It Ends with Us by Colleen Hoover is an adult fiction novel about first love and domestic abuse.
Lily hasn't had the easiest life, but she works hard and is determined to get the life she wants. She's left behind her small-town life in Maine and made it to Boston, where "everything is better." After a chance encounter with a drop-dead gorgeous neurosurgeon, Ryle Kincaid, Lily can't help but think that her life is finally on track.
Ryle and Lilly have an immediate connection and this connection causes Ryle to break his, "no dating" rule. All alpha male, Ryle has a soft spot for Lily and Lily can't stop thinking about him. When Ryle's alpha aggression begins to show, Lily starts to question the relationship and her thoughts begin to turn to her first love, Atlas Corrigan, a boy inextricably tied to her past.
When past and future collide, will Lily be able to deal with the repercussions?
Somewhere in the synopsis of this book there really needs to be a mention of domestic abuse. I listened to the majority of this book on a road trip and I didn't really remember what the book was about when I started it, I just new it was on my TBR pile and that it had some romance and some drama. Well, color me surprised when here I am grinning like a loan with the cute rom-com feel of the book and the BAM we dive deep into the psychological turmoil of domestic abuse. It was actually quite jarring to shift my mindset from lovey dovey to the trauma, so quickly. Thinking back on it now, that's probably what Hoover intended to do because no one expects to be a victim of domestic abuse, until they are.
What's worst and also best about this book, is that the reader doesn't want to hate Ryle. We actually feel bad for him and I even found myself thinking like those victims of abuse, "it was an accident," "maybe it won't happen again." And THAT'S exactly what victims do, they make excuses, they think it'll stop. Gosh, the more I think about it, the more impressed I am with the way this book was written, even if I didn't know how to feel about it in the moment.
I think I have to up my rating of this book from 3.5 to 4.5 stars. This was the second book I've read by Hoover and I gotta say, I am impressed.
That's all for now!
-M-