Reviews with content warning for Rape - It Ends with Us

The novel presents a missed opportunity to delve into complex themes of love, loss, and empowerment. While the author attempts to explore these topics, the execution is deeply flawed, resulting in a narrative that is both predictable and unsatisfying.

The protagonist's characterization is one-dimensional and often contradictory. Her condescending attitude towards Atlas is not only insensitive but also reveals a lack of empathy. Her rapid and seemingly effortless formation of friendships, particularly with Alyssa, is unrealistic and undermines the development of meaningful connections. The reliance on sexual encounters as the primary means of bonding is shallow and unconvincing, reducing the characters to mere archetypes.

The plot is riddled with inconsistencies and contrivances. Ryle's red flags are so obvious that Lily's decision to marry him so quickly defies logic. The author's attempt to portray the protagonist as a victim of toxic relationships is undermined by her own poor judgment and lack of agency. The recurring theme of women's empowerment is rendered hollow by the protagonist's repeated attraction to shallow and abusive men.

The pacing of the story is uneven, with some sections feeling rushed and others dragging. The sudden appearance of Alyssa in Lily's life without any background checks is a convenient plot device that lacks realism. The writing style is heavy on telling and light on showing, making the narrative feel flat and lacking in depth.

Ultimately, the novel fails to deliver on its promise. The characters are poorly developed, the plot is predictable and contrived, and the themes of love, loss, and empowerment are undermined by the author's inability to create a compelling and believable narrative. This is a missed opportunity for a story that could have explored complex and relevant issues with depth and nuance.

Content Warnings

arialovegreen's review against another edition

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dark emotional sad tense medium-paced

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

2.0

I know Colleen has gone on record before saying she doesn't want to spoil book plots with trigger warnings. And I just can't understand why she thinks that. Just before It Ends With Us, I read another book that discussed a HEAVY amount of abuse, death, and graphic content. And guess what? It had trigger warnings at the front. And they didn't spoil a single thing about the book. If anything, they made it a much better read because I was mentally prepared to read it, and it still did not give away even the slightest of story details.
Trigger warnings are broad warnings for a purpose. Saying "Hey, there's some intense and graphic domestic violence in this book" is about as descriptive to the plot and characters as saying "Hey, there's a lot of descriptions of a dog in this book". These broad statements don't reveal literally anything about the story at large, they only allow the reader to make informed decisions about what they are in the headspace to read right now.

Now that I have that gripe out of the way, let's talk about this story more. I... Um. I don't totally know what to say about this book. I don't think this book totally knows what it is trying to say, either, honestly. And that's after even reading Hoover's explanation at the back of the book.

There are so many... cringe moments in this book that I don't think even warrant talking about. Even though at time is was enough to make me groan out loud and close to book, they didn't really affect the greater narrative. At worst, they just struck as me as childishly cliché and uncreative in a way that did not fit the tone of the book's overall theme.

Beyond that, I felt extremely conflicted that this book included pretty graphic steamy smutty sex scenes... with the guy who then became a pretty extremely abusive person, including attempting to rape the main character. Also, Ryle being painted as a guy who "just does bad things" and giving any sort of legitimate credence to the narrative that he simply "loses control" is just... weird? I don't know. It feels like this book focuses a little too much on painting Ryle as a sympathetic character, rather than I think the intended purpose, which was to cue us into how difficult it is for Lily to believe things are "bad enough" to leave between the love-bombing and apologies. But instead of pointing out how these are methods which Ryle uses to manipulate her into taking him back and how he has always been kind of a boundary-pushing violent freak, it creates this duality of Ryle being a "good guy who does bad things", almost making him seem Jekyll-and-Hyde-esque rather than dissecting how abusers often use charm, affection, and manipulation to avoid consequences for their actions. I couldn't decide if Colleen thought Ryle was a hot romance MMC or the villain of the story. It was just... weird. I think there was a way to write Ryle as a nuanced abuser and that Colleen missed the mark in a lot of ways.

Additionally, just the absolute fantastical nature of the conversation after Lily gives birth was... so ridiculous it was just kind of sad. Lily just sort of owns Ryle by confronting him while he's holding their newborn daughter, asking him if he would tell his daughter to stay with an abuser and attempted rapist. To which Ryle begins crying and suddenly understands all along why he should respect women and... not try to beat and rape them? Because he has a daughter now, I guess? Pack up the feminist movement folks, we can cure all men who don't respect women by... *checks notes* giving them a daughter. I'm sure that little girl is at no risk of harm with this man! All men have their children's interest at heart, even if they have... done a lot of fucked up shit to their mom prior? I just do NOT understand how this scene made any sense. Also it is extremely jarring to have Lily call him out for trying to rape her and then just less than a year later leave her INFANT DAUGHTER ALONE WITH HIM? And to just act like they're casual co-parents as if I did not just read extremely in-depth scenes about him nearly killing and raping Lily. I am at just such a loss.

Also, Lily and Atlas' story feels just dramatically incomplete in this book. I'm going to go out on a limb and speculate that maybe that's the intention of the sequel book, but I strongly believe that any single book should be capable of standing up on its own, narratively. And this book just completely falls short in that. It feels like Atlas is a very static character who exists only as a plot device to both cause conflict and help in Lily's life. It kind of sucks. I am not a fan of introducing characters or informational pieces that just... do not matter to the story.

Now, with all that out of the way, don't get me wrong! I didn't hate this book. I think this book did an excellent job in portraying how confusing, back-and-forth, and life-ruining abuse is. Hoover definitely sought to portray how no-one is immune to being abused; I think the conversation Lily had with her mom in which her mom discusses how limits are pushed little by little was beautifully written. I like the theme of breaking generational cycles of trauma and abuse. I think this book's theme has probably done good for many people who related to Lily's story and found strength to leave their own abusive situations. The duality of Lily having once been the type of person to wonder why people don't leave their abusers to then becoming someone who is struggling with the decision to leave hers was an excellent inclusion, too, I think.

This is probably one of my longest reviews. TL;DR: This book kind of sucks in some ways, is good in others. I'm personally not impressed with it, but it's not abysmal either.

Content Warnings

mswarbrick's review against another edition

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challenging emotional 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? It's complicated

4.75

This book gutted me. If you are a survivor of DV you will see so much of yourself in Lily. Honestly made it difficult to love her but learning to love her and her choices surrounding the relationship is like learning to love the younger version of me that put up with these behaviors. If you are not a DV survivor, this book gives a stunning look into why so many women struggle to leave abusive situations. A worthwhile but difficult read.

Content Warnings