If you’re on social media and follow #bookstagram, then you’ve likely heard of Colleen Hoover. However, if you haven’t, Hoover is known as an author whose work inspires major book hangovers and induces heart-wrenching emotions. This is true of one of her most well-known novels, “It Ends With Us.”
We meet our protagonist, Lily Bloom, on page one, and soon after we meet Ryle Kincaid, who storms into Lily’s life like no one ever has.
After a few heartfelt and shared conversations, including the invention of “naked truths” (their term for honest confessions), I knew this novel would be amazing. I was not disappointed.
As the novel continues, we watch Lily and Ryle fall in love and get married, and everything is perfect. For a while everything points to this being a typical romance novel. So, what sets this story apart from the romantic plots we see in rom-coms and fairy tales?
Many readers and publishing companies consider “It Ends With Us” a romance novel, but I disagree with this characterization.
The novel does start as a love story. However, Lily soon experiences a darker side of Ryle, brought on by his childhood trauma. It causes her to realize, “Fifteen seconds. That’s all it takes to completely change everything about a person.”
Lily and Ryle lie to everyone who question the bruises, deciding that sweeping the truth under the rug is the best action. That is, until Lily’s first love, Atlas, steps into the picture after eight years of silence and understands the truth immediately.
As the story progresses, Lily faces gut-wrenching questions. Does she choose herself or her husband, despite all his faults? And how does the sudden appearance of her first love effect the tough decisions she has to make? Who will she choose, and how will she heal?
No matter how many times I read “It Ends With Us,” the story will forever tug at my heartstrings.
I’ve read this book three times, and every time I experience something new.
There have been moments when I laughed until I had to put the book down, and moments when my heart ached to the point of tears.
Even with all the heavy subject matter, I’m always excited when I see someone pick up “It Ends With Us.” Colleen Hoover does write about the painful sides of life, but with a hope that the ugly can turn beautiful, and it is worth every second.
Shay Severson was born and raised in Tennessee, but she strives to follow her dreams of traveling to fantastical lands. (Hogwarts or Iceland — either will do.) If you don’t find her at the Johnson City Public Library, you will likely find her playing with her husky or burying herself in yet another morally gray fantasy/romance novel.
