_rae6021's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
Graphic: Emotional abuse, Domestic abuse, Abandonment, Toxic relationship, Gaslighting, and Child abuse
Moderate: Addiction, Domestic abuse, Alcoholism, Toxic relationship, Injury/injury detail, Child abuse, Emotional abuse, Sexual content, and Cursing
Minor: Adult/minor relationship, Sexual assault, Pregnancy, Death of parent, Sexual violence, Sexual harassment, Emotional abuse, Rape, Gaslighting, Domestic abuse, Child abuse, Alcohol, Physical abuse, Sexual content, Injury/injury detail, and Bullying
Abuse retelling snot as graphic as first book. 3 chapters of soft smut give or take a bit.lovelymisanthrope's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
"It Starts with Us" picks up almost immediately following the end of "It Ends with Us". Lily and her ex-husband Ryle have been separated for a while, but they have come together to create a great coparenting system for their daughter. Although there is no chance of reconciliation, they are living in relatively good harmony. Lily is happy and ready to move on with her life when she bumps into Atlas on the street, and she enthusiastically agrees to go on a date with him. The timing seems perfect, and everything seems to FINALLY be falling into place for Lily and Atlas. The only thing that could come between them now is Ryle.
This story alternates between Lily's and Atlas's perspectives, which was a great treat for those who adored Atlas in "It Ends with Us". Atlas is such a good guy, and after such a difficult life, it was really nice to see him have some wins and finally get a real shot with Lily. I do think he suffers from being too perfect, but in the most ideal world, it was fun to see "the perfect man".
In "It Ends with Us", Lily becomes best friends with Ryle's sister, and I was curious to see how their friendship was affected when it came out that Ryle is abusive. I was pleased to see that the two girls remained friends and Ryle's sister stood by Ryle and Lily's sides. She acknowledged her brother was wrong and out of line in his treatment towards Lily, but she supported him getting better and getting to spend time with his daughter. She also supported Lily and was nothing short of a best friend for her.
I do not think you have to read "It Ends with Us" before you pick this up, but you will definitely have a better appreciation for the characters if you do. The only thing that would have made this better for me is if the book was solely Atlas's perspective. I appreciated seeing Lily's character grow and stand up for herself, but I wanted this book to finally see Atlas's side of the story. I think we still could have gotten an update about Lily through Atlas's point of view.
Graphic: Violence, Rape, Sexual content, Emotional abuse, Bullying, Domestic abuse, Grief, Gaslighting, Toxic relationship, Sexual violence, Physical abuse, and Death of parent
literallysam's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.75
I liked how we get to know about Atlas's past. I absolutely adored the new characters, they were a really nice addition to the story. I mean this book has my one of the most favourite sub-characters, you'll see when you read!
Also I loved the jokes in the book, they had me rolling. So overall, this book was definitely a source of peace and pleasure after the kind of devastation that IEWU caused. It's not much about the plot but the way it makes you feel.
Also, I absolutely loved the letters written by Atlas.
Apart from that nothing else was really new because we kind of picked up where IEWU left off and just ran with it. We already knew that the co-parenting wasn't going to be easy. What we actually needed was Ryle's character development but instead of that he is shown extremely ignorant even after we saw how he had changed in the ending of IEWU. I wanted to see Ryle getting better and moving on in his life.
This book was so anticipated that after reading it I just ended up wanting more & more and I think that there could've been some really good twist and turns.
I really appreciate Colleen for writing this and giving us a HEA to the story but personally I don't think that there was any need to write a sequel of the book and it wasn't really necessary, especially when the first book had done so well. But then I absolutely loved IEWU so I just had to read this one.
Nonetheless I really liked this book. The story is sweet, short, simple and intoxicating. And If you like reading HEAs than you should definitely go for it.
Graphic: Alcohol, Child abuse, Death of parent, Domestic abuse, Abandonment, and Emotional abuse
bookswstella's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
It was so good!! I didn’t want it to end💔
Spoiler
I’m so so happy that Atlas and Lily got their happy ending!! They are perfect together!
If I wasn’t in love with Atlas Corrigan after reading It ends with us, I definitely am now!! How he treats Lily is so so heartwarming and I can’t get enough of him together with Emerson🥹🥹
My favorite character is Theo for sure! He’s so funny with his little comments and I love when he’s mocking Atlas because of his cheesy words to Lily! I love the relationship he and Atlas has! And I love Josh too!!
I don’t know if I like this one or IEWU more, probably this one because it’s not as sad and hurtful but at the same time sad and hurtful books is good in their own way. And I’m also not sure of my rating, it’s definitely a four but I need to process it to be able to give it my final rating🫶🫶
Graphic: Medical trauma, Physical abuse, Blood, Child abuse, Death, Death of parent, and Emotional abuse
hannibanani29's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.25
Graphic: Sexual content, Toxic relationship, Emotional abuse, and Child abuse
Moderate: Physical abuse, Cursing, Abandonment, Domestic abuse, and Violence
Minor: Death of parent, Alcohol, Injury/injury detail, Homophobia, Sexual violence, Pregnancy, and Infidelity
moonbin's review
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Graphic: Cursing, Emotional abuse, Child abuse, Gaslighting, Sexual content, and Toxic relationship
Moderate: Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Abandonment, Domestic abuse, and Physical abuse
Minor: Blood, Infidelity, Addiction, Alcoholism, Alcohol, Death of parent, Drug use, Death, Rape, Drug abuse, and Injury/injury detail
ryanbada's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
2.5
Graphic: Gaslighting, Toxic relationship, Sexual assault, and Physical abuse
Minor: Abandonment, Alcoholism, Blood, and Death of parent