A review by literarylily
It Ends with Us by Colleen Hoover

dark emotional informative reflective tense slow-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

Reading this long after it's release and when the majority of the controversy has died down really benefitted me here. This book was a victim of terrible marketing, in that the publishers went down the route of pitching it as a romance, and do not mention anywhere in the blurb or in content warnings that the focus of the book is domestic violence. Had I not known that going in I probably would have been just as angry as some of her long time fans were! Although one small sticking point on the backlash... the cover does not scream romcom to me like some people say. Pink =/= romance... and having crushed flowers on the cover is very evocative of violence to me. I would not have assumed it was a romance by the cover alone. 

The book itself is an intense, uncomfortable read. From the beginning of Ryle and Lily's encounters, the red flags were flying and I could feel the tension building. I'm not sure how much of it I would have picked up on going in blind, but knowing what I did I never warmed to Ryle as his love-bombing and erratic nature set me on edge. 

Having the sections about Atlas worked as a good contrast, showing the gentle and quiet love he and Lily had for each other. And of course the parallels between Lily and her mother over time.

I am fortunate enough to not be able to say from firsthand experience if this was an accurate portrayal of DV, but from what I have heard from loved ones that do, it is eerily similar. It's important to remember everyone's experience with it will be different, as will the outcomes at the end. 

The reason this doesn't get five stars from me is that I felt the book was a bit underdeveloped in some ways. There are characters in Lily's life that seem to flit in when convenient and disappear for hundreds of pages, for example Kate in her childhood and Devin and Lucy in her adulthood. It would have been good to have them a little more involved and see more reactions to events from people more on the outskirts of her life. 

I also felt like some odd choices were made
(yes one of them was the manure scene)
, namely this strange obsession with Ellen Degeneres
(I couldn't help but laugh at the use of Dory as a middle name)
and all of the letters being written to her.  The letters also felt awkward, and not truly the voice of a teenager. 

I think a bit of a let down for me was also the ending. I know some people criticise the lack of consequences for Ryle, but that is not the part I take issue with. In fact it is a reflection of Hoover's parent's relationship and the lack of consequences her father faced (explained in the author's noted), and in real life many abusers don't ever face a consequence for the actions, even if they are reported.

What I didn't like was that Lily and Atlas only get back together by chance at the end. I'm guessing the fact that they only ever meet by chance (except for when Lily calls him for help) is supposed to be symbolic that fate was bringing them together, but it would have been nice to see Lily take more agency around her love life and actively find Atlas when she was ready.


Overall this was a very compelling read, slow to start but impossible to look away from by the end. I found myself so intensely rooting for Lily and hoping she gets the ending she deserves. By no means a perfect book, but a deeply personal one for Hoover that I do think is worth the read. 
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