It Ends With Us

I am not a fan of straight up romance novels, but this is one of them: It Ends With Us by Colleen Hoover.

Goodreads Stats

Why I Read This Book/How I Heard About It

If we're going to talk about current viral authors, then we can't leave out Colleen Hoover. My 15-year old niece has been asking me for months if I've read Colleen Hoover and I have repeatedly said, "No!"

But, since I have opened myself up to trendy chick lit and, thereby, changed my book algorithm forever, Colleen Hoover keeps popping up in my suggestion lists. So, I finally said, "OK, fine...let's give it a whirl."

This is the first one that appeared from my Hold list in the Libby app, so this is the first of hers that I read. No background, no reading the back page. Just leaped into it totally blind. I kinda wish I hadn't done that.

Basic Summary

From the back of the book:

"Sometimes it is the one who loves you who hurts you the most.

Lily hasn’t always had it easy, but that’s never stopped her from working hard for the life she wants. She’s come a long way from the small town in Maine where she grew up — she graduated from college, moved to Boston, and started her own business. So when she feels a spark with a gorgeous neurosurgeon named Ryle Kincaid, everything in Lily’s life suddenly seems almost too good to be true.

Ryle is assertive, stubborn, maybe even a little arrogant. He’s also sensitive, brilliant, and has a total soft spot for Lily. And the way he looks in scrubs certainly doesn’t hurt. Lily can’t get him out of her head. But Ryle’s complete aversion to relationships is disturbing. Even as Lily finds herself becoming the exception to his 'no dating' rule, she can’t help but wonder what made him that way in the first place.

As questions about her new relationship overwhelm her, so do thoughts of Atlas Corrigan — her first love and a link to the past she left behind. He was her kindred spirit, her protector. When Atlas suddenly reappears, everything Lily has built with Ryle is threatened."

First Impressions

This book started off with the same light and happy feel as a Taylor Jenkins Reid novel and I was really into it for the first half of the book because I was vibing with the characters.

I'll admit the writing did seem pretty cheesy and the wasn't quite as good as TJR or Elin Hilderbrand. Colleen Hoover relies a lot on dorky, cheesy romance tropes, but I was trying to stay open-minded and be OK with that, seeing as this was a romance novel and I knew it would be this way going in.

Final Thoughts

Halfway through this book, things take a dark turn. I don't want to ruin anything for anyone, but there is quite a lot of description of domestic abuse and, for me - someone with a complex past rooted in this sort of thing - it was more triggering than I imagined it would be. I understand that Hoover has said this book is different than the others she usually writes. She generally writes solely to entertain her readers, but this story was more personal and she was sharing her own experiences growing up with a mother who was abused by her father.

If the writing were immaculate, I might have been able to overlook how uncomfortable this made me feel. But the fact that I already wasn't completely sold on the story in the first place, then the very explicit descriptions of fights and injuries and the ever present fear involved...it made me feel sick in the pit of my stomach. I know that was probably her goal, so in that sense, as an author, she might have...succeeded?

I learned afterwards that there's a sequel to this book with the same characters and I seriously considered reading it just to see what happens, but after several days of contemplation, I decided it's not something I want to fill my head with anymore. I think real life was enough for me. And that period of my life is over and I don't want to read about it when I'm supposed to be reading for fun.

I just hated it. And I won't read another of her books. It wasn't for me.

Rating on Goodreads

I rated this book 2 out of 5 stars.

My rating method:

• I rarely rate books 5 stars. I save this for the absolute best books I've read. You know the ones...the ones that you can't get out of your head, even after you've finished them. The ones you think about for weeks afterwards.

• If a book is really, really good, I'll give it 4 stars. If you see a 4-star rating from me, I'd definitely recommend it to you to read.

• If it's just OK, it gets 3 stars. Basically, it means I could take it or leave it. I'd probably read it again because it wasn't terrible. But not like a favorite or anything.

• If I rate it 1 or 2 stars, I would not recommend anyone read it. It either didn't hold my interest or I couldn't relate to the characters/plot.