“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 :)
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From #1 New York Times bestselling author Colleen Hoover comes a novel that explores life after tragedy and the enduring spirit of love. | Learn more
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Popular Highlights in this book
“There is no such thing as bad people. We’re all just people who sometimes do bad things.”Highlighted by 28,308 Kindle readers- Instead of helping others, people use the worst-case scenarios to excuse their own selfishness and greed.Highlighted by 24,103 Kindle readers
- Preventing your heart from forgiving someone you love is actually a hell of a lot harder than simply forgiving them.Highlighted by 22,674 Kindle readers
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Reviews with images
Preventing your heart from forgiving someone you love is actually a hell of a lot harder than simply forgiving them.
*Review originally posted on Goodreads*'I wish cutting my feelings off for the person who hurt me was as easy as I used to think it would be. Preventing your heart from forgiving someone you love is actually a hell of a lot harder than simply forgiving them.'It Ends With Us was beautifully complicated. It was hot and cold. Up and down. Good and bad. Beautiful and ugly... I'm still trying to figure out how I really feel about it all because I'm genuinely torn on how I want to perceive this storyline. I loved it but in all honesty, I really do think I hate it as well. Not the "I-hate-you-Colleen-Hoover-stop-writing-books-and-find-a-different-career" type of hate but rather "I-hate-you-Colleen-Hoover-for-making-me-hate-everything-that-I-came-to-love" kind of hate because it pretty much summarizes all my thoughts and feelings about It Ends With Us in one sentence.My opinions were completely divided. One side of me, the hopeless romantic, was utterly unsatisfied and angry with the outcome of the story. The opposite side, the one that's all about women's empowerment, was cheering on #TeamLily like it was Independence Day.Rather than trying to sugarcoat my thoughts, I'm just going to be completely honest. I was 100 percent team Ryle from the very first time we met him. Just like Lily, I fell in love with every word and every gesture that rolled off of his body. I. WAS. HOOKED. It also didn't help that I kept fantasizing Doctor Mike as Ryle Kincaid. *heart eyes emoji* I loved his ambition. His personality. His confidence. To be honest, I think I might've loved Ryle even more than Lily did but that's another story for another day. That more than likely explains why I took the second half of this book like a blow to the gut.Once we got to the second half of the book, that's where it started going a bit downhill for me as a Ryle and Lily shipper. Every happy moment that ever happened between my ship came barreling down as it collided with pain and abuse. I was angry. I was thrashing. I was yelling at the pages in front of me, "Why are you doing this Colleen?!" But most importantly, I was just heartbroken to see such a beautiful couple become so toxic. Everything I loved about the first half of the book was slowly unraveling right before my very eyes as if it never really existed in the first place. I can't even remember how many times I wanted to put the book down because my hopeless romantic self just couldn't handle it anymore. But I just kept on reading because I was guiltily hoping that Ryle and Lily would still have their happy ending despite all that had happened. :/ Sadly, this was where I was torn the most.I have the upmost respect for Lily. She is definitely one of my favorite female characters that Colleen has ever created because she did what a lot of us would've struggled to do in the end: walk away. Lily was such a strong character and I admire her so much for having the strength to stand up for herself. There were numerous times towards the end of the book where I knew I probably would've gave in and forgave Ryle for his actions but Lily was inflexible. She was in a tough position but she put her foot down and demanded better for herself. In the end, no matter if I ship Ryle/Lily or Atlas/Lily, I'm glad that Lily was able to find peace for her and Emmy.As for Atlas, I liked him but I didn't love him. Definitely nowhere near my love for Ryle. I wasn't exactly rooting for Atlas but I wouldn't have minded if Lily chose him in the end. However, I still very much preferred Ryle regardless. I just felt that Atlas was the typical knight in shining armor. Typical good guy you run to. His background story was interesting but him as a character... not so much. He just felt so ordinary and predictable. I wanted to ship Atlas and Lily because let's face it, the signs were practically being shoved down our throats, and although the relationship between Ryle and Lily was developing, Atlas's presence was a like a thorn on your side you just couldn't shake off. But I just couldn't bring myself to ship them blindly like I did with Ryle and Lily.Unfortunately, I was too far gone and too far in love with the idea of Ryle and Lily to make room for Atlas and because of that, I'm not sure if I'll ever be fully satisfied with that ending. I was happy that Lily was no longer a victim of domestic abuse. I'm glad that after all that happened between them, Lily and Ryle parted on good terms. I'll forever be heartbroken over the idea of what could've been. And I feel indifferent to Lily and Atlas. Sorry not sorry, Atlas. That basically sums up all my feelings in a nutshell.To be honest, I was actually feeling a bit more bitter than I'm making it seem after that ending. But after reading the author's note, it really put things in perspective for me and made me look at the story with brand new eyes. I developed a new understanding and appreciation for the story behind the story.I was dying for Ryle and Lily to have their happy ending. Until the very end, I was still rooting for them. It's such an ugly confession to make especially when the couple you're rooting for is toxic and abusive. And I think I feel this way because I never, and hopefully I never will, had to experience abuse. I don't know what it's like and what goes on in the minds of the abused. Colleen did such an excellent job at creating the perfectly imperfect man that was Ryle. Abuse in books has always been a trigger for me and if it were any other book I think I would've put this book down by the first incident of abuse. But Colleen just made you fall so deeply in love with a character that even you couldn't bring yourself to hate him even if you wanted to. YOU were the Lily of this story. But unfortunately, I don't think my Lily would've had the courage to leave. I really wish I could say that I would leave in an instant, but I think I would honestly be lying to myself. You can tell yourself that if you were in Lily's position you would leave in a blink of an eye, but things wouldn't be as easily said and done if you were the one who was actually experiencing it all. And in truth, I think this is exactly what Colleen wanted us to actually sit down and think about because victims who've experienced abuse wouldn't be rooting for Ryle and Lily. I wouldn't be rooting for Ryle and Lily. It just goes to show how much of a struggle it really is to walk away from someone you love and loves you back in all the wrong ways. I usually never read the author's notes after the book but I'm really glad I took the time to read Colleen's story. It really did make me see the situation from a different perspective.I'd been having a bad CoHo streak for three books in a row (if you're curious, the books were — in order — Hopeless, November 9, and Too Late) and for a moment there I was beginning to think that I was doomed to never enjoy another book written by Colleen Hoover again. But PRAISE. It Ends With Us restored my faith completely in the CoHo hype. Not that I was ever planning NOT to read any more of Colleen's books! Colleen Hoover is 100 percent my favorite auto-buy author. I will always buy her books no matter if I end up loving them or not, and with good reason because Colleen is such an exceptional writer. It Ends With Us still wasn't able to top Ugly Love as my favorite CoHo book of all time but I really enjoyed this book more than I thought I would.
Top reviews from other countries
Charlii
Empowering, thoughtful and gripping
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on January 31, 2024
Charlii
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on January 31, 2024
Beautifully written, it’s relatable but could be triggering in parts, it’s sad but there’s hope and a way out. You get invested in the hope.
Yes it does have some rather steamy scenes but with a cold realistic take on what abuse can do to a young woman and how she’s brave enough to put a stop to it holding her abuser accountable. It’s empowering, thoughtful and gripping.
However I do agree with other reviews I’ve seen. The way it’s portrayed by a lot is more focused on romance when there is domestic abuse involved which shouldn’t just be swept under the rug when promoting the book to others.
I think the book is a real page turner and your sucked in by tear jerker moments and finally relieved after you’ve been routing for Lilly throughout.
Overall, I really connected with this book and I would recommend it. Coleen Hoover is a fantastic writer and I’ll definitely be reading it starts with us next.
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