It Ends with Us, It Starts with Us

Book reviews

18 Oct

Written By Anzhelika Li

“It stops here. With me and you. It ends with us.”

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

1. IT ENDS WITH US by Colleen Hoover

SYNOPSIS

Lily hasn’t always had it easy, but that’s never stopped her from working hard for the life she wants. She’s come a long way from the small town in Maine where she grew up—she graduated from college, moved to Boston, and started her own business. So when she feels a spark with a gorgeous neurosurgeon named Ryle Kincaid, everything in Lily’s life suddenly seems almost too good to be true.

Ryle is assertive, stubborn, maybe even a little arrogant. He’s also sensitive, brilliant, and has a total soft spot for Lily. And the way he looks in scrubs certainly doesn’t hurt. Lily can’t get him out of her head. But Ryle’s complete aversion to relationships is disturbing. Even as Lily finds herself becoming the exception to his “no dating” rule, she can’t help but wonder what made him that way in the first place.

BOOK REVIEW

With this bold and deeply personal novel (voted the best romance of 2016 by Goodreads), Colleen Hoover delivers a heart-wrenching story that breaks exciting new ground for her as a writer. Combining a captivating romance with a cast of all-too-human characters, it’s an unforgettable tale of love that comes at the ultimate price. Alongside with Verity, this book is definitely my personal favorite by the author!

Sometimes it is the one who loves you who hurts you the most.

The story unfolds around Lily and Ryle. The former is smart, determined, and hard-working. The latter is passionate, quite arrogant, and career-driven. And there is also Atlas, who is endlessly compassionate, caring, and loyal (but in my review, he is irrelevant). Now, I’d warn you not to put too much emphasis on the supposed love triangle thing, the book is so much bigger than that. It’s a heart-wrenching love story, but not a conventional one. It’s the one of finding the strength to make the right choice under all the pressure and regret in the hardest situation imaginable (in relation to the loved ones, always).

There is no such thing as bad people. We’re all just people who sometimes do bad things.

Do I think Ryle is a bad person? I honestly cannot tell.

Do I think it was his conscious choice to hurt the one he claimed to love? Maybe not, considering his past.

Do I think it’s an acceptable excuse for his actions? Definitely not!

“Just because someone hurts you doesn’t mean you can simply stop loving them. It’s not a person’s actions that hurt the most. It’s the love. If there was no love attached to the action, the pain would be a little easier to bear.”

The relationship between Lily and Ryle was cute and witty. It was believable and totally relatable. The two were understanding, supportive, and had pure feelings for each other. But despite many warm and cozy moments shared in their time span together, the book demonstrated how a mere fifteen seconds could turn their (and really, anyone else’s) world full of love upside down. Love is indeed important in our life full of all the dread and despair, but it should lift you up, not tear you down. Now, I don’t argue that what Lily and Ryle had was not love. However, I do argue that an obvious abuse in their relationship wasn’t justifiable and forgettable in the name of this love. That being said, I was extremely proud of Lily, and I wish millions of women in a similar situation had the same self-respect, determination, and hope to put a full-stop.

BONUS: There’s going to be a movie adaptation! Super excited!

“All humans make mistakes. What determines a person’s character aren’t the mistakes we make. It’s how we take those mistakes and turn them into lessons rather than excuses.”

PS. I’m extremely thankful for the Note from the Author, Colleen Hoover’s confession about her personal experience. It’s a noble revelation of her intention to help other women who are facing this kind of circumstances every single day, having no escape (not knowing how to get away from the abusers) and suffering in silence. Speaking of her mother’s decision to leave her father, Colleen Hoover states:

She left someone she loved so that her daughters would never think that kind of relationship was okay. She wasn’t rescued by another man, a knight in shining armor. She took the initiative to leave my father on her own.

Also, on a side note:

Physical and Sexual Abuse

Physical abuse occurs when physical force is used against you in a way that injures or endangers you. Physical assault or battering is a crime, whether it occurs inside or outside of a family. It’s important to remember that the police have the power and authority to protect you from a physical attack.

Any situation in which you are forced to participate in unwanted, unsafe, or degrading sexual activity is sexual abuse. Forced sex, even by a spouse or intimate partner with whom you also have consensual sex, is an act of aggression and domestic violence. Furthermore, people whose partners abuse them physically and sexually are at a higher risk of being seriously injured or killed.

It is still domestic abuse if…

The incidents of physical abuse seem minor when compared to those you have read about, seen on television, or heard other people talk about. There isn’t a better or worse form of physical abuse; severe injuries can result from being pushed, for example.
The incidents of physical abuse have only occurred one or two times in the relationship. Studies indicate that if your spouse/partner has injured you once, it’s likely that the person will continue to physically assault you.
The physical assaults stopped when you became passive and gave up your right to express yourself as you desire, to move about freely and see others, and to make decisions. It’s not a victory if you have to give up your rights as a person and a partner in exchange for ending the assault!
Physical violence has not occurred. Many people are emotionally and verbally assaulted. This can be just as frightening and is often more confusing to try to understand.

2. IT STARTS WITH US by Colleen Hoover

SYNOPSIS

Lily and her ex-husband, Ryle, have just settled into a civil coparenting rhythm when she suddenly bumps into her first love, Atlas, again. After nearly two years separated, she is elated that for once, time is on their side, and she immediately says yes when Atlas asks her on a date.

But her excitement is quickly hampered by the knowledge that, though they are no longer married, Ryle is still very much a part of her life—and Atlas Corrigan is the one man he will hate being in his ex-wife and daughter’s life.