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A review by bonitalalax217
It Ends with Us by Colleen Hoover
dark
emotional
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.0
so, the controversial book of booktok/bookstagram indeed
i wanted to read this book because i don't like hating/criticising things just for the sake of & saying that there is nothing worthy of note in contents i haven't read
that being said, there is one thing i can give credit to in this and that's lily, not all components of her character but the feeling written of always feeling at fault & absolving, the ryle party in these cases, of blame felt right in an understood way. as well as the fact that the story is modelled around the author's experience, this facet imo was clear to see that it wasn't fabricated from a secondary source, but despite the connection of the author, the jump of transforming experience into storytelling for this is not something that can be done easily & sometimes there is simply just bad writing.
that being said, the rest
Character Words:
lily/alysa - i said the most i wanted to say about lily above but i think her relationship with alysa was also actually decent and while not the focus of development so lacked in it, issa standing by her instead of her brother becuase of the sake of family or the incident was a good example of friendship
didn't give a shit about marshal couldn't tell you a thing about him other than the fact that he felt more so like a pre-teen pretending to be a grown-up & his friendship with ryle was a bit weird in that he never really was shown to care about any of ryle's behaviour?? his best friend??? unlike issa?? perspective was lacking there and it did make quite a few moments feel a lot more hollow
spaces to break up the actual massive word vomit of atlas & ryle character words
atlas - i didn't pay attention to a lot of hype but it did make him seem like the main character so more social media confusion than book confusion more on him later however. [point 2 of Weird Things] + they were 'in love' from their teenage years whihc other than [point 2] could've been good, the final like get together for them was just so kinda like, put together last minute-y like here's a happy ending there you go. not that i want the perpetuated abuse stories sad ending, it's just again felt hollow
ryle - from the FIRST PLACE ryle was not a good love interest, the commentary meant between his relationship and lily of the cycle of abuse COULD have been good, HOWEVER, he never had the charming appeal that the way he's presented wants you to see him as. he's literally an asshole/weridly sexual harrass-y from the start in not a cute way, which if it was that she's falling into the cycle her mother did would be in-line with the meant-commentary, but the way that it's written it's just not? like it's that you ARE meant to find it attractive??? the knocking on apartment doors and then the just like yas i wanna fuck you, just no it's not the example of the 'good fascade' it's just not & it is written like it's meant to be regardless of purpose that is the portrayal - and that is the loose thread that pulls the rest of the message apart because ryle was never good to begin with & everything else about him feels hollow, even with the accident with emerson that is discussed in a singular page, there is no depth to it. there's just not a lot of depth in ryle at all, in terms of you can see there was an attempt but it just falls through like it misses the target it was trying to hit
WEIRD SHIT I WANNA COMPLAIN ABOUT BECAUSE I DIDN'T LIKE IT, im gonna have to add line breaks because oof words
1. RYLE'S WEIRD ENTIRE CHAPTER ON ABOUT HOW MUCH HE WANTS TO HAVE SEX WITH HER, he is overly insistent & this is meant to be the beginning so the "good" Ryle, it is literlaly sexual harrassment atp like i spent the entire time reading that like wtf is this wtf is going on ?? why is lily further attracted to this man let alone letting him in and showering and preparing for him, it is the start of anything physical contact wise they have & it immediately misses their relationship of any solid grounding because it's just fucking WEIRD. there was NOTHING about it that should've made Lily go, oh yaur this the man for mee, in terms of normal 1-1 human interactions, including lily's past with her parents it doesn't fit that explaination at ALL and i FUCKING HATED IT
2. ATLAS & LILY'S COMPLETELY UNNECESSARY AGE GAP. Right getting into the whys of Atlas' age, his background of the abusive home & then the entry Marine timeline being the part of his character yes good explaination for his age. LILY, DID NOT, NEED, TO, BE, FIFTEEN. IN BED WITH AN EIGHTEEN YEAR OLD. SHE COULD HAVE BEEN 17 AND IT NOT MAKE A WORLD OF DIFFERENCE. the fact that their 'first time' is on her 16th birthday while he is mere months from 19 is honestly just gross and it should not have been a love story regardless of the fact that she saved him. their relationship from the past could have actually been a good thing in the book but that detail just again pulls it apart like a loose thread. also when they're in bed together and he, an 18 y/o, just asks her, oh Lillers when dya turn SIXTEEN xx and then he turns 19 about almost as equally soon like fuck off 💀
3. therapy is only mentioned once in this book why the fuck are none of these people properly in therapy not even a mention of couples counseling nope
also, like storytelling regardless, like in verity, coho's writing style just simply feels born of Wattpad, like quality aside cause there are better wattpad books probs, it just does feel like it'd belong straight at home on the Wattpad scene not even ao3 LMAO
overall, the message & character study in this book could've been so much more but in the end it fell hollow.
i wanted to read this book because i don't like hating/criticising things just for the sake of & saying that there is nothing worthy of note in contents i haven't read
that being said, there is one thing i can give credit to in this and that's lily, not all components of her character but the feeling written of always feeling at fault & absolving, the ryle party in these cases, of blame felt right in an understood way. as well as the fact that the story is modelled around the author's experience, this facet imo was clear to see that it wasn't fabricated from a secondary source, but despite the connection of the author, the jump of transforming experience into storytelling for this is not something that can be done easily & sometimes there is simply just bad writing.
that being said, the rest
Character Words:
lily/alysa - i said the most i wanted to say about lily above but i think her relationship with alysa was also actually decent and while not the focus of development so lacked in it, issa standing by her instead of her brother becuase of the sake of family or the incident was a good example of friendship
didn't give a shit about marshal couldn't tell you a thing about him other than the fact that he felt more so like a pre-teen pretending to be a grown-up & his friendship with ryle was a bit weird in that he never really was shown to care about any of ryle's behaviour?? his best friend??? unlike issa?? perspective was lacking there and it did make quite a few moments feel a lot more hollow
spaces to break up the actual massive word vomit of atlas & ryle character words
atlas - i didn't pay attention to a lot of hype but it did make him seem like the main character so more social media confusion than book confusion more on him later however. [point 2 of Weird Things] + they were 'in love' from their teenage years whihc other than [point 2] could've been good, the final like get together for them was just so kinda like, put together last minute-y like here's a happy ending there you go. not that i want the perpetuated abuse stories sad ending, it's just again felt hollow
ryle - from the FIRST PLACE ryle was not a good love interest, the commentary meant between his relationship and lily of the cycle of abuse COULD have been good, HOWEVER, he never had the charming appeal that the way he's presented wants you to see him as. he's literally an asshole/weridly sexual harrass-y from the start in not a cute way, which if it was that she's falling into the cycle her mother did would be in-line with the meant-commentary, but the way that it's written it's just not? like it's that you ARE meant to find it attractive??? the knocking on apartment doors and then the just like yas i wanna fuck you, just no it's not the example of the 'good fascade' it's just not & it is written like it's meant to be regardless of purpose that is the portrayal - and that is the loose thread that pulls the rest of the message apart because ryle was never good to begin with & everything else about him feels hollow, even with the accident with emerson that is discussed in a singular page, there is no depth to it. there's just not a lot of depth in ryle at all, in terms of you can see there was an attempt but it just falls through like it misses the target it was trying to hit
WEIRD SHIT I WANNA COMPLAIN ABOUT BECAUSE I DIDN'T LIKE IT, im gonna have to add line breaks because oof words
1. RYLE'S WEIRD ENTIRE CHAPTER ON ABOUT HOW MUCH HE WANTS TO HAVE SEX WITH HER, he is overly insistent & this is meant to be the beginning so the "good" Ryle, it is literlaly sexual harrassment atp like i spent the entire time reading that like wtf is this wtf is going on ?? why is lily further attracted to this man let alone letting him in and showering and preparing for him, it is the start of anything physical contact wise they have & it immediately misses their relationship of any solid grounding because it's just fucking WEIRD. there was NOTHING about it that should've made Lily go, oh yaur this the man for mee, in terms of normal 1-1 human interactions, including lily's past with her parents it doesn't fit that explaination at ALL and i FUCKING HATED IT
2. ATLAS & LILY'S COMPLETELY UNNECESSARY AGE GAP. Right getting into the whys of Atlas' age, his background of the abusive home & then the entry Marine timeline being the part of his character yes good explaination for his age. LILY, DID NOT, NEED, TO, BE, FIFTEEN. IN BED WITH AN EIGHTEEN YEAR OLD. SHE COULD HAVE BEEN 17 AND IT NOT MAKE A WORLD OF DIFFERENCE. the fact that their 'first time' is on her 16th birthday while he is mere months from 19 is honestly just gross and it should not have been a love story regardless of the fact that she saved him. their relationship from the past could have actually been a good thing in the book but that detail just again pulls it apart like a loose thread. also when they're in bed together and he, an 18 y/o, just asks her, oh Lillers when dya turn SIXTEEN xx and then he turns 19 about almost as equally soon like fuck off 💀
3. therapy is only mentioned once in this book why the fuck are none of these people properly in therapy not even a mention of couples counseling nope
also, like storytelling regardless, like in verity, coho's writing style just simply feels born of Wattpad, like quality aside cause there are better wattpad books probs, it just does feel like it'd belong straight at home on the Wattpad scene not even ao3 LMAO
overall, the message & character study in this book could've been so much more but in the end it fell hollow.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Domestic abuse and Emotional abuse
Moderate: Rape, Toxic relationship, and Violence
Minor: Child death, Gun violence, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Abandonment, Sexual harassment, and Injury/Injury detail