Colleen Hoover is a #1 New York Time Bestselling Author renowned for emotional reads that produce copious amounts of tears. I haven’t read nearly as many of her books as I would like, and I would like to read them all, but this one sounded too good to resist.
It Ends With Us is hard hitting and an emotional read, it will resonate with anyone who has been touched by a similar situation. I think this is a must read for all women from about 15 years of age. It is insightful and powerful, empowering and enlightening and utterly heartbreaking.
I finished the book through a haze of tears, tears that I was expecting after finishing last night with 20 pages to go and knowing the end was going to hurt. I then continued to the Note from the Author (which must be read AFTER the book for spoilerific reasons) and the tears just kept coming. Let me just say that It Ends With Us is a very personal story to Colleen Hoover and I think it shows.
Funnily enough, as I sit here writing this, I just saw a post go across Colleen Hoover’s Facebook page saying that the best way to read a Colleen Hoover novel is to go in blind, now I can’t write a review that allows you to go in completely blind but I will try to leave as much of the story out as I can.
Lily Bloom hasn’t always had it easy but she worked hard for what she wanted and took her chances with a move from her small hometown in Maine to the bright lights of Boston. Her biggest issue with living in Boston is living in an apartment, which means no garden. She has graduated college and works for the biggest marketing firm in Boston but her dream has always been to be a florist.
An inheritance gives her the means to follow her dream and open a florist, which she wants to be unique. Her choice of career change is brave and bold, and her store has to reflect that… and it does.
This book was emotional and powerful on many levels and I’m struggling with how to convey all of that without actually giving too much away.
There was a perfect quote in the first chapter of the book, that I won’t direct quote because I read an uncorrected proof, but basically it says that there are no bad people, just people who sometimes do bad things. I think this is perfect, and it is something that we all need to remember in our lives. It starts to get tricky when you have to draw a line in the sand about what constitutes sometimes, and what happens when sometimes crosses that line.
People do bad things, it doesn’t make them bad people but where does doing bad things in a relationship turn into a bad relationship. I think this is something that people in relationships often struggle with, and people outside of those relationships don’t understand.
Hoover brings a better understanding to these relationships and paints an empathetic picture of the people in these relationships, and draws on the strength of these women rather than the often misconstrued belief that they are weak.
The heart of this novel is love and romance.
Lily and Ryle meet by chance on a Boston rooftop one night, a night that sees them both escaping a bad day for some fresh air. Their meeting is fraught with the electricity of two souls connecting and then cut short by a fateful phone call summoning Ryle back to work. He walks out of her life after a short while getting to know one another and sharing truths they don’t usually share with other people.
A chance encounter brings them back together months later and the sparks ignite, sparks they both fight because they want very different things but where the heart is concerned the fight is often futile.
All of the change in Lily’s life has her thinking of her childhood, which leads to reading old journals and remembering an old flame. Imagine her surprise when she runs into him at a restaurant one night….
It Ends With Us is powerful and emotional, looking at family and relationships in-depth; exploring the complex layers of relationships and the beliefs that are formed by our childhoods. Well worth the read, definitely worth the tears and one that I will be recommending to everyone!
Thanks to Simon & Schuster 25 of our Beauty and Lace club members will be reading and reviewing It Ends With Us so please be aware there may be spoilers in the comments.
I devour books, vampires and supernatural creatures are my genre of choice but over the past couple of years, I have broadened my horizons considerably. In a nutshell – I love to write! I love interacting with a diverse range of artists to bring you interviews. Perhaps we were perfect before – I LOVE WORDS!