Review: It ends with us

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Writing this review isn’t an easy task for me. Nicci [Trallafittibooks] and Jill [Letterheart] already warned me that this book will be extremely emotional.
They said: You can’t compare it to any other story. It will destroy you. It might even influence your way of thinking or even your entire life. Though I’ve been quite skeptical after reading the first chapters after a while I’ve got mesmerized by the course the story was taking. And now? I feel completely destroyed.

Title: It ends with us | Author: Colleen Hoover| Number of pages: 416 | Genre: New Adult| Publisher: Atria Books| Price: 10,87 $ [amazon] | ISBN: 978-1501110368 |

Lily hasn’t always had it easy, but that’s never stopped her from working hard for the life she wants. She’s come a long way from the small town in Maine where she grew up
— she graduated from college, moved to Boston, and started her own business. So when she feels a spark with a gorgeous neurosurgeon named Ryle Kincaid, everything in Lily’s life suddenly seems almost too good to be true.

Ryle is assertive, stubborn, maybe even a little arrogant. He’s also sensitive, brilliant, and has a total soft spot for Lily. And the way he looks in scrubs certainly doesn’t hurt. Lily can’t get him out of her head. But Ryle’s complete aversion to relationships is disturbing. Even as Lily finds herself becoming the exception to his “no dating” rule, she can’t help but wonder what made him that way in the first place.

As questions about her new relationship overwhelm her, so do thoughts of Atlas Corrigan — her first love and a link to the past she left behind. He was her kindred spirit, her protector. When Atlas suddenly reappears, everything Lily has built with Ryle is threatened. [goodreads]

Destroying. Shocking. Vital.

At the beginning of the book I’ve been pretty sure that I caught up a lame lovestory. Everything seemed to be so normal. They get to know each other. They fell in love. They were happy. So far so good. Or rather boring? On the other hand I thought: Well, maybe a little cute lovestory might be the right thing in this moment. For me – as a reader. Something easy. Something nice. Yeah, well. This book is far away form little and cute or something easy and nice.

“There is no such thing as bad people. We’re all just people who sometimes do bad things.”
– Ryle | It ends with us | Colleen Hoover

Suddenly everything turned upside down. My whole world turned upside down! And most importantly: Lilys life changed within 15 seconds. One thing, only one thing, changed but it was enough to influence the entire story. It affected me. My life, my way of thinking. There have been times during reading the book when one important thought crushed my mind: Am I even allowed to say this? Over even to think it? Colleen Hoover is putting us in the pillory. She is forcing us to understand Lilys life. She lets us look closely into Lilys soul so that we understand every single decision she is making. And let me tell you this: It will break you apart.

“Fifteen seconds. That’s all it takes to completely change everything about a person. Fifteen.”
– Lily | It ends with us | Colleen Hoover

The unpredictability of the plot is the most impressive thing about the entire book. Colleen Hoover achieved in letting us become Lily. We felt what she felt. Whatever action she took – we’ve been doing it too. By being this close to the protagonist we’ve got to the point where we fully understood why she was making her decisions. And then something utterly unexpected happened with myself: I felt ashamed. By my thoughts. I felt shaken. Still am.

“I feel like everyone fakes who they really are, when deep down we’re all equal amounts of screwed up. Some of us are just better at hiding it than others.”
It ends with us | Colleen Hoover

Lily is living through things I hope most of us will be spared. This story is so important that it is crushing my heart. Empathy is being taught in a complete different way. We are looking through the eyes of Lily and are learning truths, prejudices and most importantly: A lot about ourself. I felt uneasy getting caught by my own thoughts.

“Just because someone hurts you doesn’t mean you can simply stop loving them. It’s not a person’s actions that hurt the most. It’s the love. If there was no love attached to the action, the pain would be a little easier to bear.”
It ends with us | Colleen Hoover

Besides the story around Lily I’d like to mention two highlights of the book. There have been letters Lily has been writing in her past which she is reading every now and than through the book. Getting to know those letters and the story behind it, has been quite entertaining. Though the themes have been tough ones too, they were still filled with humor and a sweet old love story.
Marshall has been one of my favorite characters in the book. He was so funny, heartwarming and sweet that I really enjoyed those moments where he stumbled into the scene.

It ends with us is a novel which will influence you for a long time. It creeps under your skin and won’t let off all too easily. It is one of those storys which will follow your thoughts for a while. Especially the closeness to Lily is doing the magic of feeling the entire story as though we actually lived through her life.