Colleen Hoover is the author of many of my favorite books. She has a variety of books, typically romance novels. Although they all hold a special place in my heart, ‘It Ends With Us’, is my all-time favorite. This book has changed my perspective on abusive relationships entirely. It depicts a situation that I could never imagine being in and brings light to the strength it would take to break free of that situation.
This book starts by describing the main character, Lily Bloom’s experience of growing up with an abusive father. It describes the way she resented her father for hurting her mother in a physically abusive way. She vowed as a child to never let herself be in a similar situation. Shortly into the novel, Lily meets Ryle Kincaid. Ryle steals Lily’s heart away in just a matter of time. Hoover portrays Ryle as a dream guy. She truly makes the reader fall in love with his character.
Throughout the novel, there is the story of Lily’s childhood boyfriend, Atlas. There seems to be no connection to this boy through most of the story. However, things get complicated and Lily meets Atlas for the first time in years.
Meanwhile, Lily faced an abusive scene within her home but chose to look past it since it was such a random act. She hoped it would be a one-time thing. Unfortunately, this was not the case. Lily had a child with Ryle and continued to face moments of abuse. While this continued, Lily knew that she needed to find an escape.
That is where Atlas comes in once again. This book is filled with messy situations and incredible detail that all connect. It keeps the reader engaged on every page.
This book shows you what it would be like to be in love with someone who continues to put you in a harmful situation. It depicts the difficult situation and how it can be hard, but not impossible to leave an abusive relationship. This heart-wrenching book manages to break your heart and put it back together all in one. This is a must-read book. I give it a 10/10 and hope you too will find joy in this book.