It Ends with Us
Ratings728
Average rating3.6
Truly a great message behind the book but I had a hard time connecting to it — mainly due to the book's summary not being a great representative. I wish it would've come with trigger warnings and that the last part would've been less rushed.
Absolutely loved it.
A poignant, gut-wrenching story of domestic abuse and first love.
Couldn't put it down.
Highly recommend.
Not a huge fan of romance novels or love stories but i gave this a try because of all the hype and praise surrounding it, and i don't regret my decision at all. It's been a long while since a novel has made me feel so many emotions at once.
The way the novel is structured and the way Lily's story is told to us is really great. I'm seriously in love with it all, in love with Lily and in love with Atlas.
It gripped me until the end, and by the end of it i was an emotional mess.
The novel is more than just a simple love story. It's so real and raw, while also being cute and cheesy. And thats what makes this such a good read. I loved it a lot, so much so that I might give it a reread soon ;)
Not my typical kind of book, or so I thought it wasn't. Sure glad I listened to a friend who INSISTED I read this. Phenomenal.
So this is the first Colleen Hoover book I've tried. There's so much hype around her so I was excited. But this book? Not it for me. DNF at like 20%. Things happened too fast for me, and while I like complex characters, I didn't find redeeming qualities in Ryle. Lily was okay, I met Atlas for just a second.
I also didn't love how Ryle and Lily had so much angst which was basically built up only meeting each other twice and barely talking with one another. It was entirely unrealistic to me. I want to read another Colleen in the future, but I need recommendations. We'll see if her writing is for me or not.
I really enjoyed this book. I was very emotionally invested with the characters and stories. The only thing I wasn't fond of is Hoover's writing style. The way she writes feels very wattpad but she knows how to keep a reader intrigued.
i LOVED it ends with us because it hit home in the ways i needed. i was a little worried going in to the book to read anything i related to, but i related to Lily in nearly every way. the love story was brilliant and i love love love Atlas. i liked Ryle at first but the first time he hit her.... i was done and over him entirely. i'm now a believer of one and done when it comes to that because i let people do that to me for far too long..... Lily and her mother were so strong. I loved Allysa (i can't remember how to spell it) and Lily's friendship sooo much, she was the best friend EVERY girl needed in those situations because despite Ryle being her brother, she refused to let Lily go back to him because of how shitty he was to her. Atlas deserved so much better and i hope one day to read a book on Lily and Atlas' future, i would looove that so much. i love Atlas.
first read - nov 2021; 5 stars
man, this book really surpassed my expectations. it really is worth the hype. please take the time to read the author's note at the end, because it really makes you appreciate the plot even more.
also, please check trigger warnings before reading this.
second read - oct 2022; 4.5 stars
still rly good, not as groundbreaking as the first time i read it. still cried tho
look, i assumed that colleen hoover's genre was similar to what she did in verity because it was the first book i read of her but i was disappointed, so fucking bad. and i somehow still gave her chance over another chance.
this was marketed as romance, it was shelved under romance but this is pure fiction. the coercion of romance in lily's life by forcing her to rekindle her feelings for atlas was just the cherry on top of the cringe like just...send the message of wanting to end abusive men and move on bro
This book address important topics, but I couldn't get over the simple and often seemingly immature writing style and the sheer insanity of the character names.
tw// dv, abuse
This book made me feel emotions i didn't know i could feel.
My heart's broken and full at the same time < / 3
Like lily's heart tattoo, i feel like there's a hole at the top of my heart letting all the air out.
I've never been more upset and frustrated and in love with a book at the same time.
I always have a lot to say about books, but more often than not, most people (including me at times) forget that a book is simply fiction.
What somebody put out into this world - for a purpose, that could be entertainment, to tell ‘THEIR' story, ‘A' story or even just for the purpose of writing one, simply because they like doing so.
Yes, media and books affect and influence people but they're most definitely not an accurate representation of reality. (sigh fictional men.)
So with that extremely essay-esque passage, I would like to begin my review by saying: Yes, Atlas was not an important part of this book. And Yes, most DV victims do not have an Atlas in their lives.
Do i still like that there is an Atlas and essentially a happy ending? Also yes.
Because this! is! a book! I'm reading! and I like happy endings! (picture me slamming the table at every exclamation point.)
It is also important to understand that this is still Lilly's story and not Lilly & Atlas's.
And that every victim's story is different and that this is in no way, a representation of what any DV victim goes through.
The purpose of this book in my opinion was to explain how difficult it can be for people to cut strings and leave their abuser. It's easy for anybody to say “she/he/they should have just left.”, “why did they stay despite the abuse?”, etc. but nobody knows the entire picture, the emotions or anything that accompanies such a decision.
Did the book do a good job at that? absolutely.
Did it also tell us that despite how hard it might be, it's important to leave, important to break the cycle? yes.
“Cycles exist because they are excruciating to break. It takes an astronomical amount of pain and courage to disrupt a familiar pattern. Sometimes it seems easier to just keep running in familiar circles, rather than facing the fear of jumping and possibly not landing on your feet.”
shrugs
“It stops here. With me and you. It ends with us.”
wow. just wow. this book was so amazing and is one that I know I'll think about for the rest of my life
“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-I... that was probably one of the most beautiful written words I've ever read.
Sometimes, I found myself thinking about this book randomly and my heart hurt. The book frustrated me so much but it made you think about all the women who went through what Lily experienced. And thinking about it just hurt...
|”Sometimes the one who loves you is the one who hurts you the most”
This book has taken me on an emotional roller-coaster ride. Young love, joy, pain, heartbreak, happiness, passion, hatred... gosh, there is just no end to it. And I am completely in love with it.
I really do not know how to proceed with a review without spoiling the storyline here. I love Lily, the main female character. I love how she is strong, but weak as well, and she acknowledges her weakness. She admits that she is weak, but she did not give in to it. She fights back, hard. Oh how easy it is to fall into the false promises of happily ever after, how hard it is simply accept the grave mistakes our loved ones did and how hurtful it can be.
You're presented with the what-ifs. And then you're forced to face the cold, hard truth. My heart breaks for Lily and the love of her life.
I simply love the writing style, the way Collen Hoover plays with words and how those words affect me, mentally and emotionally. My new favorite author, for sure.
This book was... anger inducing. But it's also so important. There were moments where I just wanted to scream at Lily to make the right decisions. But it's just not as easy as it sounds. I understand that now.
I love this book! I could not put it down and read it in a day! I went through so many different emotions reading this, it was heartbreaking but also not at the same time
Naked truth?
I thought this book was predictable and just an adult version of another book I'd read when I was younger.
There's nothing particularly special, in my opinion, about this book. I only read it because it was so hyped everywhere.
It's a good read for when you're bored and you just want a sad book, but nothing ill be reaching for to re-read.
Ugh I'm a sobbing mess at the end of this but it was so good. This was my first Colleen Hoover book and what an emotional roller coaster it was!
This is about domestic abuse so definitely on the heavier side and should be taken into consideration before reading it, but its also about love, friendship and family.
That was a lot to process. I didn't love the beginning of this book. Everything moved really fast and it felt a bit forced. That quickly changed as I kept reading. WOW. I want to address some trigger warnings for rape and physical abuse because I was not expecting such dark scenes from this.
This book has a lot to unpack. The characters themselves as well as their relationships with one another are so complex. The theme of there not being bad people but people who do bad things really stood out
It Ends With Us was another book I made a lot of assumptions about. I didn't really know what to expect when I started reading it and all I knew was that it was from the romance genre and highly regarded on Goodreads. I wanted something light and so I picked it up. In the beginning that's exactly what I thought this book was, nothing more than just a love triangle with sometimes cheesy dialogue. Well, I get a whole ton more than I bargained for! This books turned out to be so much more complicated, deep and trensending that I ever imagined possible from a romance novel and I absolutely inhaled it in a matter of days!
To begin with, the plot was interesting enough to me, especially because the romance genre is pretty new to me and I don't really have much to compare it to but I thought it was cute- nothing more, nothing less. Then, once I got through a good chunk of the book it dawned on me that this book was so much more. There was an overwhelming message that this book so wonderfully delivered that it just pulled at my heartstrings and I ended up loving it! It successfully illustrates an issue that is very serious and occurs very often in today's society and I got a much better understanding of it then I have ever gotten before. I love books that educate me and expand my mind. This is the first time that a book didn't really reveal the complexity of its plot to me until a good way into it and I am here for it, very nice surprise!
Further on, the characters, although they seemed somewhat superficial in the beginning and a bit cheesy with their sometimes cheesy dialogue, grew on me as they revealed more about themselves and their backgrounds and went through all the experiences that they encountered in the book which definitely made them grow and change into better people. Growth is something that definitely makes for some really in-depth characterization and the characters really grew on me and in the end I felt as though I understood each of them, even the least likable ones.
Next, the writing style was concise and to the point, just how I like it. There wasn't anything too complicated but it flowed smoothly and made for an easy reading time. It perfectly got the amazing story across.
All in all, I recommend this book to anyone who enjoys heavier romances and books with a very big meaning behind them. This isn't some stupid romance story that, it's so much more than that. I was pleasantly surprised that a book I was a bit disappointed in at the beginning, really made a comeback and won me over by the end. Give it a chance, you won't regret it!