It Ends with Us

I want to start off my saying that I was an emotional wreck through this book. I knew this would happen, that's why it's taken me this long to read it. Colleen's note at the end of the book was just the tipping point of the sob fest that came out of me.

I've been a fan for CoHo for a few years now and all her stories are heartfelt, tearjerkers, whoa moments and some entertaining endings.... this book brings all that in a completely different way than you'd expect.

I don't want to say much without spoiling anything cause its so hard to review a story like this without spoiling something. I'll just say ‘Colleen, thank you for sharing Lily & Ryle story and how much of this story came to be'.

“In the future . . . if by some miracle you ever find yourself in the position to fall in love again . . . fall in love with me.” - It Ends with Us

Oh my soul....I know Colleen Hoover is a great author but still...wow. I relate to this book in so many ways being in a similar place. There is so much said in this journey that is relevant to any who are involved in a relationship. It was difficult to read at many parts due to my own personal experiences but worth it.

I was really enjoying this book for probably the first 50% of it. After that, I just felt physically ill reading it. I couldn't even care about the secondary romance brewing or the baby or whatever happens between Lily and Ryle after he starts fucking abusing her. The descriptions of abuse in this and the manipulation I felt as a reader just ruined the entire book for me. Maybe if the synopsis let on that this was literally an entire story about domestic abuse I would have enjoyed this more but ugh.. no. Also why couldn't Lily have just fucking ended up alone and chillin' with her baby???

A good book, but what gives it a good nodge is it's relevance and it's hard subject and the relation the author has with the subject. Colleen Hoover always finds a way to show a darker side to the human being while also writing a beautiful but also sad love story.
This is not a feel good book, none of Colleen Hoover's book's are. This is a book with happy and sad moments just like real life and it shows just how rough life can get and just how hard some decisions can be to make.
I give it 3 stars, because I'm not sure I would reread it, but I'm really glad I did read it at least one time, it gave me a perspective that's hard to get on the subject matter.

This book was so emotional. I was all over the place. I had read some of Colleen Hoover books but I think this one is my favorite so far. I saw a different side that I never did before. Thank you for writing this book.

This book is breathtaking. That's all I can say. Read it... it will change your life.

There is a reason why Colleen Hoover is one of the best in her genre. She makes you feel so many raw emotions. Her characters and dialogue are written in a way close to the heart, so you can't help feel everything. The writing was beautiful as always and the characters were rich, complex, and especially this book, incredibly real. I loved it so much, I felt like crying even in parts that weren't sad. It's safe to say I finally bawled the last few chapters straight through the Author's Note. There's so much I want to say because it makes you feel so many different ways but, i can't begin to explain it. It needs to be read and felt.

I buddy read this book with Brittany from Bookish Beauty. She hasn't posted anything on her blog in a while but she did start up a YouTube channel which you can find here. I can't say much about this book without spoiling it so this is going to be a very short and vague review. Like pretty much everyone is saying I think you should go into this book not knowing anything about it. I had pretty high expectations for this book because everyone was saying this was her best book yet. I've only read this book and November 9 so based on just those two I think November 9 is the better of the two. While I really did enjoy this book it didn't reach my expectations of it so therefore when I finished I was just left feeling meh. There's so much more I could say about stuff I wish would have happened a different way or people who I wish would have been different etc. but again I can't talk about that without spoiling everything so I am going to leave it at that.

a re-read well needed! I really understood this more this time around and it made me like it more.
its a Colleen Hoover book so obviously I have to comment on the writing style, I LOVE IT as usual. I haven't read a hoover book in foreeeever

Bits of this book made me sob because, very unfortunately, they struck a chord. Usually that's a good thing and books that make me feel the feels generally get high ratings. But when it comes to abuse (child, spousal), I think I'd rather the chord remain unstruck. But the “it was okay” rating isn't because it was too real, too intense, because those are good things even if they're difficult. It wasn't because I felt manipulated, as Chelsea pointed out, although maybe I should have. It was because all the stuff surrounding the abuse, leading up to it and peripheral to it, caused a lot of eye rolling. Kelly said it pretty perfectly, I think: first Atlas and then Ryle were “the most perfect perfection that ever perfected.” It's really hard to relate to these picture-perfect characters, even if they didn't have ridiculous names (although I did find the whole “Issa” thing adorable). Maybe The Message™ was too heavy-handed, I don't know, but something (or perhaps many somethings) fell flat.

¯_(ツ)_/¯

Colleen Hoover I don't know if I should hug you, thank you or just continue to cry because I have just finished the most heart wrenching book in my years of reading. I put off this book not because I thought it was going to be bad because everything you write is gold, but because you said it was heavy and I didn't think I could handle heavy. what you present is real is raw and is honest. Lily is a strong woman with a rocky past who doesn't give up on her dreams. After everything her an Atlas went through they both manage to find a bright spot at the end of the tunnel. I really dont know what to think of the character that is Ryle because I loved who he was in the beginning and the chemistry between him and Lily is unmistakable in the beginning, but his past and his pent up angry is really sad as it unfolds. I didn't realize what the title meant until I actually read the book and I cried for at least the last 10% so Colleen Hoover thank you for writing such a gut wrenching book thats honest and sadly beautiful.

This book is not about romance And happy endings, if you are tryingin to find something like that, it is not here, anyway, you should totally read it because is extremely deep, and the plot is incredible And hoy can learn a lot from ir.

It was ok, it reads like a better than average Lifetime movie. This is not my favorite genre, and I cannot for the life of me remember where I got a recommendation to read this. The best part is probably the the author's end note, which was very personal and helped explain why she wrote the book.

I did love Lily's teenage journals. She writes them in a letter format to Ellen Degeneres, which sounds kind of bananas but was very touching. The revelations of the level of abuse in her household was hard to read, the part where sees her dad trying to rape her mom, and then she loses it and goes for a kitchen knife, was so chilling.

However the book had some problems. The character's names were eye roll inducing, and they all had conveniently dreamy jobs - Ryle Kincade (the neurosurgeon), Atlas Corrigan (the Marine turned successful chef/restaurateur.) Lily Bloom owns a successful flower shop.

However, Lily's concept for her flower shop sounds so terrible. This is how she describes it-

“Brave and bold. We put out displays of darker flowers wrapped in things like leather or silver chains. And rather than put them in crystal vases, we'll stick them in black onyx or . . . I don't know . . . purple velvet vases lined with silver studs. The ideas are endless...There are floral shops on every corner for people who love flowers. But what floral shop caters to all the people who hate flowers?” Allysa shakes her head. “None of them,” she whispers.”

That's right, because that is a stupid idea. Later there's a scene where she's making a ‘steampunk' bouquet and using an old boot as a vase. Just...that is awful.

Ryle was immediately threatening and scary, I don't know if him being abusive was supposed to be a twist, but from the moment Lily meets him on the roof I just wanted her to get out of there. If you say no, a guy should not progressively try to manipulate you into having sex. Showing up at your house after knocking on every door in the building is grounds for calling the police, not inviting someone in to sleep in your bed. That's not cute, that's crazy behavior. A lot was excused because he had nice arms and Lily thought scrubs were hot.

Alyssa's response when she finds out that Ryle had hurt Lily was weird, instead of being angry at him she begs him to tell Lily some dark secret in his past - which turns out to be the accidental death of his older brother by an unsecured firearm, that Ryle has felt guilt over his entire life. That's horrible, but also has absolutely zero to do with him being an abusive asshole, I could not believe how Lily heard this story, felt terrible for him, and then that was somehow grounds for ignoring being pushed down the stairs.

It also bothered me that it is mentioned that Atlas had joined the Marines and done two tours - I'm assuming meaning a deployment to Iraq or Afghanistan, which would be hugely life changing, but when Lily meets up with him again it's like he's the exactly same, gentle person she knew as a 15 year old.

At one point he tells her he came back, after four years in the Marines, to come find her, but then decided that he wasn't good enough to be with her and signed up for another tour. If nothing else, the Marine Corp should have instilled some self confidence, should have given him some savings and connections - I could not understand his self sabotage here. It's like the author is using the Marines as a convenient way to get a character out of the story for 8 years without giving any thought to what that actually means.

There's also a random plug for Rodan and Fields that came out of nowhere?

I did love this line “For better, for worse? Fuck. That. Shit. —Lily”

I don't want to spoil it, so I'll add tags and just say I really like the writing style & character building in general and the book has a really important message that it conveys well... but there were story choices that just felt outlandish that detracted from the otherwise fairly realistic portrayal of the protagonist's dilemma (e.g. the meet cute with the rich girl whose never had a job in her life and suddenly wants to work while in high heels and oh, btw, she's the sister of the random guy you met 6 months ago on some random building. ).

I have mixed feelings about the ending and feel it would have been much stronger overall had the Epilogue been omitted entirely (e.g. Yay! Empowerment! I courageously divorced my abuser and broke the cycle... but... he's such a great dad, so I'm going to leave my still non-verbal child with an physically abusive person with no impulse control. *Projectile Vomit* )

Don't skip the author's note at the end. The author's note made me almost excuse the existence of Epilogue, because I understand that in her own personal situation the wife-beater didn't hurt the children, but if the message of the book is "end the cycle" then the whole "leave your non-verbal 11 month old alone with an abusive person" just seems reckless and not at all breaking the cycle. In her own situation, the children in the household were all old enough to speak up if something happened.

Shit. I'm sorry, book, for dismissing you as a generic (albeit pretty well done) romance. That “generic” start made me feel comfortable so that the twist really affected me. That was smart. I was trying to branch out by reading a fluffy romance novel and now I'm just left with a lot of emotions. Shit.

Necesito procesar esta historia primero. Es fuerte. Me siento destrozada. Me siento enojada. Me siento triste. Y me siento jodidamente orgullosa.

HOURS LATER

«A veces, la persona a quien más amas es la que más te lastima»
Para nosotros los lectores, podríamos transformarlo a “A veces, los libros que más amas son los que más te lastima” y estaríamos en lo cierto. ¿Cuántos libros no nos han hecho amarlos para después destrozarnos sin anestesia ni compasión? A mí me ha tocado unos 3. Y ahora este se vuelve el 4to.

No he leído nada de Colleen Hoover antes que este libro. Cabe destacar que ya empezamos con mal pie. No sabría decir si en el buen o mal sentido. It Ends with Us es uno de los más recientes libros que están dando hype total en la comunidad lectora sobre todo en inglés. Según mis conocimientos, porque es el revival de la autora luego de varios libros que no fueron tan famosos como sus antecesores. Pero se preguntarán, ¿de qué va It Ends with Us?

Preferiblemente, aconsejaría que lo leyeran primero, porque esto estará plagado de spoiler y es mejor, en este tipo de libros, hurgar en él sin tener idea de con qué te vas a encontrar. Léelo y luego vuelves.
¿Ya lo leíste? Entonces, preparemos los pañuelos porque puede que los vayamos a necesitar.

Todos somos personas que a veces hacen cosas malas. Supongo que eso es verdad en cierto modo. Nadie es exclusivamente malo, ni tampoco únicamente bueno. Solo que algunos se ven obligados a trabajar más duro en la supresión de su parte mala.

Las plantas y los humanos. Las plantas necesitan ser amadas correctamente para sobrevivir. Igual que los humanos. Dependemos de nuestros padres desde que nacemos para que nos amen lo suficiente como para mantenernos vivos. Y si nuestros padres nos demuestran la clase correcta de amor, resultamos mejores humanos en general. Pero si somos abandonados... (...) Si somos abandonados, terminamos sin hogar e incapaces de hacer algo significativo.

Ryle

Lily

Ryle

Atlas

—Esta mano —susurra—, es la más firme de todo Boston.
Hace presión detrás de mi cuello, inclinándome más sobre el mostrador. Su mano llega al interior de mi rodilla y la desliza hacia arriba. Lentamente. Jesús.
Separa mis piernas, y entonces sus dedos están dentro de mí. Gimo y trato de encontrar algo a lo que aferrarme. Agarro el grifo, justo cuando comienza a hacer su magia.
Y luego, al igual que un mago, su mano desaparece.
Lo oigo salir de la cocina. Observo mientras pasa en frente del mostrador. Me guiña, termina el resto de su vaso y dice—: Voy a darme una ducha rápida.
Qué bromista.
—¡Imbécil! —grito tras él.
—¡No lo soy! —contesta desde mi dormitorio—. ¡Soy un neurocirujano altamente capacitado!

—Si en el futuro... por algún milagro te encuentras en la posición de volver a enamorarte... enamórate de mí.

Atlas

Ahhhhh! This book! Where do I even begin? It was so dang good and the less you know about what the storyline entails, the better. Just trust me and read it, okay?

Fine, I'll give you more than that.

Quite simply, I absolutely loved everything about It Ends With Us - from the dedication page all the way through to the the Acknowledgements. It was quirky, deep, smart, and oh-so-quotable.

Don't let the fact that it's categorized as Romance deter or entice you (I think it should be housed in general fiction, just saying). It's definitely NOT a fluffy read though it will make you smile at times... and then cry... and then you'll get angry... and then... Well, let's just say that you'll experience every emotion by the time you reach the last word.

It End With Us flip flops between feeling like a young adult novel (the main character addresses her teenage journal entries to Ellen Degeneres) and being a woman-trying-to-find-her-way-in-life sort of read; this combination was flawless.

To take a quote from page 192, “All humans make mistakes. What determines a person's character aren't the mistakes we make. It's how we take this mistakes and turn them into lessons rather than excuses.”

Don't make the mistake of letting this book pass you by.

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

Who would've thought I would end up liking one of Colleen Hoover's books? Not me, that's for sure. I've read a couple of her books in the past but I didn't enjoy the writing style, plot, or characters. But after reading a few reviews by people saying they were not CoHo fans, in general, but that they liked this one, I had to see for myself.

I thought the book was ok. I'm happy I went into it blindly. I had no idea it was going to tackle such a heavy topic. Some people seem to have misunderstood the purpose of this so reading the author's note a the end is a must, in my opinion. If that's not obvious, I didn't read this as a romance but as a cautionary tale.

Everyone from the book world is saying good things about this one; and sometimes when I read highly recommend books like this, I prepare myself to be disappointed, because that's what most books like this do to me. People would keep my hopes up. But not Colleen. This one would be on the best read shelf.

There are lots of times I had to put it down because it's just too much. If anything, I think I was sympathetic to Lily's situation. It was all too hard to read when your eyes are all blurry and you want to end it so that it will all be better.

I had bookmarked lots of pages with all its raw and beautifully narrated scenes I wanted to go back to even if those words were hurtful and I can't fucking continue reading because my eyes are blurry. I had to get myself together. Even my husband wanted me to stop because I'm crying out loud while nursing. I did for a minute but then I have to go back. Colleen has put a spell on me and I can't stop now. So I continued and I cried some more.

This tops the last book she Colleen has written. This is my favourite of all. Holy grail. At this point, I don't know how she can ever outdo herself.

You. Yes, you. Read this book. Now. NOW!


Oh, how I cried. sobs

I don't know what to say about this incredible book without giving anything away. Like many people have said, it's best to go into it completely blind. Don't even read the blurb because you'll think you have this story pegged and you'll be completely wrong.

What I can say is It Ends with Us is a heart-wrenching story that is raw and filled with emotion. It will open your eyes to new perspectives and make you question everything you think you know about these characters. Every woman should read this book. Heck, every man should read it, too. And when you're done, go and hug your mom and every other woman in your life because IEWU will leave you with a greater appreciation for the strength we possess as women, even when we feel weak, and the sacrifices we must sometimes make for those we love.

There are certain books that will resonate with you for the rest of your life for one reason or another. For me, It Ends with Is is definitely one of them.