A review by sydneyluxford
It Starts With Us by Colleen Hoover

emotional hopeful inspiring fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

1.0

After reading this, I’ve come to the conclusion that It Ends with Us should’ve stayed a stand-alone. This didn’t really bring anything meaningful to the table. Lots of the book was repeated flashbacks from Lily’s letters in the previous book, which I found incredibly boring considering that this book can’t be read without reading that one first. I don’t know if it’s just me, but this book felt like one massive cash-grab.

I was more invested in Atlas and Josh’s relationship than his and Lily’s, and even that part was boring TBH. The more I kept reading, the less I cared about them being together. I think they’d be better friends. Also, the amount of times Atlas gave me the ick in this book is absolutely unacceptable, and some of you are going to hate me for saying it. MF started whistling when he walked out of Lily’s shop 😭. When I read It Ends with Us, I was indifferent about Atlas. I didn’t love him or hate him. We only really got to see him when he was a teenager instead of him present day, so I was open-minded about him in this book.

Ryle needs to go. Like genuinely. Hoover said she wasn’t going to give him any more of her time and then makes him the focal conflict of this book. None of your readers want to read about this abuser, be so for real.

This was a waste of my time, ICL. If you didn’t enjoy It Ends with Us, then you definitely won’t enjoy this. Even if you did enjoy It Ends with Us, I don’t think you’d enjoy this.

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