WARNING! Spoilers Ahead!

It Ends With Us by Colleen Hoover is a book I’ve seen on BookTok for quite a while. When I picked up this book from the shelves of Walmart, I expected it to be another typical romantic book, but after I finished reading it, I was pretty shocked and left thinking about how impactful it was. This book is for mature readers as it shows abusive relationships and other topics that might be triggering for certain readers. 

This book starts with Lily Bloom, a 23-year-old redhead woman who has a dream of opening a flower shop and moving to Boston after the funeral of her abusive father. Her entire life, she’d seen her father hit her mother and even witnessed him trying to rape her. On a rooftop in Boston, on the day of her father’s funeral, Lily meets Ryle, also known as Dr. Ryle Kincaid, a neurosurgeon. His looks have Lily swooning, but unfortunately, he only does one-night stands and does not want to get into a serious or committed relationship. Little does Lily know that that rooftop is not the only place she will see Ryle. Fast forward a couple of months, Lily finally bought a place to open her flower shop when a happy and charismatic woman named Allyssa offered to help her run it and work for her. Lily soon runs into Allyssa’s husband Marshall and her brother which is coincidentally Ryle. Lily and Ryle interact more than intended and eventually end up dating. After Lily and Ryle finally end up dating after being so crazy about each other and flirting for months, Lily is ecstatic. Their relationship is strong until she runs into Atlas, her teenage love, and this is where the novel takes another twist. The reader is kept hooked and wondering about the choices Lily will make. Throughout the novel, Lily’s letters to Ellen DeGeneres are shown. They talk about Atlas, a homeless boy who lived in the abandoned house behind her home. Lily reads these letters whenever free, taking the reader to the past along with her. 

Overall, I rate this book a 9/10 and would recommend anyone who loves romantic books to read it. This was the first Colleen Hoover book I read, and it definitely got me to read her other books. My favourite part about this book would be when Lily opened up her flower shop or when she was put into her mother’s shoes and had to deal with an abusive relationship.