Colleen Hoover is one of my favorite authors. The first book I ever read by her was Ugly Love because I heard it was being turned into a movie. Thankfully, it is. Ugly Love was a powerful book, one of the best I've ever read, and I highly recommend it. There are only a few books I've read where I actually shed some tears and that was one of them.
But let's talk about her new book. *some spoilers ahead*
It Ends With Us was published this year in August. I didn't get the chance to read it until last month because I've been so busy. I'm an avid reader and I can usually go through 2-3 books a week (if I'm not drowning in homework). One of the things I hated about moving off to a university was having a busier schedule which meant not having as much time to read.
Anyways, back to the book...
After reading Ugly Love, I knew I wanted to read more from Colleen so the second book of hers that I read was Confess. Once again, my mind was blown. I've learned from the three books I've read by her that she loves plot twists. In every one of her books, there's always been a major plot twist that makes your jaw drop and causes your mind to be blown. If you think I'm joking or overreacting, read Ugly Love, just do it.
When Colleen announced It Ends With Us' intended arrival date, I was so excited. The cover looked incredibly cute and I did my best to try to and figure out what the flowers printed all over the cover meant. If you read Ugly Love, you'll understand why the cover is water and water bubbles.
As I waited for the day It Ends With Us landed in my hands (I treated myself on my birthday by buying it), I tried to figure out as much as I could from the clues Colleen posted. On Instagram, when she first announced the novel, she said that it was a deeply personal novel. I don't know much about Colleen and her background stories, but my mind started to race. I tried to think of every situation possible to write a bestseller about. My mind jumped to every conclusion from rape to depression. Since Colleen has proven to write deep novels, I figured that this book was bound to make me cry.
It didn't.
I'm not disappointed in the novel at all. It Ends With Us was an emotional read and I know how had it must have been for Colleen to write it. It Ends With Us is the story about Lilly Bloom, a young twenty-something-year-old girl living in Boston. She meets neurosurgeon, Ryle Kincaid one night on a rooftop and he's kicking a chair, obviously mad at something. Lilly and Ryle end up talking that night, of course, they flirt, and later in the novel, they start to date. Throughout the novel, we read letters that high school Lilly used to write to Ellen Degeneres (she didn't send them - the letters were like a journal) about Atlas Corrigan and the times Lilly would catch her father beating her mother. Through the letters, we find out that Atlas was this homeless boy at Lilly's school that would sneak into the vacant house behind Lilly's. He was 18 when she was 15 and he rode the same bus as her. Lilly started sneaking him into her house after school to let him eat some of her food and take a shower. Their relationship starts to build and soon enough, we watch Lilly and Atlas fall in love. They have a terrible breakup and for years after that, Atlas becomes the boy Lilly hates to remember because she's still in love with him. Atlas was Lilly's first love.
In between the chapters with the letters is the present life of Lilly and Ryle. One night, Lilly gets a little intoxicated off of wine while cooking dinner with Ryle. She makes a casserole and forgets it's in the oven. When it starts smoking, Ryle rushes to get it out of the over and forgets an oven mitt. He ends up burning his hand and since Lilly is drunk, she laughs. Ryle smacks her for laughing, causing her to fall off the counter and cutting the corner of her eye. Ryle starts to frantically apologize and carries her to her bedroom to lay her on the bed. Even though Lilly's drunk, she comprehends what happens and becomes terrified of him. She starts to remember the times where her father did the same thing to her mother and would apologize frantically like Ryle does. Ryle apologizes thousands of times and swears it won't happen again so Lilly forgives him and tries to move past it.
Like every other love story, Atlas and Lilly have a run-in in present day and it takes both of them by surprise. Atlas notices the cut on Lilly's eye and instantly knows that it's from Ryle.
It's hard to read the middle of the book where Ryle just assaulted Lilly and Atlas comes back because we get torn between the two men. Before Ryle assaulted her, I was Team Ryle. Then I learned more about Atlas, pictured him as Zac Efron, and switched to Team Atlas.
At the end of the book, Lilly is married to Ryle and is expecting a baby. Before she found out she was pregnant, Ryle assaulted her again by pushed her down a flight of stairs, making Lilly consider divorce. Of course, the baby changed her decision. She told Ryle that once the baby was born, she would think about what she wanted to do. I was begging for her to divorce him. Thankfully, she does and ends up with Atlas.
It Ends With Us was powerful. It was emotional and personal. The story is based on Colleen's mother. Basically, Colleen's mother is Lilly. Not everything Lilly goes through in the book is the same thing Colleen's mother goes through, but some situations are. I'm confused with myself as to why I didn't cry while reading this book but there were still moments where I teared up. If you haven't read any of Colleen's works, I highly suggest you do. Even though I practically just spoiled It Ends With Us, I still recommend the novel. It's a great read to bring awareness to real life situations such as the one the book highlights.
Once again, I also recommend Ugly Love, and to keep watching out for the trailer of the movie staring Nick Bateman as Miles.
