It Ends with Us

Oh my soul....I know Colleen Hoover is a great author but still...wow. I relate to this book in so many ways being in a similar place. There is so much said in this journey that is relevant to any who are involved in a relationship. It was difficult to read at many parts due to my own personal experiences but worth it.

Wow! Just wow! This book really knocked me for a loop. Because my daughter works with victims of domestic violence and sexual assault, I thought I wouldn't learn anything new . That was not the case.

Not many authors can take us behind the scenes of an abusive marriage. It relies on a life experience and Colleen Hoover had that experience. I'm so glad she was willing to take her personal experience, put it out there for all to see, and let the chips fall where they may.

The main character, Lily's, relationships with both Ryle and Atlas are breathtaking. Either seems like a man any woman would want to have a relationship with. Good-looking, charming, successful, and over the moon in love with her. But, as this book shows, love isn't like a romance novel.

The trajectory of both relationships is believable. The one with Atlas was derailed by circumstance, and the one with Ryle progressed too quickly and too dangerously.

I'm wondering if victims of domestic violence should read this book when they are grappling with how to leave their relationship. Maybe those who have a friend or loved one in such a relationship would understand the quandary a little better after reading this novel. It does give insight into why women stay with abusive men and why they can't stop loving them. I won't give away the ending, but I will say it was spot on.

খুবই ফালতু লেগেছে পড়ে। যেমন ফালতু গদ্যের স্টাইল, তেমনি ফালতু গল্পের বিষয়বস্তুর উপস্থাপন। তার উপরে ন্যাকামির চোটে মাথা ধরে গেসলো। বইটা শেষ করে রিভিউ হিসেবে একটা লাইনও লিখতে ইচ্ছে করছিল না! তবু কয়েকটা বিষয় উল্লেখ করি: এই বইতে খুব অন্যায় একটা কাজ করেছেন লেখিকা, ডোমেস্টিক অ্যাবিউজকে গ্লোরিফাই করেছেন। শারীরিক অত্যাচার সত্ত্বেও কোনো কোনো নারী ক্যানো নিজের পার্টনারকে ত্যাগ করতে পারেনা, এটার একটা প্রচণ্ড অপমানজনক যুক্তি দেখানোর চেষ্টা করেছেন উনি। এই গল্পের প্রধান নারীচরিত্রকে দিয়ে এমন কিছু কাজ করিয়েছেন, নিজের আত্মসম্মানের ব্যাপারে সচেতন কোনো স্বাধীনচেতা মানুষ এইসব কাজ করতে পারেনা। কিভাবে এই বই এত জনপ্রিয় হলো ভেবে আশ্চর্য হচ্ছি। অবশ্য Animal কিংবা Kabir Singh-এর মতো সিনেমা যদি সুপারহিট হয় তাহলে এই বই কী দোষ করেছে!

I read this because I feel like I'm the only person in the world who hasn't. Colleen Hoover can tell a story well. Her characters have agency and the pacing makes for a page-turner. The domestic violence disturbed me–probably because I didn't want to read reviews before I read the book. If I had, I would have seen the warnings. I'm not sure I would recommend this book for that reason alone, but I'd recommend Colleen Hoover.

Ahhhhh! This book! Where do I even begin? It was so dang good and the less you know about what the storyline entails, the better. Just trust me and read it, okay?

Fine, I'll give you more than that.

Quite simply, I absolutely loved everything about It Ends With Us - from the dedication page all the way through to the the Acknowledgements. It was quirky, deep, smart, and oh-so-quotable.

Don't let the fact that it's categorized as Romance deter or entice you (I think it should be housed in general fiction, just saying). It's definitely NOT a fluffy read though it will make you smile at times... and then cry... and then you'll get angry... and then... Well, let's just say that you'll experience every emotion by the time you reach the last word.

It End With Us flip flops between feeling like a young adult novel (the main character addresses her teenage journal entries to Ellen Degeneres) and being a woman-trying-to-find-her-way-in-life sort of read; this combination was flawless.

To take a quote from page 192, “All humans make mistakes. What determines a person's character aren't the mistakes we make. It's how we take this mistakes and turn them into lessons rather than excuses.”

Don't make the mistake of letting this book pass you by.

So this is the first Colleen Hoover book I've tried. There's so much hype around her so I was excited. But this book? Not it for me. DNF at like 20%. Things happened too fast for me, and while I like complex characters, I didn't find redeeming qualities in Ryle. Lily was okay, I met Atlas for just a second.

I also didn't love how Ryle and Lily had so much angst which was basically built up only meeting each other twice and barely talking with one another. It was entirely unrealistic to me. I want to read another Colleen in the future, but I need recommendations. We'll see if her writing is for me or not.

I don't want to spoil it, so I'll add tags and just say I really like the writing style & character building in general and the book has a really important message that it conveys well... but there were story choices that just felt outlandish that detracted from the otherwise fairly realistic portrayal of the protagonist's dilemma (e.g. the meet cute with the rich girl whose never had a job in her life and suddenly wants to work while in high heels and oh, btw, she's the sister of the random guy you met 6 months ago on some random building. ).

I have mixed feelings about the ending and feel it would have been much stronger overall had the Epilogue been omitted entirely (e.g. Yay! Empowerment! I courageously divorced my abuser and broke the cycle... but... he's such a great dad, so I'm going to leave my still non-verbal child with an physically abusive person with no impulse control. *Projectile Vomit* )

Don't skip the author's note at the end. The author's note made me almost excuse the existence of Epilogue, because I understand that in her own personal situation the wife-beater didn't hurt the children, but if the message of the book is "end the cycle" then the whole "leave your non-verbal 11 month old alone with an abusive person" just seems reckless and not at all breaking the cycle. In her own situation, the children in the household were all old enough to speak up if something happened.