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3.9 AVERAGE
3.9 AVERAGE
I have been hearing a lot about Colleen Hoover's novels and this is the third book I am reading that is written by her. With all the hype about her books, I thought I would read all the books written by her!
The summary of the book is - 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, and 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. (Excerpt from Goodreads)
Out of all the characters in the book, I liked Lily's character. She is trying to get out of the abusive relationship and yet, trying to make things work with Ryle. She doesn't want to give up easily because she truly loves him. I felt that her thoughts were very rational and thinking for her daughter is what made her strong.
I was glad it was over and felt that it was a bit of a drag with the narration of letters to Ellen, and her time spent with Atlas. The story was never boring and kept moving fast. I like the way Lily rationally talks to everyone and herself. Getting out of an abusive relationship is not easy. I didn't cry ever while reading the book, but there were many scenes where I gasped for air! The dialogue with her mother at the end of the book was heartfelt and loved the idea of the mother opening up to her daughter.
Favorite lines from the book:
I feel like everyone fakes who they really are, when deep down we're all equal amounts of screwed up. Some of us are just better at hiding it than others.
There is no such thing as bad people. We're all just people who sometimes do bad things.
But the more I'm around death, the more it just becomes a part of life.
Instead of helping others, people use the worst-case scenarios to excuse their own selfishness and greed.
All humans make mistakes. What determines a person's character aren't the mistakes we make. It's how we take those mistakes and turn them into lessons rather than excuses.
I think about how sometimes, no matter how convinced you are that your life will turn out a certain way, all that certainty can be washed away with a simple change in tide.
Imagine all the people you meet in your life. There are so many. They come in like waves, trickling in and out with the tide. Some waves are much bigger and make more of an impact than others. Sometimes the waves bring with them things from deep in the bottom of the sea and they leave those things tossed onto the shore. Imprints against the grains of sand that prove the waves had once been there, long after the tide recedes.
Maybe love isn't something that comes full circle. It just ebbs and flows, in and out, just like people in our lives.
I read somewhere once that 85 percent of women return to abusive situations.
Preventing your heart from forgiving someone you love is actually a hell of a lot harder than simply forgiving them.
I am a statistic now.
Hatred is exhausting.
Every incident chips away at your limit. Every time you choose to stay, it makes the next time that much harder to leave. Eventually, you lose sight of your limit altogether, because you start to think, 'I've lasted five years now. What's five more?'
And the hard as this choice is, we break the pattern before the pattern breaks us.
Cycles exist because they are excruciating to break.
The summary of the book is - 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, and 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. (Excerpt from Goodreads)
Out of all the characters in the book, I liked Lily's character. She is trying to get out of the abusive relationship and yet, trying to make things work with Ryle. She doesn't want to give up easily because she truly loves him. I felt that her thoughts were very rational and thinking for her daughter is what made her strong.
I was glad it was over and felt that it was a bit of a drag with the narration of letters to Ellen, and her time spent with Atlas. The story was never boring and kept moving fast. I like the way Lily rationally talks to everyone and herself. Getting out of an abusive relationship is not easy. I didn't cry ever while reading the book, but there were many scenes where I gasped for air! The dialogue with her mother at the end of the book was heartfelt and loved the idea of the mother opening up to her daughter.
Favorite lines from the book:
I feel like everyone fakes who they really are, when deep down we're all equal amounts of screwed up. Some of us are just better at hiding it than others.
There is no such thing as bad people. We're all just people who sometimes do bad things.
But the more I'm around death, the more it just becomes a part of life.
Instead of helping others, people use the worst-case scenarios to excuse their own selfishness and greed.
All humans make mistakes. What determines a person's character aren't the mistakes we make. It's how we take those mistakes and turn them into lessons rather than excuses.
I think about how sometimes, no matter how convinced you are that your life will turn out a certain way, all that certainty can be washed away with a simple change in tide.
Imagine all the people you meet in your life. There are so many. They come in like waves, trickling in and out with the tide. Some waves are much bigger and make more of an impact than others. Sometimes the waves bring with them things from deep in the bottom of the sea and they leave those things tossed onto the shore. Imprints against the grains of sand that prove the waves had once been there, long after the tide recedes.
Maybe love isn't something that comes full circle. It just ebbs and flows, in and out, just like people in our lives.
I read somewhere once that 85 percent of women return to abusive situations.
Preventing your heart from forgiving someone you love is actually a hell of a lot harder than simply forgiving them.
I am a statistic now.
Hatred is exhausting.
Every incident chips away at your limit. Every time you choose to stay, it makes the next time that much harder to leave. Eventually, you lose sight of your limit altogether, because you start to think, 'I've lasted five years now. What's five more?'
And the hard as this choice is, we break the pattern before the pattern breaks us.
Cycles exist because they are excruciating to break.
Didn't know what I was getting myself into. Thought it was going to be a love story, and I guess, in the end, it was. Overall enjoyed the read, as heavy as the topic ended up being. Trigger warning for domestic abuse.
The overall message of the book is one more people need to be exposed to, but the writing style and characters were not what the narrative needed. The characters were so one dimensional and played their parts so perfectly it felt more like fiction than realistic fiction. It reminded me of stories I would tell when I would play dolls at the age of 6. Lily is only a survivor of domestic violence. There’s no depth to her character and there’s no reason I feel that bad for her other than her childhood which she never tried to work through.
The plot is very predictable and I found myself growing bored with the “plot twists” because I saw them coming from the second a scene began.
Colleen Hoover is also an extremely problematic person and a figure I do not want to support.
All this being said, domestic violence is a worldwide issue and needs to be painted in a different light. Lily speaks on it and reframes it from blaming the woman (or victim) for not leaving to shifting the blame to the man (or abuser) for hurting the ones they love. That is the only reason I think others should read this book.
The plot is very predictable and I found myself growing bored with the “plot twists” because I saw them coming from the second a scene began.
Colleen Hoover is also an extremely problematic person and a figure I do not want to support.
All this being said, domestic violence is a worldwide issue and needs to be painted in a different light. Lily speaks on it and reframes it from blaming the woman (or victim) for not leaving to shifting the blame to the man (or abuser) for hurting the ones they love. That is the only reason I think others should read this book.
emotional
sad
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
I read this book back in 2022, and I'm writing this review in... *checks my watch* 2025. So, take my review with a grain of salt. Or two. Maybe the whole salt shaker.
I don't remember particularly liking this book. I thought the author's writing was a little bland and unimaginative... but I do remember finishing this book, the first book I had completed since??? ever??? and I remember thinking "There's no way... that this is the popular book right now. There have to be better books out there." Which literally kickstarted a love of reading in my adulthood.
Even if the story was shit, I owe a lot to this book.
I don't remember particularly liking this book. I thought the author's writing was a little bland and unimaginative... but I do remember finishing this book, the first book I had completed since??? ever??? and I remember thinking "There's no way... that this is the popular book right now. There have to be better books out there." Which literally kickstarted a love of reading in my adulthood.
Even if the story was shit, I owe a lot to this book.
I don't know, mannn maybe this isn't for me. Who tf gets turned on with cow manure lmaooo. Anw, I really felt sorry for the inspiration (author's mom) of this book and great great respect to those strong women who experience these awful awful awful acts.
Beautifully heartbreaking but most of all, brilliant.
I don't get what the hype is about. It is a good story, though the main character, Lily is a bit whiny.
Ugh this just pulled my heart strings so much!! I am so excited to read the next one!!
This book so butiffly written, it made me sad, angry, cry, laugh, smile. When I started the book I thought I was going to just be a light-hearted love triangle, but it is so much more. But it was so much more than that. If you want a book that will make you feel that and more this is the book for you. And maybe I think I loved this book so much was because I was Lilly and I wanted the cycle to end with me. The book also let me see so much form another person's perspective and I learned so much form this book
I'm giving it two stars just because I've read worse books from CoHo.