It Ends With Us
Author: Colleen Hoover
Genre: Romance
Rating: 5 / 5 stars
How do you write a review to a story so personal? A book that puts you through love, pain and desperation so all you want to do is scream or throw it across the room? I went into ‘It Ends With Us’ completely blind, my only knowledge was to be prepared for the heartbreak and it still came as a wreaking ball. The book explores very real and serious topics that unfortunately are quite common in today’s society and manages to painfully pull all your heart strings. Truly fantastic writing and deeply personal which makes it even more difficult to read.
Before I start, I would like to say that this is a very heavy book which explores dark themes and toxic situations. Please read the TW before going into it.
TW: Domestic abuse, violence, alcohol abuse, toxic relationship, attempted rape, mentions of suicide.
The book tells two stories – one of the past with Lily’s high school sweetheart Atlas and one of the present with her current boyfriend Ryle.
Lily Bloom – we first meet her at her father’s funeral where she is expected to give a speech in his honour. However, her love for him is somewhat non-existent due to the toxicity of her childhood household. Lilly’s dad is an abusive man who constantly lays hands on her mother and eventually on her as well. After the funeral, she goes to a rooftop terrace to get her mind off things and there she meets a handsome young man – Ryle Kincaid.
Ryle. Where do I even start. He’s the epitome of the ‘dream’ man. Charming, kind, supportive, witty, successful, treats her like a literal princess and loves her more than anything. It is kind of impossible not to fall in love with him just from the first few pages. Just like Lily, we are head over hills for him, ready to protect their relationship at all costs. We trust him, make excuses for him. We forgive him when he’s wrong, we feel bad when he’s hurting. Until one day things drastically escalate and Lily is forced to call for help from her former lover – Atlas.
Atlas Corrigan – a lover from the past. When we are first introduced to him, he is a homeless boy that meets his ‘angel’ in a moment of desperation. The only link Lily has to him now is an old journal filled with letters addressed to “Ellen” in which she described her encounters with him. We stand witness to Atlas’ tragic backstory and unfortunate situation where Lily essentially saves his life. They quickly become friends and later on start developing strong feelings towards each other. He is a kindred spirit, her protector and as she says ‘her favourite person’. Unfortunately time and other circumstances separate the two of them and they lose touch with each other for 9 years. Until one day Atlas reappears in her life as a successful chef of a famous restaurant chain. Their destinies are once again intertwined and he gets to return the favour of saving her life instead.
“People spend so much time wondering why the women don’t leave. Where are all the people who wonder why the men are even abusive? Isn’t that where the only blame should be placed?”
It is not always rainbows and sunshine in Lily and Ryle’s relationship. As they get married and move forward, Lily sees that Ryle has a dark side of him and a very tragic past which left him scarred for life. And some scars though hidden are impossible to avoid. This is when the book starts to take a turn in a very serious direction. As readers we go through this experience with Lily, we see how difficult it is actually to let go of the person you love most in this world. And we say okay this was the first time, it was obviously an accident, it won’t happen again. Then when it does, we keep making excuses because we know that person, we know he is not bad, we know how much we love him, how much he loves us.. He, on the other hand, makes it very difficult to simply walk away. He keeps promising, apologising, compensating and you genuinely see the regret and pain his actions have cost him. So once again we are in this cycle, refusing to close the door and giving it just one more chance. Until it gets so out of hand that you feel sick in your stomach for defending this character for so many chapters.
“Be that girl, Lily. Brave and bold.”
“My mom went through it. I went through it. I’ll be damned if I allow my daughter to go through it. I kiss her on the forehead and make a promise. “It stops here. With me and you. It ends with us.“
Lily goes through literal hell. The one thing she has vouched for is to never allow herself to be in a situation like her mother. However, experiencing it firsthand, Lily realises the reality is very different from what she thought. That it is not so simple to wake up one day and say ‘I’m leaving’. But she does. Not for her mother. Not for herself. But for her baby daughter. Because her girl deserves to have a life full of happiness and joy. Not a life full of screams, violence and tears. I swear this last chapter was the most heartbreaking thing I’ve ever read. I want to thank Colleen that at the end of the day, she didn’t paint Ryle as a monster. Yes, he has a lot of trauma and emotional baggage. He did some pretty questionable things. But he also understood, listened and let Lily go. And I think this was the most beautiful closure we could receive as readers. The epilogue also was a nice present with a hint of a happy ending, where we see Lily and Ryle in a healthy co-parenting relationship and her finally finding peace with her one true love -Atlas.
“In the future… if by some miracle you ever find yourself in the position to fall in love again… fall in love with me.”
