By Colleen Hoover.
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“It stops here. With me and you. It ends with us.”
It Ends With Us is the story of Lily as she navigates her way through an abusive relationship. Her boyfriend, and later husband, Ryle, can be kind and funny and enigmatic, he is successful and driven, however, none of that changes the fact that at his worst she is terrified of him.
Growing up witness to a father who abused her mother, Lily always swore to herself she would never be such a woman, and yet now she finds herself making allowances for Ryle time and time again. Matters are only complicated further when a face from her past shows up, Atlas, her first love. What path will Lily choose for herself, and will she find the strength to break this cycle of abuse?
I've put off reading this book for a while, despite all the hype around it. However, having read Verity, also by Colleen Hoover not long ago, I finally decided to give this book a try. My overall thoughts are that this book is far from perfect, indeed some parts grated on my nerves, however, despite its flaws, its overall message was strong and resonated even more after reading the author's note at the end.
As such I must applaud Colleen for writing a story that was so close to home, and for trying to get into Lily's mindset, as her story is surely one that will resonate with many.
As Colleen points out many times in the book, from the outside it seems such a simple matter, that if you are in an abusive relationship, you walk away from it. However, the reality is never so easy, and there can be so many factors in play.
I particularly liked the emphasis on cycles and patterns of abuse, how Lily found herself in the same situation as her mother all those years ago, and the fact that we have glimpses into Lily's childhood helps to gain a deeper insight into her character and background. Ultimately, this story is about finding the strength to break such a cycle, and I think Colleen did a good job of showing Lily's journey to this point.
Colleen does a remarkable job at making us fall for Ryle, what is it about the bad characters that make you want to root for them even though it is so toxic? I found a lot of comparisons to Ryle with Christian Grey and wasn’t sure if that was where his ego/attitude was coming from or based on.
I read through this book in two days and couldn’t stop. This is a very difficult read, especially if you relate to any of it at all so, please do check content warnings and be careful because it can be very uncomfortable to see yourself in someone like Lily, or her position.
I’ve already made a start on book two and can’t wait to see where the story goes.
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