It Ends With Us, a book review
Hello, fellow readers! I know that you have already seen a couple of blog posts from me now that summer has commenced, but I have yet to take the time to welcome you back. Thank you for sticking around A Madison Classic through the barren days of winter - between my sorority, my fraternity, my schoolwork, and hanging out with friends, finding time to read was a true challenge. While I am disappointed in myself for failing to make time for one of my favorite hobbies, I am now in the midst of ample free time , which I have already capitalized on by picking up six new books from the library. Even the word 'hyped' does not begin to explain my excitement for my summer TBR ('to be read' for those of you who are unfamiliar with the term), so trust me, you will want to subscribe and stick around. There are some great reviews coming your way!
Honestly, it should come as a surprise to no one, especially those of you who have followed my blog for a while now, that my first reading selection of summer twenty-eighteen was a Colleen Hoover novel. Whenever I am in the mood for a book to devour in a day and reignite my love of reading, she is the first author I turn to. After discovering how much I love her writing through the book Slammed, I have made it my mission to read all of her work, and It Ends With Us did not let me down in the slightest. If you have never heard of a 'CoHo' book, I describe her novels as Sarah Dessen books for an older generation. Technically, Colleen writes in the New Adult genre, which has a target segment somewhere between teenagers and full-blown adults, but I believe any adult-age reader will enjoy her work. Basically, think drama, love, and lust, filled with many, many plot-twists, aka a perfect recipe in my opinion. I legitimately read all of her books in one day because I cannot put them down, so if you're ever in a reading slump, PLEASE go pick up one up.
For those of you who are now intrigued, let's begin the review!
It Ends With Us, by Colleen Hoover (pictured above)
Rating: 10/10
Favorite Quote: "There is no such thing as bad people. We're all just people who sometimes do bad things."
Synopsis: Lily Bloom is a young woman living in Boston, where she has just pursued her life-long dream of opening her own flower shop. As luck would have it, she also just met the potential man of her dreams, Ryle, a top-notch neurosurgeon blessed with beauty to match his brains and a mysterious personality. He is, however, completely against relationships, so Lily has no idea what she's getting herself into. While trying to figure out Ryle, she runs into Atlas, the only boy she's ever loved, and is sent spinning, confused on how to head into the future while trying to let go of her past.
Review: This book sounds like a typical love triangle scenario, where the female lead is forced to choose between two incredible men, but inevitably chooses the one all the readers are rooting for and lives happily ever after. I promise you, this plot line involves SO MUCH MORE. It is emotional, insightful, and incredibly important for everyone to read. I will say that this book has a high trigger warning for abuse / domestic violence, and I legitimately shed a tear while reading, but it shed light onto a topic I have never read much about before, especially in terms of understanding how hard it can be to leave an abusive relationship.
Beyond a critical life lesson, this book is full of great quotes, a tale of love, and cliffhangers that will keep you reading until every last page has been turned (even if it's 1:26 a.m., not speaking from personal experience or anything...) Needless to say, I loved this book, and I would highly recommend it to every single person.
Final Thoughts: To me, this book showed a depth to Colleen Hoover's writing that I had never seen before. While her books are typically very intriguing, they tend to feel like easy love-story types. In It Ends With Us, I truly learned an important lesson, and I am even more excited to read more of Colleen's work moving forward, as I now know I can gain something out of her novels beyond just a new #relationshipgoals couple. I would like to reiterate again that this book includes a high trigger warning for abuse and domestic violence, but I do believe that it would be a beneficial read for everyone.
With that, I am done with another book review - man, I seriously just loved this book so much. I talked to my mom about the plot for at least a half an hour. There were so many twists and turns that I had to share with someone!!! If you choose to read this selection and feel the same way, don't hesitate to reach out. I'd love to discuss with you!
as always, if you have any good book recommendations, please send them my way. my summer tbr is still growing, + i'm up for suggestions :)
hope you have lots of time to read in the near future!!!
xoxo madison