BLURB:
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.
MY THOUGHTS (*Spoiler Alert*)
Colleen Hoover’s “It Ends With Us” has been circling around on social media for a while now. Out of curiosity, I ordered a few of her books, including this one. I may or may not have ugly cried after finishing the book. Who am I kidding, I totally ugly cried and it was the first time in years since a book made me cry. I think the last book that provoked so much emotion for me was, “The Color of Water” by James McBride or actually, “Between the World and Me” by Ta-Nehisi Coates. Despite several Facebook book groups chatting about this book, I didn’t know anything about Colleen Hoover prior to reading “It Ends With Us” . You know how you see something online but you really aren’t looking at it? That’s how I was everytime the book popped up on my feed. I didn’t even know that this book was a love story. I didn’t even read the back of the book. I just purchased it on Amazon after seeing so many people rave about it on social media.
First of all, I absolutely loved the fact that Lily opened up her own floral shop that had a bit of an edge to it. I personally would frequent the shop often if it was in my town. I enjoyed watching Lily and Allysa friendship blossom into more of a sisterhood. We do not see that often in today’s society. I enjoyed their banter and wanted to befriend the both of them. I love that despite Ryle being her brother, Allysa encouraged Lily to leave him after finding out about the abuse. If this became a movie or even a netflix film/series, I would find a fun onesie to wear in honor of this book.
At one point, I…I liked Ryle. I found him charming, sexy even. I was rooting for Ryle. Ryle became my book crush and I was excited about that. I WAS ROOTING FOR HIM, I wanted Lily and Ryle to keep things spicy, telling naked truths….but then he pushed her. Ryle had some serious demons and he took them out on Lily. Atlas didn’t grow on me until he cornered Lily in the bathroom during dinner. Though I wanted Atlas and Lily to interact more throughout the book, I am satisfied with how it ended. I think everyone who is going through something would love to have Atlas’ comforting words “You can stop swimming now, Lily. We finally reached the shore.”
I do think the book should have had some sort of trigger warning on it though because it does involve domestic violence and sexual assault. I can see how it can be triggering, even for myself. I related to this so much that I even considered writing a letter to the author thanking her for writing this book and to let her know how relatable the book was. Do people even write to authors anymore though? I also loved that Hoover allows us to see exactly what goes on through Lily’s mind, during and after the abuse. We see her try to convince herself that Ryle is a good person, that he loves her, that he promised he wouldn’t do it again. We see her play that out in her head while knowing that she knows that the situation is far from healthy and that she should leave him.
“I’m a statistic now. The thing’s I’ve thought about women like me are now what others would think of me if they knew my current situation.
‘How could she love him after what he did to her? How could she contemplate taking him back?’
“It’s sad that those are the first thoughts that run through our minds when someone is abused. Shouldn’t there be more distaste in our mouths for the abusers than for those who continue to love the abusers?“
I know that I am not the only one that has thought this before. Why doesn’t that person just….leave? After my own experience, I do understand Lily’s mindset.
In all honesty, as an outsider you wouldn’t understand why a woman would stay in this situation, unless you’re in it. Colleen Hoover does a great job with allowing us to see Lily’s mindset.
Listen…I can’t wait to talk to my therapist about this book.
I am looking forward to reading the sequel in October. I imagine the sequel highlighting the divorce process with Lily and Ryle. I am sure it wasn’t as simple as the ending appeared to be. I would love to see the co-parent dynamic that the two create. Is it simple? Does Ryle give her a hard time? I am interested in seeing Altas and Lily’s relationship grow. I also feel like Ryle would be upset with her decision to be in a relationship with Atlas. There’s a lot to discover and I hope that Hoover touches on these topics. Nonetheless, if you are looking for a new book to get into, I do recommend adding this to your tbr list. Give it a try. If you do decide to read this book, I highly encourage you to read the authors note. Hoover explains exactly why she wrote this book.
Happy Reading Folks.
Lavender Bliss 