Book Review: It Ends With Us by Colleen Hoover

The book begins on a mysterious rooftop, where you are whisked away by Ryle’s mysterious persona and his enigmatic neurosurgical being. Something about straddling the edge of a skyscraper, and dancing with the dark humor that encapsulates the both of you is intoxicating and leaves you wanting more. The naked truths that are shared, and the intimate moments tied up a dark-lit photograph on thedoctor's cell phone is enough to send me over the edge with anticipation.

“We are all just people who do sometimes do bad things… some are just forced to work harder at suppressing the bad.” 

Understanding the dark, misunderstood, and troubled child that Lily was is enough to see her dreams and as they come to fruition you cheer her on from behind the pages with your coffee in hand. With less than enthusiasm from Lily’s mother, Allysa is there to spark her imagination. However, it is not long until Ryle shows up in the picture again, but this encounter is very different from the first one. Maybe it is the alcohol, or maybe he really is just as stupid as he seems.

“I specialize in one-night stands and you’re on the quest for the Holy Grail.”

I can appreciate the storytelling from the diaries of her childhood, but at the same time, the length of some of these letters and how they are glorifying a celebrity kind of leaves me wanting to skip those parts of the book. I know if I skip those parts though, I will miss out on certain key points that will highlight aspects of her personality that show why she wants her Holy Grail, so I refrain and I keep reading.

“I swear, sometimes I get so mad at her for staying with him. I know I am only fifteen and probably do not understand all the reasons she chooses to stay, but I refuse to let her use me as an excuse.”

It is actually kind of disgusting how much Ryle keeps begging to sleep with Lily. "Just once, that's all it will take - I swear." Ew. Ryle begins to come off not only like a whore, but a desperate one at that, who does not respect when someone tells him no. At this point if anything even does transpire between them, it will seem disingenuous and like he is only after sex at this point.

"Did you seriously just knock on twenty-nine doors so you could tell me that the thought of me is making your life hell and I should have sex with you so that you'll never have to think of me again?"

Imagining a villaneous flower shop is my kind of shop! I want to see the deep purples, and the blacks. I wish that I could smell the lillies. And I hate to say it, but with many confessions and a labyrinth of truths spilled... Ryle's actions make more sense... or do they?

"You warned me. You said one time with you wouldn't be enough. You said you were like a drug. But you failed to tell me you were the most addictive kind."

As the situationship with Ryle unfolds, an unexpected friendship with Allysa becomes apart as well. Allysa's personality reveals past hurts, and deep rooted pain. She seems to be alluding to something in Ryle's past, or maybe not so long ago past, and it certainly keeps the reader wanting to know more.

Closure is a curious thing. A long lost love that comes up out of nowhere can certainly take our breath away, but until we face it head on we will never know what it is not, or what it could be. A mothers approval can certainly sway things to a certain direction as well. Maybe what we fear to face, or address in our lives is easier to excuse away when everyone is rooting for this thing to actually work out.

"A doctor, Lily? AND your own business? I want to be you when I grow up."

The past has a way of coming back to haunt us at the most unexpected of times. Sometimes when the past comes back though, it does so in the most beautiful of ways. Especially when we are facing what could be a life or death situation, sometimes what we need most is for an angel from our past to come back. You can't help but to wonder though, if what happened in the past with Atlas and Lily's father is enough to hold a grudge that would sever any strong bond?

"When you ran after me last night, I swear I had no intention of hurting you. I was upset and angry. And sometimes when I feel that much emotion, something inside of me just snaps. I don't remember the moment I pushed you. But I know I did."

It is in the darkest moments of life that we retreat to what is comfortable. Excuses about our actions seem to mask our true intentions, or even our lack of self-control. However, an excuse is just that. In the moment it is so easy to feel sympathy, or want to fix the issue, to go back to the highs of what we know is good - but once it is bad, like really bad, there is no coming back from that.

Sometimes we know what is not good for us, and we have seen those we love experience the negative - but it takes us having to go through it ourselves to really learn from it. If we take it for granted, or we belittle someone else's experience, such as saying, we would leave if he hit me, I don't know why you stay... sometimes it takes being in that situation for us to learn why someone would stay. The darkness sheds light on a multiude of things for us, including offering us a little bit of humility.

"Sometimes it seems easier to just keep running in the same familiar circles, rather than facing the fear of jumping and possibly not landing on your feet."

The messages relayed in this book are the exact reason why I have published almost a dozen books on the topic of domestic violence alone. The gravity of the situation, how it sucks you in, and leaves you chasing the highs of the relationship time and time again to escape from the bad... it is in fact REALITY. It happens, and people are often too quick to judge a persons reasoning for returning. Sometimes returning is a deadly mistake, but domestic violence is such a complex issue. A person will leave when they have had enough, and when they are ready to leave.

Atlas understood this, and his compassionate nature is what makes him a remarkable character.

4/5 stars.

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