As someone who usually consumes popular things late, I decided to read the novel “It Ends with Us” when I came across it this year. Colleen Hoover brought this novel to life by self-publishing it on Amazon in 2016. And the author is gaining momentum with “trending Booktok books”, one of the most known phenomena of TikTok. 5 years after the release of “It Ends with Us” with the best books on Booktok in 2021, it gained great popularity and provided a rapidly rising reputation for both the book and the author. I learned these in my mini-research session, which I was curious about after purchasing the book. The book creates a feeling of romance at first glance. When we read the description of the book, it makes us say it’s a love triangle. But while reading the book, you come across a very raw, honest, and compelling story. I can’t say that I found a romantic story as I expected, but I think it gave me more than I expected.
Not a Love Triangle, Folks. Contains Spoiler!
In “It Ends with Us” we witness the story of Lily Bloom, who is in her early 20s. After graduating college, she moved to Boston to start a new life and chase her dreams. She had a difficult childhood and youth, and after growing up in a house full of violence and noise, she wants to stand on her own feet and have a life where she doesn’t want to experience what her mother went through.
She meets Ryle unexpectedly in Boston when she has just moved. Ryle is a successful and determined neurosurgeon. He shows that he has a problematic and challenging character by giving signals from the first moment. And Lily and Ryle are very impressed with each other, with a spark between them. Ryle is everything Lily isn’t, an assertive, stubborn, and forward-looking character. Although their expectations are different from each other, life brings them together somehow. As the story progresses, we witness the intertwining of the story of a newly married young couple with their past.
We witness Lily’s youth and difficulties. As we read her diaries about her family, first love, and heartbreak, we learn about her past and her first love, Atlas. Also, while watching her relationship with Ryle, we think that a love triangle awaits us while reading. Until Colleen Hoover throws us all a curveball from a place we never expected. Sorry, but it was a little impossible to be spoiler-free in this post 🙂
Who is Who? It Ends with Us Characters
Lily Bloom: The main character of the book is a strong, independent, and determined woman. She has continued to strive to build a successful life after a difficult childhood. She runs her dream flower shop. Lily’s story includes her past, traumatic experiences, and her loving heart.
Ryle Kincaid: Ryle is a successful neurosurgeon and a very attractive man. He wants to have a relationship with Lily the way he wants. But as time changes, Ryle’s inner conflicts and secrets from his past complicate their relationship.
Atlas Corrigan: Lily’s childhood friend and first love. With a difficult childhood, Atlas holds a special place in Lily’s life. Past events between the two play an important role in the story of the book.
Allysa: Lily’s best friend in Boston and Ryle’s sister. Allysa is encouraging, open, and friendly. She has always been loyal to Lily and the truth, even when it comes to his brother.
Jenny Bloom: Lily’s mother is an endless supporter of her daughter. She is someone who finds the peace she seeks in life after her husband’s death and never stops catching happiness.
Although there are different side characters besides the three main characters, the most important side characters for me are Lily’s mother Jenny, and Allysa. Characters that do not forget the value of women, that strong women always support each other, and that remind them of what matters.
Naked Truths
Colleen Hoover didn’t just write us a love story. When we read the author’s notes at the end of the story, we see that she actually started from her personal experiences and opened her own heart. While I was reading, it was a real shock for me that violence against women and domestic abuse were committed at an unexpected moment. Actually, while reading the story, I thought the author wanted us to have a dilemma about the character of Ryle. His character, whom we knew as a troubled type with flaws, turned into a real villain for me as the plot progressed.
We can’t say that this story is perfect in terms of processing, I can easily say that there are many approaches that I don’t like even for the flow of the story. Nevertheless, the author managed to put the flow of the story on a pleasant track, with the good and the bad as she wanted it to be read.
While reading, you may have moments when you think at first that Ryle deserves a second chance. But I think that it is necessary to pay attention to some behavior, emotion, and situation changes of people against events. Yes, people can make mistakes and life doesn’t always have clear lines, but it is really important for a person to distinguish between “cute” and “terrible”, “love” and “abuse”.
“Naked truths aren’t always pretty.”
But the author already mentions this. Life isn’t always black or white. It reminds us that sometimes we have to realize the “grey” zones that life has while living it. It shows how the emotional state of a person, love, love, and sometimes moral truths can be intertwined. The important thing is to remember that nothing or anyone is more precious than the light within you.
Intimate Partner Violence
Intimate Partner Violence (IPV) is one of the most common forms of violence against women and includes physical, sexual, and emotional abuse and controlling behaviors of the partner. It affects millions of people around the world every year. Data from CDC’s National Intimate Partner and Sexual Violence Survey (NISVS) indicate:
Approximately 41% of women and 26% of men have experienced sexual violence, physical violence, and/or stalking by a close partner in their lifetime and reported an IPV-related effect. Injury, symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), safety anxiety, fear, needing help from law enforcement, and missing at least one day’s work are common effects reported.
More than 61 million women and more than 53 million men have been subjected to psychological attacks by their life partners (1,2).
“Fifteen seconds. That’s all it takes to completely change everything about a person. Fifteen.”
Its Effect on Us
This is the first book I’ve read by Colleen Hoover. You can easily tell by looking at Goodreads that it’s the most popular of her stories. While I was reading the book, I was surprised by the aspects I never expected. And although I found some things cheesy, I continued to read with curiosity. This is not a romantic story, but it contains a love story as well. But those who start to read this story with the intention of romance will be exposed to a marketing trick. I think it’s one of the “unpleasant” things I’ve seen while researching that the author and his marketing strategies for his books contain mistakes.
However, I think that the book should contain some warnings due to the violent elements it contains in its story. As a note of caution, I would recommend looking up the trigger warnings for this book before reading it.
I think someone who comes to the end of the book shouldn’t be in a place like Team Ryle. I find it especially important that the right message is conveyed to young girls who read. The author wants to make the character of Ryle interesting and attractive in the flow of the story. But despite the unfortunate aspects of the story, he is actually a bad character in the story. At first, he impresses us with how charismatic he is, but I think Ryle is a character who gaslights by using his tragic past and making excuses. Atlas, on the other hand, seems to stand in the face of this evil with his extremely clean feelings throughout the story. Of course, the extreme diversity of male characters makes us want to hold a team.
But in fact, all characters contain good and evil together. And the decisions we make with the emotions we have, rather than the ones inside us, are actually more relevant. And how we stand behind the actions we take.
Final Thoughts: ‘It Ends with Us’ Impact and Takeaways
This story is a little bit about choosing yourself, reminding us that there are always ways to save ourselves, even if it seems impossible sometimes. She explains that empathizing is sometimes a long journey and that the truth is not always visible on the surface. It is a story that will awaken different emotions in all of us while reading. It also has lines that you do not want to see. But I think it’s a story that will touch everyone who reads it, reminding you that the truth can be ugly sometimes. We all have both the good and the bad inside us. It is the choices we make that determine what kind of person we are.
“And as hard as this choice is, we break the pattern before the pattern breaks us.”
My heart very much wanted to specify the parts that contain spoilers properly. I guess it wasn’t very possible for me, but I guess I still managed not to give too much of the events and in-depth details. Although this story begins like a love story, it is a story about choosing oneself. And it’s about choosing to end a cycle of violence that hurts so much. I think the main message of this novel is that most people choose themselves under all circumstances.
“It stops here. With me and you. It ends with us.”
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