It Ends with Us by Colleen Hoover
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
**4.5-stars**
After graduating college, Lily moves to Boston. It’s a bit of a change from her small hometown in Maine, but that is exactly what she is looking for.
Lily is thriving with her new found independence. She starts her own business and begins to see success with that.
She’s young, gaining confidence and coming into her own.
Then she meets a handsome, slightly arrogant, neurosurgeon, Ryle. He’s sexy as hell and Lily is driven to distraction. She can’t get this guy out of her head.
It appears Ryle feels the same way, but this is a guy who once told her he wasn’t into relationships. Was that just big talk, or was he serious? Do they stand a chance of building an actual future together?
At the same time she is overwhelmed with questions about Ryle, an old flame of Lily’s resurfaces. She’s been thinking of him a lot. A bit of her past she has never forgotten. Will this throw a kink in the works for her and Ryle?
It Ends with Us was my first Buddy Read of 2022 with my fabulous niece, Alyssa.
It was also my first Colleen Hoover book. I was so uncertain going in, as it falls way outside of my comfort zone.
I was so nervous that I wouldn’t like it, or worse, that I would hate it and people would get ticked off by my review. This was such a good book though. I had absolutely nothing to be worried about.
I became so involved in this story, I forgot I was reading a book. It covers a few difficult topics, including domestic abuse. Alyssa and I had some great discussions stemming from these more hard-hitting aspects.
Lily isn’t a perfect character and I appreciated that about her. She makes mistakes and often second guesses herself. Sometimes she would waffle back and forth on decisions and I felt like that made her extremely realistic.
It’s easy to read her story and judge; to say or think what you would do in her place, but I think it is impossible to really know unless you’ve walked a day in Lily’s shoes.
I was surprised at how moved I was. I read via the audiobook and listened to the last chapter and maybe an epilogue (I can’t quite recall) on my morning commute. I ended the drive with tears just streaming down my face.
The lines where you discover where the title comes from. OMG!!!! That hit me like a freight train. If you’ve read this, you know exactly what I mean.
Overall, I would say my first CoHo experience was a fantastic success. I can’t wait to pick up more from her to see if they can garner the same emotional reaction.
Everybody needs a good cry once in a while!