It Ends With Us by Colleen Hoover
Rating: 2.5/5
Warning: This review is full of spoilers.
I take ratings quite seriously, which is why, when I looked at the 4.4 stars given to this book, I allowed myself to become excited. However, I felt my hopes dwindle with each succeeding chapter. Such high praise for Lily Bloom’s life left me confused.
I understand that every book has characters who are different — different in behavior, different in their thoughts. But when characters are neither original nor different, you end up disliking the book.
Our main character, Lily Bloom, is a typical YA girl. Her character lacks depth and everything that happens in her life is full of clichés. She befriends a rich girl (Allysa), who not only decides to help her with her business, but also happens to have an extremely hot brother (Ryle). He also happens to be the handsome surgeon Lily randomly met on a rooftop. And he also happens to be a brooding rich guy who hates commitment.
In the first half of the book, Lily and Allysa continue to squeal, hug and share cringe-worthy experiences. They come up with an idea, they squeal. Lily decides to marry Ryle, they hug. Those chapters were extremely difficult to read — when has the sexy, mysterious boy not given up his single life for a sweet and innocent girl.
I was equally annoyed with the I-can’t-help-but-notice-how-cute-he-is scenes and I-can-feel-his-voice-in-all-of-my-body-parts-one-by-one feelings.
In the second half of the book, Lily finds out that Ryle isn’t the perfect guy after all (which truly wasn’t shocking). It seemed to me that Colleen wrote a story on domestic abuse, and then filled the gaps with a childish love story.
Don’t get me wrong, I admire Colleen for dealing sensibly with a sensitive topic which, in turn, makes the book bearable. The question domestic abuse victims constantly hear is “why don’t you leave your partner?” And Hoover, through Lily’s indecision and reluctant realization, shows us that it is not as simple as it seems. We see that Lily eventually steps up, allows Ryle to become a part of their baby’s life, and leaves him and her past behind.
This is the only part that I liked. A mature decision made by our protagonist who failed to show signs of rationality earlier in the book.
But let me end this review on a lighter note: I like to think that in an alternate world, Hoover changed her characters and improved their storylines, and everyone lived happily ever after.
What did you think of the book? Which character did you like/hate the most? Share your thoughts in the comments section below!
Habiba Tahir 