Review: Colleen Hoover’s ‘It Ends With Us’ will leave a bittersweet taste in your mouth

Colleen Hoover’s novel “It Ends With Us” was published in 2016, gaining popularity and rising charts starting in 2020. She writes mainly romance novels, some with heavy topics, but she started gaining popularity with the hashtag #booktok on TikTok.

Not only a novel but a personal story from Colleen Hoover which, unfortunately, many women can relate to. “It Ends With Us” is a story about love, heartbreak, success, and most importantly, breaking a cycle of abuse many people face every day.

The story follows Lily Bloom who is starting a new life in the city after her father’s funeral, although he abused her mother. In the city, she decides to open a flower shop and meets the man she saw after her father’s funeral, the man of her dreams, Ryle Kincaid. 

Their first meeting was six months prior, but they reunite at the flower shop and it was the beginning of a loving relationship. Or was it? A while into the relationship Lily starts to see Ryle’s anger lash out at her, but since the good times with Ryle outweigh the bad they end up married. Everything is going fine in their marriage until Ryle sees Lily’s former lover and the whole relationship spirals. 

Ryle ends up the maddest he’s ever been, pushing Lily down a flight of stairs, and while she was in the hospital she discovered she was pregnant. When her baby was finally born she realized she couldn’t put her child through any abuse like she saw when she was young and decided to leave Ryle even though she did love him. 

Although there were many tragic events Lily does have a happy ending. Reuniting with her former lover the book ends off with a healthy relationship and hope for others with similar situations. 

“It Ends With Us” was a great novel that shattered my heart and put it back together by the end. I’m happy that Colleen Hoover wrote a novel based on her own experiences with domestic violence and that she included resources to get help if you are in an abusive situation. Everyone should read her sequel to called “It Starts With Us.” I know I will.