It Ends With Us by Colleen Hoover
(Format used for this read: Audiobook)
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.
**Trigger warning: this book contains domestic abuse**
Sooo many female people I know friggin ❤️ Colleen Hoover.
Like GIANT, big time, SERIOUS love her.
I haven’t read any of her stuff yet because it’s just not really my thing 🤷♀️
I am not typically drawn to romancey type of books, even if they DO have good stories.
And from what I gathered, that is her whole schtick.
But I got curious witnessing all the hoopla surrounding her and thought what the hell…so here I went.
Y’all….this book had ALLLLL the predictable things that irritate me about romance stories…
Such as: meet cute moment in the first few pages, main characters with tragic back stories, multiple missed connection moments, chance reunions with past lovers, moving to the “big city”’to follow dreams of opening a small business…
Gahhhhhhhhh…SO MANY.
There was also the whole “I don’t have time for nor care about finding a romantic partner” yet meeting someone they think is perfect…AND all the Sexual tension that unnecessarily builds up for chapters on end.
There were all the typical predictable lines like:
“You’re the most beautiful thing I’ve ever seen”
“I can’t stop thinking about you”
“We can’t be together because I don’t know if I can be what you need”
“I have never felt this way before”
All this shit does NOT make my semi bitter, middle aged, been with the same man for almost two decades heart flutter anymore lol
Call me pessimistic or cold hearted if you will…I just say I’m realistic 🤣
Sweep me away, sure…but make it feel like REAL AVERAGE PEOPLE LIFE. 🤣
Not that I haven’t gotten swept away by some romancey type stories before—it happens now and then—I mean, I AM a very sentimental and extremely emotional person—I just prefer my stories to not be so cliche, predictable and cheesy.
Even their NAMES had me cringing:
Lily Bloom
Atlas Corrigan
Ryle Kincaid
Come ON.
So the first half of the book that is what was up…
Hallmark movie vibes.
Then the second half took a turn….things got a little different.
Turned into Lifetime movie vibes instead.
Still not my jam, though.
Bu here’s the thing…even though this isn’t my genre, this author is a GOOD EFFIN WRITER I admit.
I stayed invested and interested in the story even though I was rolling my eyes plenty.
As I mentioned there IS domestic abuse in this book…while it was hard to read, I feel Coleen Hoover provided an intricate examination of the dynamics of an abusive relationship…things are never as cut and dry as people on the outside think.
I realized where her honest insight came from after reading the book…she shares in the afterword that she grew up in an abusive household.
If you have ever been in an abusive relationship yourself (or watched someone close to you be in one), this may bring up very sensitive feelings for you…so just proceed with care for yourself.
This book wasn’t my fave and wasn’t really my thing…but I’ll admit it was a well written book for it’s genre that does actually address some important things.
Will I read the sequel? Unsure…but signs point to probably not. 😬
But will I read more by this author? Likelihood high, I think🤷♀️
I keep hearing about her book Verity which is more of a thriller type, so maybe I’ll check that out.