Reviews with content warning for Infertility - It Ends with Us

Such a lovely heartfelt book with so many different emotions as the story went on. A lot of up and downs. Some things were hard to read but overall I felt like there was such a strong message to the ending of the story. I really enjoyed reading about Lily as a character and her character development. Lily was so humble and caring and I didn’t want her to change.

Content Warnings

andriaspyrou's review against another edition

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challenging emotional reflective sad tense 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? Yes

4.0

After finishing this book, I sat down for 10 minutes trying to gather my thoughts and figure out how to rate this one.
Even though I liked this book and appreciate the message Colleen was trying to get across, I feel like it's a big ball of a mess.

Okay, naked truth? (See what I did there?)

Atlas shouldn't have been a part of this story. Unpopular opinion, I know, because everyone seems to love him. That doesn't mean I don't. Well, I don't necessarily love him, but I still like him. But he didn't add anything to the story and maybe if the whole story of Lily and Atlas was a complete different book, having nothing to do with her relationship with Ryle and how everything unfolded, that would've been a great second-chance romance novel and I would've loved it. Because their story was so beautiful. How she helped him when he was homeless and didn't have anyone, fell in love with him despite of everything. They fell in love with one another and it was the kind of love that everyone wishes for because it was so pure. That's why despite being apart all those years, they still loved and cared for one another so much.

Nonetheless, this book isn't about Lily and Atlas' love story, nor the triangle between Lily, Atlas and Ryle (as I initially thought from all the spoilers I had seen on the internet). Hell, I don't even consider it a romance book, even though it's marketed this way. It's so much more than just romance.

Because there wasn't anything romantic in the way Ryle treated Lily. This is the story of Lily, of how she grew up in a household with an abusive father and while trying to escape from her past, she didn't realize she found herself in the same position as her mother all those years ago. You can feel the internal battle inside Lily's brain, contemplating whether to leave Ryle or give him another chance, trying to persuade herself that he's not like her father. You can see how feelings can sometimes get in the way of clear judgement, especially when a child is suddenly involved in the equation and that's the point that Colleen tried to get across to her readers.

Going into this, I knew Ryle would end up being an abusive bastard, so I didn't like him from the beginning. But I can't help but wonder how Lily didn't see the signs that were right in front of her, even from their very first meeting.
First of all, she found him on that rooftop kicking a chair and acting aggressively. That should've been her first red flag to stay far away from him, because when a man expresses his anger in such ways, it usually isn't a good sign and probably means he has anger issues he needs to sort out.
Second of all, he clearly told her in their first meeting that he doesn't want to have a serious relationship, he doesn't want a marriage nor kids. That doesn't sound like an emotionally available man and that is not a sign that you should be the one to fix him up and get him out of his whore phase. That's just the perfect recipe for disaster.
Third of all, somebody saying that "there aren't bad people in this world, just people who do bad things" probably means that he's one of those people. Point blank period.
Lastly, him hanging a picture of her in his apartment the day after they met isn't romantic at all, it's just creepy and sounds like obsessive behavior. Are you trying to be just like Joe Goldberg?

After beginning to show abusive behavior by pushing her hard and making her fall down the stairs, he reveals Lily that when he was little he shot his older brother by accident and that is the cause behind all this unsorted anger. Let me make something clear. His trauma in the past does not justify him being abusive towards his wife by any means. I was so disappointed when Alyssa tried to justify his actions with this "excuse", but eventually she came through in the end by supporting her friend, despite the fact that Ryle is her brother.

I'm so happy that in the end Lily found the courage to do the right thing by her and by her daughter. For a moment I feared that she was going to stay with Ryle because of their daughter, but I'm really glad she walked away and found her happiness.

Also, I would've appreciated a warning about the cringiness of this book. Letters to Ellen DeGeneres? Seriously? Out of all people in this world? I'm not shaming on anyone's coping skills, but letters to Ellen specifically is just... no.

All and all, it's a book I would recommend you to read for the plot and the touchy subjects mentioned alone. Just disagree with the addition of Atlas in this chaotic story line (even though they were really cute, but again could've been a complete different book that just focused on them and them only). I wish I had read this right when it came out, that way I wasn't spoiled half the plot from the internet and went in blind, not knowing what was going to happen. I feel like then I would've appreciated and liked the book a lot more.

Content Warnings

itkimby's review against another edition

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emotional hopeful sad tense medium-paced

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

4.0

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brooklea's review against another edition

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emotional inspiring medium-paced

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

4.0

I found it cute yet a little cheesy at first, but as I continued reading it became very heartfelt, emotional, and raw!

Content Warnings

haylierae's review against another edition

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dark emotional hopeful inspiring reflective tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.75

Content Warnings

sandyrabanana's review against another edition

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dark 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? Yes

4.5

Content Warnings

zerkleoflife's review against another edition

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challenging dark informative sad tense medium-paced

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

2.0

READ THE CONTENT WARNINGS!

I felt disconnected from the characters the whole time because the author described their experiences as if she were guessing what they’d be like. I’m glad she’s never been in an abusive relationship or struggled with infertility! I just wish she didn’t feel the need to write about those things.

The only reason I didn’t DNF this book is because my sister said she LOVED the sequel. And the only reason this didn’t get a lower score is because I enjoyed the ending.

Content Warnings

ayshereads's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional informative reflective sad tense fast-paced

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

4.0

Content Warnings

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