A review by spootilious
It Starts with Us by Colleen Hoover

emotional funny lighthearted 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? It's complicated

3.0

 

Read: May 25, 2023
 Title: It Starts With Us
 Series: It Ends With Us #2
 Author: Colleen Hoover
 Genre: Romance
 Rating: 3/5
 Review: 

So… After I provided a fairly low rating of It Ends With Us… I’m probably going to give everyone whiplash… I really enjoyed It Starts With Us. I’ll admit I had ZERO plans of reading it after the mess that was book one but, I couldn’t shake the feeling that I wasn’t giving Hoover a decent chance. I have a number of people who are near and dear to me that adore her and could not understand why after reading book 1. I had to be missing something… So, I decided to give her another try. 

I won’t lie and say I loved It Starts With Us but It is certainly far better than It Ends With Us (though it’s not difficult to go up from there). Still, I found myself grinning at the endless witty banter and cheesy lines. It almost felt like a heated blanket on a cold winter night. Like Hoover was trying to sooth the sting of the reader after everything that happened in book one. 

Atlas is adorable and I love him. Lily is still a bit bland for my taste but the different POVs were helpful in handling her. Though for such a short book the story dragged in places and felt completely disconnected from book 1 (Where book one felt like a soap opera justifying gaslighting and abuse, book 2 felt like a cozy sitcom). After glancing over some of the reviews for this book, I feel like this is the reason so many readers hate this one… It’s just so… Different. It was nice to see a health relationship though (Though I’m sad that the brother and his friend didn’t turn into a couple). 

My opinion of Hoover’s writing style remains the same. I am obviously not her target audience, but her writing style feels more suited to younger adults that have not seen enough drama in their lives and I can appreciate that. 

Overall, I doubt I’ll be searching Hoover’s books out regulars but, I won’t turn my nose up at them either and I wouldn’t mind suggesting this one to a select few. 

 Quotes: 

N/A 

 

TW: Violence, Mentions of Abuse, Child Abuse.