It Starts with Us: the highly anticipated sequel to IT ENDS WITH US

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IT ENDS WITH US was not what i expected it to be. i started the novel knowing next to nothing about the storyline except that it's a colleen hoover book (NA romance) and that it's good (my friends kept raving). but if i'm being honest, i was a little disappointed. i was hoping for a light read with lots of ~FEELZ~ but instead i got something much more intense – not bad, just unexpected. But then, that's always the fear when an author gives in to fans and writes a sequel or prequel they originally had no intention of writing, isn't it? That the result would be mundane, at best an unnecessary add-on, at worst ruining the legacy of a previously amazing work. (I'm looking at you, Harry Potter and The Hunger Games.) lily’s bedroom light turned on at the exact perfect moment, just as atlas was about to commit. wow what a mere coincidence. he thought she was an angel beaming in the light. he said and i quote “i ~felt~ something,” that’s the reason why he didn’t want to kill himself anymore. With that being said; I read It Ends With Us in 2016. I truly loved how it ended, I thought it was the end. I did not ever expect it starts with us and yet I could not think of what a beautiful and necessary addition this is. If you only read one book this year, let it be It Ends with Us. Everyone needs to read this book. 5+ star favorite. Completely unforgettable and highly recommended!

I believe Lily was a strong character to a degree and I agreed with the way she responded to certain things (or I would have done the same), but there are times where I would have been gone, and Lily stayed (like when Ryle begged her for sex). Still, you can really tell she did have a certain level of logic and reason, and tried to confront Ryle.

As well as all this emotion and sadness that I'm being coy about, Hoover also brings out some of her very best writing. Little gems of honesty about human nature and relationships that are all the more painful because of their resounding truth. It's such a quotable book, but unfortunately most of the quotes are spoilers, so I shall refrain from posting them.

It Ends with Us is the most personal and daring and painful book Colleen Hoover has ever written. Abuse and domestic violence are a delicate subject, and when I found out they were this book's main theme I thought about not reading it. It was a moment of cowardice, a moment I didn't want to witness this side of relationships. But I owed it to myself, as a person and as a woman to proceed. Because pretending a problem doesn't exist does not make it disappear. There will be spoilers below so if you haven't read It Ends with Us, you should probably stop here. Y’all can say anything nasty about Ryle and I would completely agree, but you also have to admit that this guy is nothing but ✨ consistent ✨ in his abusive behavior. My face was this 😐 emoji the whole time, except when it came to Ryle, cause at least that guy gave me some emotions.. his texts to Lily even made me laugh… Lily, sweetie I’m sorry but your ex-husband humor is immaculate 🤡🏃🏻‍♀️ Ryle kept me on my toes, cause I never knew what else would come out of his mouth or what would happen at the mercy of his fist. What an unpredictable king. 😌 And in this book, we see Ryle presented as, not a bad person, instead, only a "person who does bad things". Now, I've been thinking about this line. I wonder if it was Colleen’s intention to have Ryle say this line to purposefully show how he manipulates Lily into having this mindset or if Colleen really does think this way. Ryle is indeed a bad person, and abuser who is irredeemable. I understand and agree that it is at times, difficult to label someone as “bad” or “good” as it is more complicated than that. But there comes a point, that person is a bad person (for instance, when he tries to horrifically rape her and guilt-tripped Lily with his trauma). Colleen attempts to evoke confliction in the reader by writing in that Ryle donates to charity. Yet, this is not enough. One donation does not make you a good person, especially when compared to the severe harm that you’ve caused others. I cannot believe that after Ryle attempted to rape Lily, there are still Ryle apologists out there. That moment was absolutely mortifying. 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.
Colleen Hoover is an author who truly has a way with words. She killed this book. I’ve read and loved all of CoHo’s books. Some of her earlier books are some of my all-time favorites. I’ve enjoyed all of her latest books, but this is by far the best book she’s ever written. And it’s tied with Hopeless as my own personal favorite book by her. And that is saying a lot, because Hopeless is one of my top books ever. Over a matter of several hours, I slowly woke up from surgery and at one point I remember sitting there and just staring at the wall paper in my hospital room.

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