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moon2001's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.25
Graphic: Suicide attempt, Death, Sexual assault, Death of parent, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Medical content, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Pregnancy, Sexual violence, Alcohol, Blood, Child abuse, Cursing, Grief, Infertility, Rape, Sexual content, Sexual harassment, Suicide, Suicidal thoughts, and Violence
chewiegirl's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Graphic: Blood, Physical abuse, Sexual assault, Domestic abuse, and Sexual content
Moderate: Pregnancy, Alcohol, Panic attacks/disorders, Suicidal thoughts, Death of parent, Gaslighting, Medical content, Physical abuse, and Toxic relationship
Minor: Infertility
jessiandi's review
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Graphic: Physical abuse
Moderate: Gaslighting, Death of parent, Child abuse, Sexual content, Emotional abuse, Sexual assault, and Toxic relationship
Minor: Infertility, Pregnancy, and Gun violence
bristolreads'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? Yes
4.0
Later, Lily achieves her dream of setting up her own floristry business and becomes friends with a rich friend Alyssa, who she later discovers is Ryle's sister, thus her relationship with his restarts. This progresses to a serious relationship, resulting in the couple moving in together and later getting married. However, during this time there are frequent episodes of Ryle getting angry and assaulting Lily, echoing the behavior of her father during her childhood. Whilst the relationship is blossoming, Lily recalls her first true love who was a boy named Atlas, who she met when he was homeless and living in an abandoned house next to her when she was 15. The flashbacks feature how the support she provided to his of food, clothing and eventually a warm place to sleep developed romantically, but was cut short when Atlas had to move in with his Uncle in a different state. Atlas was also the only person who knew of the abuse Lily's father inflicted and was even the recipient of the abuse when he was attacked by
Atlas reappears in Lily's life as a restaurant owner and he instant she is living with and urges Lily to leave her husband, which she eventually does but when she finally leaves, she discovers she is pregnant. Atlas initially provides a safe lace for Lily to live, however she eventually returns to the house she lived in with Ryle and the relationship restarts.
When the baby Emma is born, Lily finally sees that she needs to break the cycle of abuse of the women in the family as 'It ends with us' , so leaves Ryle for good. In the epilogue Lily has the baby and is separated from Ryle. She again bumps into Atlas and can see that finally they can be together.
Graphic: Emotional abuse, Domestic abuse, Sexual violence, Sexual assault, Rape, and Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Medical trauma, Child abuse, Death of parent, Drug use, Sexual content, Adult/minor relationship, Death, Panic attacks/disorders, Alcohol, and Infertility
rwanless's review
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.75
Moderate: Domestic abuse
Minor: Infertility
elisa_atkins'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: Rape, Gaslighting, Pregnancy, Toxic relationship, and Domestic abuse
Minor: Suicidal thoughts and Infertility
the_mad_writer's review against another edition
I tried again and still hated it just because of how it was written. I also had to put it down so many times because it was just too much.
Moderate: Death of parent, Sexual content, Toxic relationship, Cursing, Sexual assault, Mental illness, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Injury/Injury detail, and Physical abuse
Minor: Bullying, Infertility, and Vomit
emily_linn_26's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.75
Graphic: Domestic abuse, Physical abuse, Death of parent, Violence, Toxic relationship, Emotional abuse, Grief, Pregnancy, Rape, Self harm, Sexual violence, Infertility, Injury/Injury detail, Suicide attempt, Gaslighting, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, and Sexual assault
merylas's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
This is not a love story. This is not a love triangle, will they won’t they. This is a story about domestic abuse.
This is a story about being on the outside and adamantly thinking you’d do something but then reality makes you realize how hard and confusing that really is. Abusers don’t always start as abusers and people you wouldn’t expect can be abusers.
That said, this is a very powerful and well written story. I laughed, I cried, I loved, and I hated.
Things I didn’t love:
- Atlas asking how old Lily was (15 when he was 18), and waiting until she was 16 to have sex. This is never brought up in a sketchy way as Colleen wants you to love Atlas unconditionally, but him coming back on her birthday felt less romantic than she intended.
- I’ve read reviews that said Ryle’s abuse of the chair was foreshadowing of his abuse but that didn’t read to me. That read to me as Ryle letting off anger while alone (or at least he thought he was) at an inanimate object; he purposely chose to release pent up emotion in an environment that would not harm any living creatures. If this was intended as foreshadowing, it was not achieved.
- Atlas and Lily end up together in the epilogue. I think it was unnecessary. They had a bond formed from understanding and abuse; there is definite love there but just learning that they each are safe and successful was enough and could have led to an actual adult friendship.
- Not enough Devin. Loved him, and he could have been someone she leaned on more instead of Atlas (Colleen sort of explained it away but I didn’t really buy it… clearly only having Atlas was meant to show how in love she still is with him)
Graphic: Domestic abuse, Physical abuse, Sexual assault, and Rape
Moderate: Death of parent, Pregnancy, and Child death
Minor: Infertility
veritas19's review
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
Graphic: Domestic abuse and Physical abuse
Moderate: Adult/minor relationship and Cursing
Minor: Drug use, Injury/Injury detail, Death of parent, and Infertility