This novel is written by the famous author Colleen Hoover. She is one of my favorite writers and this book will always be at the top of my reading lists. This book spoke to me because it mostly talks about Domestic Violence types of relationships, and this sadly happens a lot, especially in the UAE. The author also mentions at the end of her book that this story is actually based on her mother life’s more than her. The relationship was mostly portrayed with honesty and compassion, it shows the strength of all survivors who have faced this kind of relationship.
The cover page of this novel has a broken flower on it, especially a lily flower. Ironically the main character’s name in this story is actually Lily Bloom. The author described her as a very beautiful red-haired girl who loved to garden ever since she was a child. The main event that took place was that she met the “Perfect man” on a rooftop of an apartment building. He was everything a girl could ever ask for, handsome, a surgeon, and mysterious. Fast forward they eventually started dating and he was like prince charming to her. She couldn’t believe a man like him existed because her father was the mayor in their hometown and he showed people that he was “Perfect” when in reality he abused her mother with every chance he got. Sadly he passed away, but she felt nothing because he did abuse her too.
Prince charming’s name was Ryle, he took care of her and promised he would never become the man her father has become. He met her mom and everything was perfect, until one day they got into their first fight and he “accidentally” pushed her down the stairs making her pass out. When she woke up the first thing she told him was “you pushed me” and he responded, “no you fell”. That was a major red flag but hey they were “in love”. Manipulation was all he ever did to her, she tried talking to her mother and she told her to face reality, everything that happened to her is now happening to her own daughter, but now it’s her mother’s turn to convince her to leave him. Ryle kept using the same excuse to her every time he did something to hurt her physically, when he was younger he accidentally killed his younger brother with a gun in his parent’s bathroom. He keeps telling Lily that’s where he gets his “Rages” from.
Atlas was another main character in the book, he was lily’s best friend from high school and she took care of him because he was homeless. They fell in love but he had to leave for the military and live with his uncle outside of town. She didn’t see him up until she went to the new restaurant with Ryle named “Bib’s” which stood for Better in Boston. He was the main chef and manager, also he named it that because it was something he and lily used to say all of the time when they were younger. Ryle didn’t know anything about him until he read through Lily’s old journal, which made him choke her so hard she was going to pass out yet again!
At the end of the book, Lily gave birth to a beautiful baby and Ryle was the father! She let him hold the baby and he was crying with joy awww, she told him “I want a divorce” and he was SHOCKED and kept crying but let’s be honest here, no one really cares about him. She then looked at her baby and said “It Ends With Us”. They co-parented together and she fell in love with Atlas, THANK GOD.
Domestic violence comes in many types of ways, but the most common would be that the other partner would be blinded by love and easily manipulated by their narcissistic partner. Everyone should be aware of these common signs like lying, never admitting to something they did, making it always your fault. The book has more serious events that happened, so I recommend everyone to go and read it!
I am extremely interested in the book after reading this post. One thing I found out is that many tend to only see the dangers if its happening to their loved ones, not themselves. The mother was convincing her daughter to leave Ryle because of the abuse even if she had experienced the same abused and never left.
This book has been all over my TikTok fyp, and it has been talked about by so many people. I loved reading about what the book is about and it makes me want to read it just to experience all the emotions that come with reading a story so heart-wrenching and real. It’s a bittersweet feeling, for sure!
This book has been all over my fyp in tik tok at some point so its safe to say that after reading this post I might give it a read and see what its all about!
One of my all time favorite books. I knew I was right when I rooted for Atlas from the very beginning. It is amazing how Colleen is able to show what domestic violence really is and convey it in a very real way. I truly think this is a book that everyone should read once in their life.
I’ve also seen this title all over book recommendations on Tiktok! I think I finally understand the reason for such suggestions… It really seems like it displays abusive relationships in a unique manner. I’m also adding It Ends With Us to my reading list~