My goal for 2022 is to read 22 books by my 22nd birthday and I just had to jump on the Colleen Hoover bandwagon this year. BookTok endlessly raves about Hoover’s books and how they emotionally destroy them, so I figured that was just what I needed to kick off the near year.
I wasn’t sure what to expect from the book. Based on what the description said on the back cover, it seemed like more of a romance novel. But after reading the book and falling in love with the characters, it’s so much more than that.Â
What makes the book so unique is that Hoover’s writing makes you feel as if you’re a part of the story and actively experiencing emotional turmoil alongside the characters. The book begins with the main character, Lily Bloom, navigating her new life in Boston and trying to find meaning in her new normal.
Within the first few chapters, you find yourself rooting for Lily and her love interest and become completely captivated by their relationship. Even when Lily is thrown into a very dark place, the reader goes right down that path with her and you can’t put the book down.
The raw and real emotions that Hoover’s characters experience jump off the page and have a genuine effect on the reader as well. By the end of the novel, I was left sobbing in my bed at 4 a.m. after reading the entire book in one night. I was absolutely speechless from everything I had read and wanted desperately for there to be just one more chapter.Â
After processing everything and even going back and rereading the last few chapters, I was left awestruck at how Hoover’s writing captivated me and sent me on a rollercoaster of emotions.Â
There were so many times when I felt literal chills from conversations in the book, but one quote that stuck out to me was when Lily’s mom kept telling her to “be brave and bold.” For some reason, that just really stuck with me because of the immense bravery Lily showed throughout the book and how emotionally connected I felt to Lily.
I normally don’t read the author’s note at the end of books, but I was left on the edge of my seating wondering what Hoover thought and felt about her novel. The tears instantly started following again as I read that Hoover used inspiration from her parent’s relationship as the basis for the novel.Â
“He wasn’t the best father,” Hoover wrote. “He certainly wasn’t the best husband. But thanks to my mother, I was able to have a very close relationship with him because she took the necessary steps to break the pattern before it broke us.”
The way she drew from real experiences and formulated it into an award-winning novel is writing I aspire to create and I would pay endless amounts of money to read this book again for the first time.Â
Make no mistake, It Ends With Us is not a romance novel, but a story about a woman who falls in love and ends up needing to make hard decisions and save herself. The story is real, heartbreaking and inspiring all in one and I can’t stop talking about it. Â
I would give It Ends With Us a five-star rating and highly recommend it to anyone and everyone. The character development and plot of the book are perfect and Hoover’s writing is award-winning for a reason.Â
Content warning: It Ends With Us mentions sexual assault and depicts an abusive relationship. If these topics are triggering, consider not reading this novel.