It Ends With Us by Colleen Hoover
Who the heck is Colleen Hoover? I seriously had no idea. I should have. I’d seen her name plastered all over the New York Times Bestseller list. In fact, she has pretty much taken the list and made it her own personal bitch… But I didn’t.
Unfortunately, I am too often guilty of judging a book by its cover, so I’m ashamed to say, pure ignorance kept steering me away from this author and towards the other authors that I deemed safe. I knew what they were all about, they knew what I wanted, it was a win-win, or so I used to think. Little did I know just how much I was screwing myself by limiting myself.
However, from all the hype on Booktok (Yes, I’m late to that game too.) I had to find out just what this Colleen Hoover was all about and why she was dominating every bestseller list.
So, what did I find out? A big whopping WOWWZZAAA! I first devoured her book, It Ends With Us in a matter of hours. Seriously, I had not binged read like that since probably my early twenties… (we don’t need to talk about how long ago that was.)
What’s it about?
Growing up in a home battered with domestic violence, Lily Bloom escapes to Boston. On the night of her father’s funeral, Lily meets handsome, complicated neurosurgeon, Ryle Kincaid. As a romance with Ryle blooms, issues from her past begin creeping into their relationship, including thoughts of her first love, Altas Corrigan. When a chance encounter puts Atlas back into Lilys orbit, Ryle’s jealousy spins out of control threatening all that they have built.
I just found out that a movie adaptation of this novel is in the works and will be starring Blake Lively as Lily and Justin Baldoni as Ryle. There currently is not a confirmed release date, but it is expected sometime in 2024.
I could not be more excited! I think Blake will make a perfect Lily and Justin is just broody enough to nail the part of Ryle.
So what did I do next?
So of course, after reading It Ends With Us, I had to serve up the next heaping helping of the series and devour It Starts With Us. I know it seems like those two titles are backwards in the succession, but they aren’t, Girl Scouts Honor—ok, so I wasn’t exactly a girl scout, but I have bought and eaten enough of their cookies that maybe I could be an honorary member or something? I was once declared their “Best Customer”, unofficially of course, so that must count for something, right?
It Starts With Us
Told from two different points of view, It Starts with Us picks up right where It Ends With Us left off, focusing more on Atlas’s journey and following Lily’s path as she finally embraces true love.
I’m not going to say any more about it, I don’t want to spoil anything. I am so in love with this series I really hope that they do a movie adaptation of this one too.
I’m going to be honest with you, this isn’t even the type of book I am normally drawn to read. My preferred reading usually requires that someone be gutted like a fish… I know.. I know.. gruesome, right? But then we can figure out who the killer was, why he or she did it— lordy how I like to know the whyyyyy! And wrap up the not-so-cozy mystery in about 300 pages. But these two books, may have just changed my mind. They broadened my horizons, at least.
For those of you as late to the game as I was, Colleen Hoover is a rockstar. Read this series, you won’t be disappointed. I promise. You can buy this book on Amazon or get it for free when you sign up for a free trial from Audible.
Please note, while nothing in this book condones it, this book does touch on the theme of Domestic Violence and briefly alludes to Rape, if that is a trigger for you, this book may not be a great fit.
Until next time, Stay Brash, Stay Bookish, Stay true to you!
