A Tale of Youth, Hardships, and Strength…
It Ends With Us is a more grounded romance of a young woman finding love.
SYNOPSIS
Lily hasn’t always had it easy, but that’s never stopped her from working hard for the life she wants. She’s come a long way from the small town where she grew up—she graduated from college, moved to Boston, and started her own business. And when she feels a spark with a gorgeous neurosurgeon named Ryle Kincaid, everything in Lily’s life seems too good to be true.
Ryle is assertive, stubborn, maybe even a little arrogant. He’s also sensitive, brilliant, and has a total soft spot for Lily. And the way he looks in scrubs certainly doesn’t hurt. Lily can’t get him out of her head. But Ryle’s complete aversion to relationships is disturbing. Even as Lily finds herself becoming the exception to his “no dating” rule, she can’t help but wonder what made him that way in the first place.
As questions about her new relationship overwhelm her, so do thoughts of Atlas Corrigan—her first love and a link to the past she left behind. He was her kindred spirit, her protector. When Atlas suddenly reappears, everything Lily has built with Ryle is threatened.
What’s So Special About This Book?
Colleen Hoover is all the rage right now. Having written dozens of novels, the first time I read one of her books I honestly expected a cookie cutter romance because who really can release that many novels so close together and still be unique. Well Colleen can.
“It Ends With Us” at it’s core is a story of abuse. Lily has a past where she was forced to watch her mother suffer. Traumatized heroine’s are my guilty pleasure. I see a trigger warning, I read it. It’s not that I enjoy their suffering, I’m not sadistic. It’s their strength and recovery that I love. (A guy who saves her and worries about her is always a bonus). But this one was different because it was realistic. Most books that center abuse tend to pain the male as a monster incapable of empathy or kindness. Some stick to the pattern of abuse followed by apologies. But with this book I got to see the true psychology of why a woman stays with her abuser, but also the judgement they face.
A Heartbreaking Story…
The only Colleen Hoover book I ever read had me crying and I expected the same here. Luckily it wasn’t that bad, but it was still emotional and I imagine the movie will have me sobbing.
In this story we follow Lily Bloom, a 23-year-old living in Boston. Lily is innocent, smart, and brave as hell. She knows what she wants and goes for it, but when she meets Ryle, the matters of the heart prove to be more confusing than she expected. Her experiences prove that what you think and what you feel are difficult to separate and it’s never as simple as finding the love of your life and living happily ever after. Especially when her first love Atlas enters the picture.
MORE DETAILS
Word Count (rounded)~ 115, 000
Page Count: 384
Genres: Contemporary Romance, Domestic Fiction
As much as I sometimes wanted to shake Lily and tell her to think, I was able to understand why things were the way they were.
A Surprisingly Special Story…
I’m pretty picky with romance. If it’s not a specific type of story, I tend to ignore it. But I definitely enjoyed this one. If you’re tired of the cliches of romantic fiction, I would definitely suggest trying this book. Sure there’s still a gay best friend but he isn’t used as her therapist. There may be a love triangle but there’s no alpha male dominance fight over who she does or doesn’t deserve. It’s raw, it’s real, and it’s entertaining.
My Rating…
I rate books with a five star system from would never read it again to loved it and can’t wait to reread it. I don’t really believe in calling a book bad because each person’s interests are different and a book I hated could be loved by someone else and vice versa. Everyone has different deal breakers.
I gave this book three stars because I really enjoyed it but I don’t think I’ll be rereading it. I’ll probably end up watching that movie over and over again though.
The next book I’ll be reading is “Sign Here”. I’m trying to read a lot of Indie author novel’s too which is why I plan to read a new book every week.
Jasmin De Anda 