Book Review #02 : It Ends with Us by Colleen Hoover

Surprising realistic. Trigger Warning: Abuse

My record with hyped books when teen girls are the prime demography has been bad even when I was a teenager. Starting with Twilight and then Fifty Shades of Gray, the books were unbearable and glorifying women being weak and dependent on their male counterparts. That cycle has broken. It Ends with Us this book.

The first half of the book focuses on Lily Bloom (yeah, that’s her name) meeting Ryle Kincaid (even spell check won’t recognize it as a valid first name. Lol) and how they fell in love. At the 50% mark of the book, we get the first glimpse of domestic abuse in their relationship. This gets worse as the book goes on, leaving Lily to make hard life decisions.

I know that the blurb mentions Atlas and makes it sound like the love triangle is the main focus, which is so misleading. It’s about Lily and how she faces this horrific life experience and pulls through.

The first half reads like those insufferable and unrealistic teenage romance that you read on web novel platforms. The main girl is perfect. The guy is hot and perfect, though a little hotheaded… which is still perfect for Lily. Ryle’s sister Allysa (again, spell-check won’t recognize it. What’s with these Kincaid names?) becomes Lily’s perfect best friend. A lot of people hated this. I didn’t particularly enjoy it, but I can overlook this because the second half shows how flawed Lily is. How her relationship with Ryle is dangerous and so on. It’s long overdue to write a story like this and show that it’s toxic and abusive, instead of teaching teenage girls to turn into victims. No more romanticizing abuse, and that’s what this book was.

The other impact this book has is how realistic Lily’s thoughts are as a victim who is trying to be a survivor. We all see these abusive relationships from the outside and think that it’s black and white, but then you read what goes on in the mind of the victim and figure out how confusing the situation really is.

Of course, this book has its downside. I wish Lily didn’t depend on Atlas to get away from Ryle. , but there was a reason. Allysa had very less depth. The only times I liked her was when she didn’t approve of Lily and Ryle dating at first, and when Lily was contemplating of leaving Ryle.

Overall, the story is a rollercoaster. It goes from cliché to realistic. It goes from just us seeing the red flags to Lily realizing the truth. I don’t get the hate on this book,

• “Ryle is so violent and toxic from the beginning. He just outright says he wants to fuck Lily and goes to extremes to get to her.” Well, that’s the point. We are supposed to see the red flags and Lily will see it eventually.

• “The letters to Ellen were cringy. So is the phrase ‘Just Keep Swimming’ that’s repeatedly mentioned” I agree, but since it’s a fourteen-year-old girl’s coping mechanism for living in an abusive household, I’ll give it a pass.

• “Ryle was aggressive and violent from the beginning. How does Lily not see it?” That’s kind of the whole point. Stealing the idea from Taylor Tomlinson (hilarious woman), love is Helen Keller.

A great read if domestic abuse isn’t a trigger for you. Don’t expect a mushy love story, as this deals with serious issues. I get the hype, and I hope the message Hoover is trying to spread reaches farther and wider than it already has.

Rating: 4.5