vicky's Reviews > It Ends with Us

”I want you so, so bad, and I swear, once you have sex with me, you'll never hear from me again. I promise."

I'm convinced anyone who gives this five stars is not sane. It contains the typical ~I don't do marriage~ love interest, but somehow, he magically wants a committed relationship and kids with our lucky lady after a few interactions. We love being the only exception. It ends with us contains a lot of dark elements such as abuse, toxic relationships, and attempted rape with no trigger warnings. I guess Colleen Hoover thinks that trigger warnings are spoilers. I understand this novel is based on the author's experience, but that doesn't mean it's good, nor am I obligated to like it. There's absolutely no justification for abuse, and why Lily continues to stay is beyond my comprehension. Her first meeting with the love interest, Ryle, has him being aggressive and kicking chairs on the rooftop at night. While any normal woman would instinctively feel fear and leave, she's too distracted by how hot he is and how his biceps are rippling through his extra-small shirt. Like, girl, get a grip. Throwing away your morals just because someone is hot has got to be the stupidest thing ever.

The author added numerous poor book decisions; I'll list some of them here:

1) The main character’s full name is Lily Blossom Bloom, and she runs a florist shop. Do I even need to say more? She’s the reigning champion of cringey book character names.

2) Lily is obsessed with Ellen Degeneres to the point where Ellen becomes the 4th main character of the story. She writes to Ellen in her diary, which is a way for Hoover to dump Lily's background story on us.

3) Ryle knocked on 29 apartment doors simply to find Lily and proceeded to beg on his knees for her to fuck him. That is so embarrasing, especially since he's only met Lily two times at this point.

4) Lily's bedroom light turned on at the exact perfect moment, just as Atlas was about to commit suicide. Wow, what a coincidence. He thought she was an angel beaming in the light. He said, and I quote, "I ~felt~ something." Apparently, that was enough to stop him from wanting to end his life. That's not exactly how mental health works, but okay. Portraying it this way risks downplaying the seriousness of mental health struggles and the ongoing effort required to heal from them.

5) Ryle secretly took a picture of Lily the first time they met, then immediately framed it and hung it on his wall. Was this supposed to be attractive?

6) The classic "I'll bring my gay best friend as my date to make Ryle jealous," only for the gay best friend to never to show up again. I smell a plot device. It's funny how, in a book full of rich, white characters, the one minor character is the stereotypical gay best friend who only exists for few pages.

7) The quote “There's no such thing as bad people, just people who do bad things." Saying this can be damaging because it suggests that harmful actions, like abuse, are just mistakes rather than deliberate choices. It can make it harder to hold people accountable for their actions. It might excuse or downplay serious harm they’ve caused, ultimately protecting those who need to take responsibility for their behavior.

8) Atlas slept with Lily when he was 18. Interestingly, they slept together on the exact day Lily turned 16, which is typically considered the age of consent. I don't understand why she couldn't make them the same age.

9) Lily's daughter is named Emerson, and I don’t understand why she would choose to name her daughter to honor Ryle, her abuser. It’s also confusing that Ryle even has custody of their child after everything that happened.

10) Lily is overly obsessed with Finding Nemo, constantly referencing the "just keep swimming" quote, even naming her daughter's middle name after it. Repeating it so often comes off more as a gimmick than a meaningful message.

11) Hoover has the most unhinged sentences: ”When he was wiping that cow shit on me, it was quite possibly the most turned-on I have ever been." This is even worse than when the main character in Verity got turned on because the love interest touched her driver's license.

12) Worldwide, millions are struggling to find a job, yet Lily hires a wealthy woman to work for free instead of hiring a broke college student. Allysa even says she doesn’t need the money and wants to do it because she’s bored. Ugh, classic rich people problems! What a coincidence—she's also Ryle’s sister! And, of course, Lily’s only friend. Why is Lily’s only friend her abuser's sister? When Allysa finds out that her brother is abusing Lily, her first reaction isn't to tell Lily to leave him or try to comfort her, but to tell her some sob story about his childhood trauma. It feels like an attempt to excuse his behavior rather than address the real issue.

13) Ryle didn’t want Lily to leave until she asked how he would react if their daughter told him her husband had hit her and pushed her down the stairs. That’s when he finally starts to understand the seriousness of his actions. It’s so frustrating how some men only learn to respect women when they imagine their daughters, mothers, or sisters in the same situation.

Despite the many cringe scenes in the book, I understand the valuable and worthwhile message the book tries to convey. It sheds light on how difficult it is to leave someone you love in toxic situations, which are often complex and hard to navigate. It’s so challenging that you make excuses or convince yourself that the truth isn’t what it is. That being said, I still don’t understand why Lily stayed with Ryle after the first incident of assault. I couldn’t see the emotional foundation of their relationship; it mainly seemed to be based on physical attraction, which was evident from their first meeting. Lily claimed she stayed because she loved him too much, but that never felt convincing, especially since the story only told me she loved him without showing me why.

What’s even more puzzling is how Hoover introduces so many heavy topics—homelessness, guilt, infertility, abuse, suicidal thoughts, sexism, gaslighting, gun violence, death of a parent, and self-harm—without diving deeply into them. It almost feels like they were thrown in to make the book more emotional without exploring the complexities of each issue. Some readers use the excuse “mental health is different for everyone” to justify Hoover’s confusing writing choices, but that doesn’t excuse the lack of depth in these themes. The portrayal of mental health could have been much more nuanced and thoughtful rather than simply using these issues to make the plot feel more dramatic.

Furthermore, I was not too fond of the plot and didn't connect with a single character. I don't understand why Ryle didn't get help, especially when he could do things similar to their daughter or another partner. That man better stay the hell away from me, or I will seal him up in a trash bag and hit him to the moon with a baseball bat. In conclusion, I will never touch another Colleen Hoover book.