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A review by readingwith_audrey
It Ends with Us by Colleen Hoover
5.0
*SPOILERS*
Wow, okay. I finished this book in one day, and it was one of the most devastating reads. I knew it was intense but I did not expect this book to affect me the way it did. Colleen Hoover does an amazing job of setting the stage for Ryle and Lily’s relationship. I saw all the red flags, but just like Lily I brushed it off as charm or confidence. The love bombing, the arrogance, all of it didn’t seem to matter so much in the beginning of the book.
I think that this book resonated with me and so many other readers is because deep down, we all hope that we’d leave much sooner than Lily did. The fact of the matter is, we may never know how we’d react in a situation like that. I hope that I know my limits but love is incredibly complicated.
Lily and Atlas’s relationship was complicated and complex. There were so many layers and years between them that I found myself convinced that they’d never be together but sometimes people find their way back to each other.
A common criticism I see about the book is that Atlas didn’t have any flaws. I disagree. His flaw was that he decided a lot of Lily’s choices for her. When he went onto campus he decided she was happier without him. When he saw her for the first time at Bib’s, he lied and made up a fake girlfriend, convincing himself she was happier with Ryle. Lily calls it considerate. I considered it cowardice (HOT TAKE, I know). He should have fought for her that day on campus. He made up Lily’s mind for her without even giving her the chance to reject him, if that’s what he anticipated.
Obviously the past is irrelevant, and the choices we make all accumulate into who we are. I hope that we all continue to make the right choices. This book illustrated how easy it is to make the wrong one and think you’re doing the right thing. I’ll remember that.
Wow, okay. I finished this book in one day, and it was one of the most devastating reads. I knew it was intense but I did not expect this book to affect me the way it did. Colleen Hoover does an amazing job of setting the stage for Ryle and Lily’s relationship. I saw all the red flags, but just like Lily I brushed it off as charm or confidence. The love bombing, the arrogance, all of it didn’t seem to matter so much in the beginning of the book.
I think that this book resonated with me and so many other readers is because deep down, we all hope that we’d leave much sooner than Lily did. The fact of the matter is, we may never know how we’d react in a situation like that. I hope that I know my limits but love is incredibly complicated.
Lily and Atlas’s relationship was complicated and complex. There were so many layers and years between them that I found myself convinced that they’d never be together but sometimes people find their way back to each other.
A common criticism I see about the book is that Atlas didn’t have any flaws. I disagree. His flaw was that he decided a lot of Lily’s choices for her. When he went onto campus he decided she was happier without him. When he saw her for the first time at Bib’s, he lied and made up a fake girlfriend, convincing himself she was happier with Ryle. Lily calls it considerate. I considered it cowardice (HOT TAKE, I know). He should have fought for her that day on campus. He made up Lily’s mind for her without even giving her the chance to reject him, if that’s what he anticipated.
Obviously the past is irrelevant, and the choices we make all accumulate into who we are. I hope that we all continue to make the right choices. This book illustrated how easy it is to make the wrong one and think you’re doing the right thing. I’ll remember that.