had each others’ backs when it was most important.TO SUM UP:Lisa: WOW! Just… wow! This has got to be the BEST book Colleen Hoover has written to date. The stark honesty and impacting nature of this story will punch you in the feels. Hard. I’ve never experienced an abuse story to quite this level. I was blown away by this story and left a babbling ball of nerves and tears. A book hasn’t touched me this deeply in quite some time. I also learned quite a bit from this story. We’re always so quick to judge in instances of abuse… but there’s so much more to the story than you see with the naked eye. Don’t judge. Don’t assume facts that aren’t true. And, most importantly, don’t ever think it can’t happen to you or someone you know. Such a strong story that is sure to impact every reader that opens the cover in one way or another. I’m leave completely blown away by this story, as well as hopeful, which is such a wonderful thing. Colleen, you’ve done it AGAIN!Becca: I know some of you may think that I always say this and yes I am a true CoHo fan, but this is by far her best work ever. It Ends With Us is so raw and full of emotions, but most of all it is honest. I cried… A LOT! And I am not talking a few tears or a quiet wimper… I am talking ugly crying that I couldn’t contain. The message it delivers is a powerful one and I know that this is a book that will stay with me forever. Please make sure that once you are done you read the Author note at the end, it will give you an even better view of this book afterward.Colleen Hoover, you slay me with your words. You break my heart and then put the pieces back together. You are an amazing writer and I believe you are a gift for readers like myself. Keep doing what you are doing and I will keep reading everything that you write.(Thanks to Atria Books for the review copy!)