Reviews with content warning for Addiction - It Starts with Us

Thank fuck that's over.

Final eye roll count: 11
Audible groan count: 2*

I didnt hate the first one of these, I quite liked that it was marketed as a romance and then turned out to be an essay on generational trauma and cycles of abuse, because I think that's kind of a powerful metaphor for how it feels to be a victim/survivor of these types of relationships. This, did not give me that.

In spite of the extensive back stories our two protagonists have I still feel like everyone was super two dimensional, and Atlas character was so picture perfect flawless that I found him utterly unbelievable, and actually ended up wanting to see him fail at something, which of course he never did, because he's perfect. Around the 50% mark I actually wanted to see them not end up together.

Ryle(still a stupid fucking name)'s character is diminished to pantomime evil villain, and secondary characters are entirely unimportant. Even the kids, Josh and Emerson, who are the catalysts for the majority of the events in this novel, barely have any nuance. I will say I found Sutton to be a little more interesting as an antagonist, but even that wanted more exploration.

All in all, I'm just glad I can take this off my shelf and never have to think about it again.

* I will admit, one audible, and public, groan was due to the audiobook having only a short gap in the narration between sections and I mistakenly thought the Finding Nemo quote was part of a *poignant* moment, not the following part. My mistake, still a fairly cringe-worthy pop culture reference to have to keep returning to.

Content Warnings

aprilyvonne's review against another edition

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dark emotional hopeful reflective sad medium-paced

3.75

⭐️⭐️⭐️💫

“It Starts With Us” had so much potential. I understand that CoHo was convinced to write this for her fans, and I commend that effort. I was slightly disappointed that it just didn’t live up to some of her previous writing. It was a bit flat to me.

Now, I wasn’t a fan of Ryle in the first book, so I was excited to see Atlas have his own story. Of course, I also wanted Lily to be happy and safe. There was still some tension and stress, but the drama was lacking. Not that I wanted more violence. I suppose there wasn’t enough rising action (or even a true climax) in my opinion.

Again, I appreciated the author’s note about her why and her vision, like before. So, based on that, Hoover did exactly what she had intended. The story was more happy, but I think I would’ve enjoyed it more if there was just a little extra to make that joy impact me as a reader.

At least the sequel didn’t upset me as much as the first. 🤓

Content Warnings

sarahstyles28's review against another edition

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emotional hopeful reflective medium-paced

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

loved to see how their stories ended
really lovely story which has the powers to spread the words of DA and realities of true love.

Content Warnings

issyd23's review against another edition

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challenging emotional hopeful inspiring reflective sad tense slow-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

3.0

Surprisingly enjoyable after detesting the first book 3🌸

NB I picked up this book expecting to hate & make fun of it, but ended up liking the story. I found it really satisfying & empowering to see Lily call out Ryle’s abusive behaviour & get a second chance of love with Atlas. There are still Ellen DeGeneres diaries but thankfully not as much as book 1 + the inclusion of Atlas’ perspective was a good addition.

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sldibened's review against another edition

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dark emotional hopeful inspiring fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? N/A
Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A

4.0

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jadyn_grace's review against another edition

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emotional hopeful inspiring sad medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

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roo_coniam's review against another edition

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emotional funny lighthearted tense slow-paced

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

3.5

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hmw98's review against another edition

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emotional hopeful reflective tense medium-paced

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

4.25

Loved the book but was disappointed in the plot a tad bit, wasn’t as event packed as the last! Also the ending was a bit of a bummer as I expected more from Coho!

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