Book Review: It Ends With Us

Title: It Ends With Us

Author: Colleen Hoover

Publisher: Atria Books

Year: 2016

Pages: 376

Genre: Romance

Rating: 4 stars

One sentence summary: Lily's future with Ryle is threatened when a boy from her past comes back into her life.

A full synopsis of this book can be found on Goodreads.

Spoiler Level: Low

“Just because we didn’t end up on the same wave, doesn’t mean we aren’t still a part of the same ocean.”

This is my first Colleen Hoover book and I was pleasantly surprised. From what I've heard, this book is a bit of an outlier compared to her other novels. It does have elements of romance, but in the end, it is not a romance story. It's a story of abuse and betrayal, layered with moments of deep sincerity, love, and yes, sexiness. Like other reviewers have said, I agree that this story is best read not spoiled. With that in mind, I will be avoiding/glossing over certain plot elements the best I can. In short, this story follows Lily Bloom's relationship with two men, Ryle and Atlas. Her relationship with Ryle is threatened when Atlas, a boy from her past, comes back into her life. As Lily reads journal entries from her teenage years, we get insight into the events that shaped and defined her outlook on life. Despite her involvement with two men, I wouldn't call her relationship a love triangle because Lily never seems to waver in her love and dedication and the decisions she makes don't revolve around men. The writing was incredibly readable. Sometimes it made me roll my eyes or cringe at its absolute cheesiness, but it had enough moments of intrinsic truth and honesty to balance it out. I found that Hoover was a little heavy-handed when it came to conveying ideas and messages, but the messages themselves were well-handled and sincerely expressed. Hoover's personal experiences seem to have helped her write a realistic and honest depiction of events. I won't say much about the characters other than I liked them and hated them at all the right times. They are deeper than many other romance stereotypes, and they demonstrate moral complexity. Ultimately, I ended up caring for all of them, especially Lily, who had an admirable amount of inner strength and independence. Lily's main romance seemed a little whirlwind, but I think that was part of the point - it was purposeful. This book didn't completely blow me away, but I really enjoyed it and thought it discussed an important issue in an engaging way. It's definitely an emotional read that romance lovers can sink their teeth into.