It Ends With Us - Book Review

Cover by  LM Otero / AP/ Simon & Schuster

Colleen Hoover's romance novel “It Ends with Us” was released on August 2, 2016, and thanks to TikTok, it had a boom in popularity in 2021 and topped sales lists in 2022 and 2023. The book covers themes like emotional abuse and domestic violence alongside the romance of two young adults. Hoover has called it 'the hardest book I've ever written' because the story is based on and mostly inspired by the relationship between her mother and father. The book is so cleverly written that even on such a sensitive topic, it leaves the reader undecided in some parts.

To summarize the plot, “It Ends with Us” tells the story of Lily Bloom, who relocates to Boston to start a new life away from a home where she witnessed domestic abuse throughout her childhood. In Boston, she follows her dream of opening a floral shop and starts dating an endearing neurosurgeon, Ryle Kincaid. As they grow closer, Lily notices indicators of abuse that remind her of what she witnessed growing up. Things get even more complicated when Atlas Corrigan, her first love, reappears in her life. The novel examines the difficult choices Lily faces to safeguard her future and prevent a repeat of her past.

Despite being 376 pages, it was one of the fastest books I’ve read and I would recommend it to anyone. Fortunately, I started reading the book assuming it was solely a romance novel, but as I continued, it caught me off guard by delving into the issue of domestic violence. The novel often presents two perspectives on domestic violence: Lily’s view as a child and her view as an adult. As a child, she criticizes her mother, believing she is weak for not leaving her abusive father. However, as an adult facing similar challenges, Lily realizes that the focus shouldn’t be on why the victim stays. Instead, we should be asking why the abuser chooses to abuse in the first place. 

I can’t wait to watch the movie adaptation, and I’ll be writing about it for sure!