Reviews with content warning for Alcoholism - It Ends with Us

the way that lily acts towards ryle when he claims he would change made me extremely mad, like leave him permanently!! but overall it was a rollercoaster of emotions and made me EXTREMELY tense during some parts and those are the kind of books that i LOVE. it displays acts of physical abuse from spouses/partners and also tells you options on what to do. i love how this book displays what some women/men have to go through. according to me overall, i give this book a perfect 5 according to the storyline and pace! (took me 3 nights to read it whole because of how the book had me CLINGING) but according to my emotions, a 4.75 because of how often i cried (not joking.)

Content Warnings

annabananadel's review against another edition

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dark emotional inspiring reflective sad medium-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? It's complicated

5.0

“It stops here. With me and you. It ends with us.”

Of course I had to use that quote when referencing this book because I bought the special edition with the prettiest sprayed edges and had an embossed quote of the above.

Okay, whoever said this book romanticizes domestic abuse is so wrong they had to go back to their own mother's womb because in what way did it show as such? Have you read the author's note? So many hate on CH for writing this book and I really don't see it. I've been a fan of CH even before this book was published so it maybe bias on my part and that's why I re-read this book after almost 8 years of my first read and I see nothing that signifies it romanticizing abuse.

I'm done with ranting now. Just wanna explode from all these feelings after reading this book because it's just really something. I forgot how deep and dark this story was. I remember the important aspect and scenes of this book but damn I forgot how amazingly dark CH wrote this book. I knew the story was somewhat real life because she saw it happen between her own parent but I can't help but feel so many feelings for all the characters and the author herself.

I remember being so in love with Ryle when I first started this book back then so when the story progressed and everything happened all too fast, I was shocked and can't believe what was happening. I was in denial back then but later on accepted what was happening and that was how that book was going. Now that I already know what's going to happen, I was taking notes and looking for signs and clues that will reveal how it was to be expected soon. Yes, there were lots of signs and I, unfortunately, was not able to see back then. This book really showed the perspective of women who were not able to leave their abusive relationship for some reason. Lily was in denial and even when she knew she had to leave, she was not able - because she loved Ryle. Of course at some point, she was able to because of their daughter (hence, the quote). When you're an outsider, it's so easy to judge people who stays in their abusive relationship but damn, after reading this book, it really gives you a glimpse of what's happening in their mind. If you read Too Late as well, that's one of CH's book that shows how the FMC was unable to leave her abusive relationship not because of love but because of certain circumstances that is so not related to love.

I breezed thru this book like how I read her other books. It was just too engaging not to put down, to be honest. If only it wasn't a special edition, I would have taken longer from the annotations and tabbing. I really like how it made me want to read the next chapters because I wanted to know what was going to happen. Especially now since I knew what was going to happen, I wanted to get to that page soon. Re-reading it, I can't blame Lily for not seeing the signs because it was just a red flag on a toothpick - unnoticeable. I was falling for Ryle and trying to be blind as well because I knew how we was. I can't help but cheer for Lily because she knows better than other victims since she was raised by one.

To be honest, I can't help but compare Lily to my own mother because I know for sure she was in one with my father. I only know because my grandparents may or may not have accidentally told me when I was younger. I also know because when I was crying about my break up with an ex, she immediately asked me if he had hurt me. Back then, I was confused as to why she would ask me such but thinking about it now, I realized that it should be one of the first few questions to ask. It is traumatizing for sure and not something you'd like your own child to experience. I'm glad my mom got us out and was able to raise us by herself.

Read this when it came out in 2016 so maybe I was around 20-21 years old and here I am now, 28 years old and learn more than I had back then. I was in a "happy" relationship back then and didn't think for a second that someone that I had love would hurt me. Little did I knew that within a few years, I would have been a victim (and not because of the Me Too movement) with my ex as my abuser. My best friend, C, still can't forget how my ex held my wrist with more force than necessary. I only came to tell my friends about my "last day with my ex" situation where he forced himself on me against my will after a few months since it happened. I thought that was okay because we were in a relationship but someone pointed it out to me that no, that was not okay. Ever since then, I've been looking at my last relationship as something other than happy.

Content Warnings

willowdatree4's review against another edition

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dark emotional sad tense medium-paced

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

4.5

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