Book Review - It Ends With Us by Colleen Hoover
The story and characters in this book are much more than the choices they make, and they leave you with a profound and powerful message.
Fifteen seconds. That’s all it takes to completely change everything about a person. Fifteen seconds that we’ll never get back.
WOW, what a story! If I had to describe this book in two words it would be ‘girl power’.
I will only give a very brief synopsis so as not to give away too much of the story and the emotional experience that awaits you.
Lily is a small town girl who has moved to Boston to start a new chapter in her life. She has opened her dream business and is using her marketing knowledge to set herself apart from others in her industry. Life in Boston is everything Lily has dreamed it would be, so much so that when she meets Ryle Kincade, a successful neurosurgeon, she almost feels like it’s all too good to be true.
Ryle is charismatic, handsome, perfectionist, self-assured and very stubborn. He admits that he has commitment issues due to his career ambitions and fast-paced life, but he can’t seem to be able to keep away from Lily.
As the new relationship with Ryle starts to evolve, Lily can’t help but think back to life before Boston and her first ever lover, Atlas Corrigan.
But when Atlas re-appears in her life suddenly, her relationship with Ryle is under threat.
I’ll begin by saying: Don’t read too many reviews and people’s opinions about this book. The less you know, the better the story.
As for my review, I will try to give you my opinion without giving too much of the story away. So firstly and most importantly, this is NOT a story about a love triangle.
The subject of this book is as current today as it will be five or ten years from now. And everyone you ask will have their opinion on it. What I love about this story is Colleen Hoover’s [ T | F | W ] ability to address the subject in a very personal light, which succeeds in breaking the readers own black and white opinion on the matter.
Hoover builds Lily to be a very contemporary heroine. Lily is insecure and self-assured, emotional and rational, compassionate and cruel, understanding and indifferent. You can identify with her as you can see yourself make the same judgments and decisions, good or bad.
Regardless of all her flaws, she is a powerful woman. When it comes to it, she has the strength and conviction to make the right decision in her life, no matter the consequences. This is girl power in a true-to-life situation.
Preventing your heart from forgiving someone you love is actually a hell of a lot harder than simply forgiving them.
I loved Hoover’s writing style and the parallel storyline from Lily’s point of view. In particular I liked her ability to make me love and hate the same character, depending which storyline you are reading. She has taken great care to ensure every detail — not to mention the numerous quotes I highlighted reading this book — is relevant to the overall story and its outcome.
Most importantly I want to highlight a profoundly powerful message — for any reader, but especially young adults — that this book leaves you with. Hoover takes great care to ensure that there is no black and white characterisation on a topic which for most people is very clean cut. The story and characters in this book are much more than the choices they make — they are complex and emotional.
Their choices and decision are what make this story relatable and emotional, even for me who is still very black and white when it comes to the topic at hand.
I recommend that every one reads this; girls and boys, women and men. And ask yourself: would you make the same choices if you were in Lily’s situation?
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Published by Simon and Schuster