86.1k reviews for:

It Ends with Us

Colleen Hoover

3.91 AVERAGE

emotional sad tense medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven: Character
Strong character development: No
Loveable characters: Yes
Diverse cast of characters: No
Flaws of characters a main focus: Complicated
emotional inspiring reflective medium-paced

Lifetime move as a book
emotional reflective medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven: Character
Strong character development: Yes
Loveable characters: Complicated
Diverse cast of characters: No
Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

Kept getting distracted.

Oh my goodness was this such a crazy page turner. I’ve heard some people hating on this book because they think she’s romanticizing a toxic guy. But honestly and truly, I believe she wrote a 100% realistic story and I loved her for it. I would definitely recommend it to anyone who’s never read a CoHo book. Decent spice.

This was a reread for me a year later than when I had originally read it. I’m going to see the movie and wanted to reread it before I saw it. It’s my 1st annotated book and I think ai enjoyed the book more rereading and tabbing the book. Still definitely got pissed with how Lily kept taking Ryle back and that she was dangling a carrot by taking his help for the crib and then calling him to show him the mural. All in all I was happy the 2nd time around and am excited to see how the movie adaption is.

It Ends With Us is for teenagers and die-hard romantics, who are also uncritical of what they read, because they merely want entertainment. I do not fit that description. The writing seemed too novice and amateur for my taste. I think Colleen Hoover could benefit from the writing advice to show, not tell. I don’t need to know every thought the main character has, at every single moment; I should be able to infer through her actions and the development. Readers can and should read between the lines. It truly emphasizes the depth and heaviness of certain moments. For example: “I love it when the sky makes me feel insignificant.” or “Here she goes again. Covering up what she doesn’t want to see. Taking blame that isn’t even hers to take.”

It feels like a diary entry, which concurrently comes off as lazy and undeveloped writing. Why not just SHOW your audience how the sky makes her feel, and why it matters? Why not let your readers pick up on the fact that a character acts a certain way without outright describing it for us?

I won’t even get started on the sea of qualms I have with the characters and the plot as a whole, because it’s honestly just like any random story you’d click on Wattpad anyway. But let me just say this: HOW the hell are so many people giving a 5-star, praise-worthy review about how gut-wrenching and investing and beautiful this book is when more than half of it was smut and a creepy, obsessive asshole of a man BEGGING a woman for sex? I mean, half the stuff Ryle did was enough to have made me file for a restraining order on the spot. But I digress. I will spare this review and save my fingers the effort of this spiel.

This book was definitely not my cup of tea, but it was an easy, 24-hour read to get me through my reading slump. This was my first Colleen Hoover book, because she is all the buzz in the reading world right now, but I’m not convinced I’ll pick up anything else of her’s. I always fail to remember that social media is largely made up of people who are the target audience for these types of novels. I should strive to remember I am not a part of that audience.
dark hopeful medium-paced

Captivating. I wish I had read any trigger warnings; for survivors of DV, there are some really jarring scenes that stayed with me longer than I would've liked. But it was needed for this book and for the author to tell her mother's story.
emotional hopeful sad fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven: A mix
Strong character development: Yes
Loveable characters: Complicated
Diverse cast of characters: No
Flaws of characters a main focus: Complicated