It Ends With Us - Colleen Hoover

Title: It Ends With Us

Author: Colleen Hoover

Publisher: Atria Books

Date Published: 2nd August 2016

Pages: 367

Source: Bought

Buy It Here: It Ends with Us

SOMETIMES THE ONE WHO LOVES YOU IS THE ONE WHO HURTS YOU THE MOST

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, and maybe even a little arrogant. He's also sensitive, brilliant, and has a total soft spot for Lily, but Ryle's complete aversion to relationships is disturbing.

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.

With this bold and deeply personal novel, Colleen Hoover delivers a heart-wrenching story that breaks exciting new ground for her as a writer. It Ends With Us is an unforgettable tale of love that comes at the ultimate price.

This book contains graphic scenes and very sensitive subject matter.

I really don't know where to start with this review. I feel like I've been betrayed, I wasn't expecting the book to go in the direction it went in. I started it knowing pretty much nothing about it, I hadn't read anything about it. The only reason I picked this book up was because of recommendations and dear GOD I am so happy that I did. This book will take you on the emotional ride of your life and you will be a changed person after reading it. 

Right, I wrote a lot of notes whilst reading this book, I had to. My emotions were honestly all over the place! 

The first thought I had whilst reading this was a negative one. I know, I started this book and wasn't even sure if I wanted to continue it for 2 reasons: 

1. From the very beginning the book was filled with coincidences and cliche's. I can't tell you the amount of times I had to roll my eyes whilst reading the first half of the book. The first meeting between Lily and Ryle was weird and completely unrealistic. It reminded me of a John Green novel (nothing against those, they're just not really known for being at all realistic in the way the characters converse) and I just thought that no one would ever speak to a stranger the way these two were talking to each other. Nope. 
2. A little further on in the story and they've now met twice but they were acting as if they were in love with each other. I get that they hit it off pretty well, but I just couldn't take the almost insta-love that happened. 
3. The whole 'bad boy can be changed by beautiful girl' trope has been over-used so many times, I'm fed up of it. 
4. There were so many coincidences in this book, bumping into people who are all connected etc I get it had to happen for the progression of the story but it just could have been done in a less eye-roll way.

Okay okay, that's pretty much all the issues I had with the first half of the book. The second half wipes out all of those problems, of course they were still there but honestly and truly I did not care because this storyline took the biggest turn and broke me (in a good way). 

I really loved the way the journal entries were incorporated so we could get a glimpse into Lily and Atlas' relationship/life and I loved how the past and the present were brought together and wrapped up so nicely. The letters were a little cringe at the beginning but I became invested in the story they were telling and would have honestly been happy if that was just the main storyline. It was powerful and heart-wrenching. 

I actually had an interesting thought during the first half of the book that I think is kind of funny now. I made a note of it as I was reading so I could remember, this is exactly what I wrote down and you'll see why this is significant if you've read the book: 

Ryle is giving me Christian Grey vibes. I like it.

I'm just going to leave that there. 

I'm going to lighten up the mood of the review before I get into the deeper things. There was a section in the book that made me laugh like crazy. Ryle is a neurosurgeon right? Neurosurgeon's are busy busy people, you wouldn't think they have time to reply to messages but Ryle replies to Lily's messages almost instantly. It's funny because he's a neurosurgeon and replies instantly, I can't even get a text back within the same day. *SIGH* 

^ That was a babbling mess, but I thought it was funny. 

Anyway, I wanted to get onto the main part of this. The whole reason why this novel drew me in, broke me and spat me back out. 

This novel was such an eye-opener, it was incredible. There were dark, heartbreaking topics that were covered in this book and I think Colleen Hoover did an incredible job at handling it with sensitivity and truthfulness. There were moments in the book where I would agree with what Lily would say, and when she'd tell me it was wrong to think like that, it changed my views on things, it made me more aware and it made me understand. If a book has the power to educate you, to show you another side to the story that you've never seen before and to open your mind to understanding the truth, then it's a bloody good book and deserves every award going. 

I really didn't expect this book to hit me as hard as it did, I wasn't expecting anything that happened and I don't have any personal connection to the issues raised but it hit me like a ton of bricks. As I was reading parts of the book, my heart was beating so fast, my body got hot, I couldn't take my eyes off the page. I couldn't put the book down. I had to read it, I had to read more. It's been years since a book has made me feel that way. YEARS. 

I would highly recommend reading this book, it was honestly incredible and probably the best book that I've read all year. I (obviously) rated this book 5* on Goodreads!