"It Ends With Us" by Colleen Hoover

Lily Bloom grew up in a house with an abusive father and a mother who couldn't say no. As Lily grew up she came to hate her father for his actions and swore that she'd never be with a guy who abused her. Lily is 23 years old and has moved away from her hometown. She now lives in Boston. One special night she meets the handsome and successful neurosurgeon, Ryle Kincaid. They immediately connect and have a rare, but honest conversation about the naked truths of their lives. They think they'll never meet again, but that's the funny thing about the universe. We never know what's going to happen to us. 

I was very excited to read this novel as I had heard great things about it. I even saw that it won a Goodreads-award. That's why I thought it would be absolutely amazing. It's not that I was disappointed when I finished the novel. I am just being honest as I write that the issue with this novel is that it in some ways fails to be authentic.  To be fair, the plot is genuine. I like the story. Especially the relationship between Lily and her first love, Atlas Corrigan. However, as you read the story, it is not as compelling as the plot makes it out to be. I loved the beginning. It was great and really caught my attention. But as I got deeper into the story, I felt like it was very rushed and it lacked "realness". For instance, I think it's unrealistic that Lily doesn't have any other friends than Lucy, her roommate, who isn't really her friend. Then there's her old co-worker, Devin, but that relationship didn't seem all that real to me either. I think it's too strange that she doesn't even have any friends from her hometown that we get to hear about. Of course there is her new friend, Allyssa. Who suddenly is the sister of Ryle Kincaid. That was too obvious. At the same time, we never get to see how the friendship between Allyssa and Lily evolves in depth. It just happens like that. 

I feel like the way that Lily and Ryle meet is magical. I love the idea of two strangers meeting each other on a rooftop and they just connect right away without trying to hide anything. Although, as I mentioned before, things are rushed. Especially the relationship between Lily and Ryle. The second time they meet is too random and seems so planned out. I don't know, I feel like it was ridiculous. Then all of a sudden this and that happens. They love each other right away, like how? I don't get it. They barely know each other. The depths of their relationship is not described in detail which is why I feel like the novel lacks some vital parts that would have made the novel great. 

Okay, that was me being critical and brutally honest. Now on to the good things about the novel. Atlas Corrigan, Lily's first love. The story about them was told through Lily's old diaries that she addressed to Ellen Degeneres. I liked that idea as well. Atlas plays a somewhat small, but still very important role in the novel. He is the one that keeps Lily grounded. He reminds her of her true worth and he treats her like every man should treat a woman. He respects her. This whole thing with Atlas and Lily had me the most excited throughout the whole book. I love the "Finding Nemo"-references. "Just keep swimming" which keeps coming up throughout the book. Such a wonderful idea.

The theme of the novel, domestic violence, is so very important and I believe that Colleen Hoover wrote a great story about it. There are some different things that we really get to learn and that she focuses on;

• Bad people don't exist. Sometimes people just do bad things. 
• People aren't always who you think they are. 
• We can't always blame women for not leaving their abusive husbands. It's much harder than we think it is. 

So yeah. The novel deals with a great and important theme. Lily never truly understood why her mother never left her father even though he treated her like garbage. Then, spoiler alert, Lily goes through the same things her mother did and her world and heart is torn apart. Lily struggles as she tries to figure out what she should do. She knows her own true value and that she has limits, but it's incredibly hard for her to leave someone she loves with all her heart. It is absolutely heartbreaking! But bad cycles must be destroyed. History can't repeat itself. Things must end. 

The literary part of the novel failed to touch me, however, the story about abuse stays with me forever. As I read the personal note by the end, I was in tears! It was so beautiful and brave of Colleen Hoover to share. So please read the novel. You'll be smarter and you will learn the many sides of abusive relationships. It is some heavy and dark stuff. It is not easy to go through and it takes great courage to step away and say no. However when you do so, you can actually save relationships  and change lives.

Colleen Hoover, Simon & Schuster, 367 pages, 2016.