Book Review // It Ends With Us

Rating: 4.5/5

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.

As questions about her new relationship overwhelm her, so do thoughts of Atlas Corrigan—her first love and a link to the past she left behind. He was her kindred spirit, her protector. When Atlas suddenly reappears, everything Lily has built with Ryle is threatened." -Amazon.com

What I thought about it:

So many layers to this book! I didn’t know the summary before picking up, so I was very caught off guard at the story. I don’t want to say too much without giving the plot away. But I’ll be honest with you, the first 100 pages were not my favorite. I hate Ryle, and couldn’t stand his relationship with Lily. He was selfish and disrespectful and I just wanted to shake Lily and say, he’s not good enough for you!! But as the novel progressed, everything started to make sense, and the loose ends were tying up nicely. I grew to love Lily’s relationship with her mother and how close they became after the death of her father (not a spoiler). Abuse is not an easy subject to talk about let alone write about. Thankfully, it is something I personally know nothing about, but Hoover writes so delicately. The epilogue was so tender and bittersweet. And the authors note at the end gives you insight into why she thought it was necessary to shed light on such a difficult subject.