Review: It Ends With Us by Colleen Hoover

[keacyut]

Mild Spoilers Alert!

I already posted this review on my personal blog but of course since I am new here so this is my first post!

It Ends With Us Book Review by C. Hoover

I just finished reading this book 4 hours ago and I had to sleep it off a little before I write down my first honest review. I really need my sanity back after finishing one of the most powerful, deeply moving and conflicting books I have read this 2016. I don’t even know how to write this review without spoiling you the entire book but I will try my best and I will start by not putting the blurb up here.

The Book

It’s Colleen Hoover!! Need I say more? If you were captivated by her books then this will make you put her on the pedestal. This one by far is one of the best she has written although my favourite remains to be Maybe Someday, I had to give her props for this book. The plot is very much unconventional from what you normally expect from Hoover and true to one of the quotes in this book. This one is Brave and Bold.

The characters

A) Lily Bloom is your epitome of strong, independent and at the same time vulnerable heroine. You are going to love her from the first pages of the book and will admire her strength and personality in the middle and especially at the end of the book. Although, you will adore her, she is without her flaws.

Her vulnerability is borderline stupidity at times and it is irritating. I thought she should have been more cautious going into a relationship after growing up with a dark childhood. There was already an alarm bell going off in the first stage of the relationship and it was a disaster waiting to happen as I thought. I don’t like to judge people but sometimes our choices speak of who we are. Ryle made it clear the first time why he doesn’t do relationships and I think that for me is something to think about the man. Even Ryle himself knows why he can’t. So? If only Lily could have used her head a lot more than her heart eh? She could have saved me from heartache in reading this book. But who am I to blame Lily. Doctors in scrubs is such an eye candy.

B) Ryle Kincaid is not your ideal book boyfriend but you will truly be rooting for him from the beginning until the last part of the book because I was. Hoover wrote Ryle in a way that you will love him so much that even not an ounce of your being will truly hate him in the end after all the things he did. There is one thing I felt about his character and that is pity. He was a VICTIM of an accidental dark past that imprisoned him. He is a broken man who has so many redeeming qualities and I wish that he had that opportunity to turn his life around in the end. I just wish Hoover wrote Ryle’s POV too so I can dive into his thoughts. But this book is one-sided so it was really hard for me to let go of Ryle.

C) And then lastly, there was Atlas Corrigan who never made an appeal to me the entire book. Honestly, I don’t think his character made a huge difference in the story so I don’t really much have to say about him.

The love triangle

Totally not needed! There is so much to this story than just the Love Triangle once you read it. You will put it into the back burner once you go deep into the story and figure out that this book is about women empowerment.

The ending

I have three adjectives for the ending. One, Perfect. Two, Sad. Three, Lame.

Perfect in how Lily carried herself in making the toughest choice of her life. She finally used her head! It was heartbreaking but it was necessary. It sends a powerful message to women going through the same kind of relationship.

Sad for Ryle. Gosh! The guy deserves a better chance at life. Lily is his one true love and you know how it ends with true love. You could have it with somebody you don’t necessarily end up with and that is okay. That is why Ryle’s POV should be written and until then I can’t say I’m truly satisfied about this book.

Lame. Lily and Atlas? First love is always great and all that and you never forget it and I think that is how it should have remained between Atlas and Lily. The book was already great without their love story to be honest. I find their relationship to be more like between best of friends in the end. It was comforting and convenient, nothing really exceptional about it.

Overall

As much as I really find this book very impacting, this will not go down as one of my favorites that is why I am giving it 8 out of 10 stars.

[Catherine Hsu]

I liked this book, but not as much as Colleen's Hoover's other books. I thought that it touched up on the very important issue of domestic abuse and it really showed that things were not black and white. At the same time, although I LOVED Atlas, I couldn't help but wish that Lily had had to save herself, instead of depending on Atlas and ending up with him again.

[kimie]

It ends with us is a story about a girl named Lily, who has a quite tough life with an abusive father and a resigned mom. She lives in a small town called Maine and then after graduating from college, she moves to Boston to start her own business. After the dead of her father, she meets Ryle Kincaid, a calm yet arrogant guy who is a neurosurgeon. Lily then, of course, has a romantic relationship with Kyle. Everything seems to be perfect at first; Kyle is manly, supportive, intelligent, dedicated when it comes to working, not to mention his lovely sister who then becomes Lily's best friend. However, their relationship later goes wrong at some points (which I suggest you guys find out yourselves). This is also the time when Atlas Corrigan - a homeless guy that Lily felt in love with when she was younger shows up. And this event changes everything!!


This book, in a very different way that November 9th did, hit me hard. It seemed to me at first that this book was commonplace as for a second I thought I was reading Fifty shades of Grey (no offense). But since it was written by Collen Hoover, I continued it anways. And I did not regret it. I should know by now that a romance book would never be just a romance book when it comes to Collen Hoover. The plot was absolutely incredible. Just when I thought she could not surprise me anymore, she did. And it felt to me as if something was gnawing at my heart and I just felt the need to take a step back and think about it for moment.


I apology if the way I summarized this book makes it appear mediocre to you guys, but trust me, this one is THE MOST SPECIAL romance book that I've read so far!! The characters are so flawed yet so real. The writing style is absolutely captivating. I gave it 4 out of 4 stars.

There are so many things I want to talk about, in terms of how this book affects me, but that would be a spoiler for those innocent readers who, at this point, want to read it (ha.ha). I hope you guys enjoy it as much as I did.

***Below is the part in the book that I personally like the most. It does not necessarily spoil anything but I recommend not reading it for the impacts might not be the same.
[...“We all have a limit. What we’re willing to put up with before we break. When I married your father, I knew exactly what my limit was. But slowly . . . with every incident . . . my limit was pushed a little more. And a little more. The first time your father hit me, he was immediately sorry. He swore it would never happen again. The second time he hit me, he was even more sorry. The third time it happened, it was more than a hit. It was a beating. And every single time, I took him back. But the fourth time, it was only a slap. And when that happened, I felt relieved. I remember thinking, ‘At least he didn’t beat me this time. This wasn’t so bad.’ ”
She brings the napkin up to her eyes and says, “Every incident chips away at your limit. Every time you choose to stay, it makes the next time that much harder to leave. Eventually, you lose sight of your limit altogether, because you start to think, ‘I’ve lasted five years now. What’s five more?’ ” ]

[cherrykarl]

A naked truth? Two words:emotional wrecked. That's how I am now after finishing this book. I don't know how to write a proper and respectable review on this one like giving a proper send off party to anyone. Because honestly, I never will. It is easy to write something on each of Colleen's previous books but, not this one and not this time. This will be one of my favorites for sure, no doubt on that but at the same time this is one of those few I would never ever read again. Not because I hate it but because I can't be sure when did love became an understatement to actually say you love a story like this. I want to embrace the pain and relive the scenes from beginning to the end. I want this one to stuck on me for a very long time that I wish no book or story shall surpass it because if that time comes and someone write anything like this, I'm sure It Ends with Us still top up my list.

Brave. Bold. and I am just keep swimming. It'll take for me too long to stop and I blame Colleen for doing this. But then again "I want to be you when I grow up".

[Flames_]

It ends with us is a story about a girl named Lily, who has a quite tough life with an abusive father and a resigned mom. She lives in a small town called Maine and then after graduating from college, she moves to Boston to start her own business. After the dead of her father, she meets Ryle Kincaid, a calm yet arrogant guy who is a neurosurgeon. Lily then, of course, has a romantic relationship with Kyle. Everything seems to be perfect at first; Kyle is manly, supportive, intelligent, dedicated when it comes to working, not to mention his lovely sister who then becomes Lily's best friend. However, their relationship later goes wrong at some points (which I suggest you guys find out yourselves). This is also the time when Atlas Corrigan - a homeless guy that Lily felt in love with when she was younger shows up. And this event changes everything!!


This book, in a very different way that November 9th did, hit me hard. It seemed to me at first that this book was commonplace as for a second I thought I was reading Fifty shades of Grey (no offense). But since it was written by Collen Hoover, I continued it anways. And I did not regret it. I should know by now that a romance book would never be just a romance book when it comes to Collen Hoover. The plot was absolutely incredible. Just when I thought she could not surprise me anymore, she did. And it felt to me as if something was gnawing at my heart and I just felt the need to take a step back and think about it for moment.


I apology if the way I summarized this book makes it appear mediocre to you guys, but trust me, this one is THE MOST SPECIAL romance book that I've read so far!! The characters are so flawed yet so real. The writing style is absolutely captivating. I gave it 4 out of 4 stars.

There are so many things I want to talk about, in terms of how this book affects me, but that would be a spoiler for those innocent readers who, at this point, want to read it (ha.ha). I hope you guys enjoy it as much as I did.

***Below is the part in the book that I personally like the most. It does not necessarily spoil anything but I recommend not reading it for the impacts might not be the same.
[...“We all have a limit. What we’re willing to put up with before we break. When I married your father, I knew exactly what my limit was. But slowly . . . with every incident . . . my limit was pushed a little more. And a little more. The first time your father hit me, he was immediately sorry. He swore it would never happen again. The second time he hit me, he was even more sorry. The third time it happened, it was more than a hit. It was a beating. And every single time, I took him back. But the fourth time, it was only a slap. And when that happened, I felt relieved. I remember thinking, ‘At least he didn’t beat me this time. This wasn’t so bad.’ ”
She brings the napkin up to her eyes and says, “Every incident chips away at your limit. Every time you choose to stay, it makes the next time that much harder to leave. Eventually, you lose sight of your limit altogether, because you start to think, ‘I’ve lasted five years now. What’s five more?’ ” ]

This quote. I wrote it out and pasted it where I can see it always

[Haute_Coffee]

I haven’t read anything by her yet but I know she’s really popular. I’ll have to give her a try.

[Sabreland2]

This book is one of two on my Best Ever list. The thing that I found most compelling was that, as the first post mentions, Ryle is relatable. He is a victim and even after all of the terrible things he does it is impossible to hate him (note: in no way shape or form am I saying she should stay with him). The world needs more books that show domestic abusers that an audience can fall for, maybe then people would be more understanding to people who experience domestic abuse and then those people would get better help and better care.

[Kajol Dadhania]

'It Ends With Us' is without a doubt Colleen Hoover's best book. The characters, the storyline, the dialogues..... perfect mix. Let's just say I was laughing the first half and was a wreck by the end of the second half.

[Gurjind Kaur]

Well ryle for me was the best character in the novel despite his flaws. Hoover wrote his character with lots of emotional colors and twists and turns. Atlas on the other hand is a sweet guy from the beginning to the end. Thats a bit bland for me.

[Faatimah Noormahomed]

It Ends With Us is such a great novel, and definitely one of Colleen's best works. The story is written so beautifully. I read this book last year, but I'm planning to reread it later this year before the sequel comes out! There aren't enough words to be able to describe how excited I am for It Starts With Us! One of my most highly anticipated reads of the year!

[Kutemba Chilongu]

It ends with us by Colleen Hoover. It is by no doubt my favourite book out of all her books. It is a captivating, intriguing, and inspiring novel. It is about courage and love. Lily Bloom was and is still my favourite character in the entire book. Being raised in an abusive home, Lily takes it upon herself to be independent, bold, and not as weak as her mother, who tolerated her abusive husband. But once she falls in love with Ryle, a neurosurgeon, Lily starts questioning herself if her mother was really weak for loving the man who caused her so much pain. I loved how the novel was filled with unexpected turns. I loved how Atlas (Lily's first love) showed up out of the blue, making the story even more intriguing.

It ends with us by Colleen Hoover, and has a number of positive aspects. The novel has roots in women's empowerment; it encourages women in abusive marriages to be bold and brave like Lily. It encourages women to make brave decisions.

As much as the novel is great, it also has its negative aspects; in that, the book is full of sexual content; I wouldn't recommend it for kids. Secondly, the book is emotional, especially when Lily has to give up her marriage for the kids' sake.

All in all, I fell in love with the novel, especially with the character Lily. I loved her courage and boldness, despite how naive she was at times. I also loved something Ryle said, " There's no such thing as bad people; bad people are just people who do bad things." But due to the excessive sexual content I give, it ends with us by Colleen Hoover. 3.5 stars out of 4 stars.

[korenr00]

I really enjoyed this book, it portrays the cycle of abuse that many women unknowingly go through so well. The love that the readers couldn't help but feel for Ryle even after we learned of the abuse was just proof of what woman in these relationships go through and how hard it can be to look past all the good in a person when they are physically hurting you. The love triangle was an added bonus and definitely something I am looking forward to in the next book!

[Kendal Low]

I've heard so many different opinions regarding Colleen Hoover and her writing. I know some people adore her books and love to get lost in the stories. However, I've also read that people think these books could be quite damaging with the domestic abuse content and such. While I have never read any of her books, I don't know that they would be for me. I guess I'll never know if I don't give it a try. Which book do you Colleen Hoover fans think would be best to start off with?

[ocean17]

It Ends with Us is such a raw book. Because it catches the ugly reality of the emotional rollercoaster that you go through when you love someone and they keep hurting you. Colleen did an amazing job by exploiting the small details that are often overlook in escalation of abusive relationship until something traumatic happens. The book does keep you in intrigued with what is going to happen next does it get better or worst ? You start asking yourself all the questions that you keep reading to find your answers. You catch yourself getting so invested with the characters that you are also on the emotional rollercoaster. I caught myself crying from the last sentence of the book.

[AlyssaO3]

My absolute favorite of Colleen Hoovers, along with Verity. This woman sure knows how to capture an audience and keep them reading. I literally could not put down this book and finished it in a day. I will say, however, there is always one element in her books that is extremely unrealistic and throws me off. In this book, I would have to argue that Lilly Bloom’s dark-themed flower shop and its popularity was a bit far fetched. None the less, I still love the book.