Just like everyone in 2022, I went through an It Ends With Us phase. I read the book because everyone else read it. Even though I liked the book, it was not one of my favorite reads. Lily’s story was powerful, but it did not resonate with me to where I would consider it to be one of my favorites. I did stay up very late reading because I could not put the book down, so I have absolutely nothing negative to say about the book. Spoilers ahead, beware as you read.
It Ends With Us was written by Colleen Hoover and was published in 2016. Because of the demand for a sequel, Hoover released It Starts With Us in October of 2022. The book follows young Lily Bloom, a florist who lives in Boston. She begins a relationship with abusive neurosurgeon Ryle Kincaid. With the help of her first love Atlas Corrigan, she leaves Ryle for the sake of her newborn daughter.
The It Ends With Us movie stars Blake Lively as Lily, Justin Baldoni as Ryle (and the director), and Brandon Sklenar as Atlas. I really liked the movie. It told the story of domestic violence very well, and the acting was phenomenal. I felt what every character was going through as the movie progressed. The songs played throughout the movie were incredibly diverse; it included songs by Lana Del Rey, Taylor Swift, Post Malone, and Lewis Capaldi, to name a few.
The movie followed the plot of the book relatively well. There were, however, a few differences. This sparked controversy among the book fans. Books are always much more detailed than movies, so there were bound to be scenes left out. For starters, the characters are much older in the movie than in the book, which is not too big of an issue. It was made this way to give Ryle time to grow his career as a surgeon. Another difference is that the name of Atlas’s restaurant was “Root” in the movie, and “Bib’s” in the book. This made sense in both the movie and the book, and was a very minor switch. It was named Root because of a gardening scene flashback with Lily and Atlas; Bib’s stands for Better in Boston, which was on a magnet that Lily had gotten from Atlas as a gift. This magnet had a very important appearance in the book and was a turning point. It was when Ryle pieced together the entire love story between Lily and Atlas. The magnet, along with a reference to Lily’s journal, were not included, but the story made sense within the context of the movie. It Ends With Us was already over two hours long, so to include all this background information would extend the duration. Because the movie made sense without this scene, I think the backlash it received from the book lovers was unnecessary.
It is important to remember that It Ends With Us is an empowering story about a woman escaping the cycle of abuse. It Ends With Us is categorized as a romantic drama, which seemed to spark controversy. The biggest criticism this book and movie has received is that it is “romanticizing abuse”. A large part of the movie is the relationship between Lily and Ryle as well as Lily and Atlas. It Ends With Us would not be the same without romance, so the romantic drama genre is correct. Nobody is romanticizing abuse; Lily’s story being in the media serves exactly the right purpose — to spread awareness about the issues of domestic abuse.
All in all, I loved both the book and the movie. Even though I would not say they are my favorite, I would definitely recommend it to anyone who wants to read or watch a very moving, feminist story.
Once it leaves theaters, it is rumored that It Ends With Us will be on streaming platforms such as HBO, Netflix, and Prime Video.
The opinions expressed in this article are the writer’s own and do not reflect the views of Her Campus.
This article is written by a student writer from the Her Campus at TAMU chapter.