Reviews with content warning for Suicidal thoughts - It Ends with Us

Please see the trigger warnings before reading this book. It Ends with Us was hard for me to get through, yet I couldn’t put it down. Sometimes it was really cheesy, and it definitely took a turn in a direction I wasn’t expecting. This was my first Colleen Hoover booked and I felt sucked in from the first chapter. I felt I was standing in the room with these characters watching it all happen. This story is heartbreaking but ends on an inspiring note. Consider me a fan.

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joanasunday's review against another edition

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fast-paced

Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

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lyssie03's review against another edition

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challenging medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

0.5

well. this was a ride. oscillating (still) between 1 and 2 stars. need to figure out a personal rating system. i think 1 means i absolutely abhorred everything about it. this book had some moments where i didn’t hate it or didn’t cringe; and i understand the message and i think, honestly, when i had gotten to the end, the 2 star i was contemplating was due to the message, but i don’t believe coho handled the topic as well as she should have. while i appreciate that this is personal to the author, this is a dangerous narrative to push to impressionable young readers while glorifying and romanticising aspects of it. while atlas was also one of the ‘better’ (tbh, everyone in this story pissed me off at least once; marshall’s might have been the least offensive but i am still undecided) character, he is still not the perfect man and while i’m glad he was there to help that night, it would have been more powerful if someone else could have been the person for lily to lean on—e.g., allysa or her mother.

the attempted rape, graphic sexual assault and humiliation of lily that night should have resulted in ryle never spending unsupervised time with his child, or any children. like i need him locked up. and i wish it was stressed by others in the book at how terrifying this was. allysa, as his sister, would’ve loved for lily to give him a second chance? what the fuck? whether speaking as his sister or her best friend, you should STILL want her to have nothing to do with that man ever again? in fact, you shouldn’t even want anything to ever do with that man. [also pissed me off when she made him tell lily about their brother as if that had anything to do with anything. whole time i was sat there like... is this supposed to make up for you shoving her down the stairs and then GASLIGHTING her about it? talmbout “you fell”??] the fact that it was so different from the first two “incidents” in the fact that it was calculated should have sounded warning bells that this is not just a “damaged” man who is dealing with inner demons. he planned to humiliate and harm her that night. he does not need to be redeemed or coddled or talked down to in order to understand why lily cannot stay in their marriage (“what would you say if it was your daughter?” good god. he is not a child.)

also. regarding atlas, depending on the situation, i tend to have few problems with 16–18 relationships [dependent on the fact that there are no power imbalances, grooming, and that no one is being harmed, etc]; e.g., if the older person had just turned 18/the younger person’s 17th is soon/they had been together prior to one partner turning 18. however, there was genuinely no need for them to have sex. their relationship, to serve as the comparison to ryle and lily’s, worked well enough before the scene and it would have had the same impact had she left that scene out as it had already been established how much they meant to each other and how crucial he was as a fellow child of an abusive home.

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anne_reader's review against another edition

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emotional hopeful inspiring sad tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.75

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emily_linn_26's review

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dark emotional reflective sad tense medium-paced

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

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munachireads's review against another edition

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emotional informative inspiring tense medium-paced

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? It's complicated

3.75

I put Medium pace as it started to kick in around 9 or so chapters in. There were a lot of quotables towards the end of Part Two.

I enjoyed the complexity of the characters and how realistic the protagonists reactions and developments were however I felt at times there were some overly opportunistic moments to inject romance. I was also wondering if there was more counsel on how a 15 year old would actually write in a diary, it felt more reflective than from that position (little spelling/grammatical mistakes, hyper-mature language, etc). It’s expected the writing age was much older considering the author wasn’t a teenager but it could’ve added something

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daybreakreads's review against another edition

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challenging emotional hopeful inspiring reflective sad tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

I have not read any other Colleen Hoover books and wasn’t sure what to expect with this because I also don’t read romance and thought it was going to be some sort of potential “50 Shades of Grey” sort of thing. I was pleasantly surprised at being wrong.

I had alarm bells going off immediately with the abusive character, but I love the depth the author eventually added to *all* of the characters, including the abusive one. When you find out the reasons why he is the way he is, it’s hard to not feel some level of sympathy for him, regardless of the fact that he’s just words on paper. Imagine him as a real human that charms you and makes you feel loved, and the story makes even more sense.

I personally would not recommend this one to anyone who is *currently* struggling with *any* mental illness issues, regardless of what they are, because it’s an in-depth look at flawed thought patterns across multiple characters and how they led to and enabled violence. That said, I was able to make it through it okay despite a prior PTSD diagnosis (among other things) related to something similar, and I really value and appreciate this for what it is. You’re an adult who can choose to do what you would like, but as someone who’s been there and managed to get better, I’d strongly and compassionately advise against it. That goes for anyone even with anxiety or depression who isn’t necessarily at risk for DV. Just my thoughts; keep it on your TBR to look forward to for when you’re doing better :)

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enchantingreads_rosyreviews's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional hopeful inspiring reflective sad tense medium-paced

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

4.0

"Cycles exist because they are excruciating to break. It takes an astronomical amount of pain and courage to disrupt a familiar pattern."

My first CoHo book and it was a DOOZY, but I loved it! My family has a history of domestic violence survival and this book felt like a celebration to other survivors and their loved ones. The amount of strength Lily and others like her must find within themselves is awe-inspiring.

Hoover wrote a raw, grounded and realistic portrayal of an all-too-common situation. Watching Lily’s personal growth, especially when she is in conflict with herself, and wracking with the morally grey areas life forces us to face, are two elements which make this story uniquely captivating. This book is guaranteed to stay with you. This book was emotional, empowering, devastating, and left me conflicted at times. But all of these things are what make life beautiful. Without the tough times, the great ones are a little less shiny. I can't wait for the movie adaptation of this book!

When I tell you, this book grabbed hold of me and didn’t let go, I MEAN it! This is not some lovey-dovey romance book where they run off into the sunset together and live happily ever after. But that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t pick it up! Instead, this is a grounded, authentic story which brings new meaning to the phrase “every rose has its thorns.”

"15 seconds. That's all it takes to completely change everything about a person. 15 seconds that we'll never get back."

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