As a relatively new reader, I wasn’t sure where I should start. I wasn’t sure what I liked, there were so many options and so many books. I decided to look to TikTok or rather “BookTok.” There I saw countless videos recommending “It Ends with Us.” I thought, what’s the worst that could happen? I went over to Target, got the book, and started it as soon as I got home. 

I was immediately interested and wanted to read more. Three chapters in, I was already hoping for a relationship to develop. We follow the seemingly adorable future couple Lily Bloom, a big dreamer and deep thinker and Ryle Kincaid, a charming surgeon with no desire to ever settle down. They met on a rooftop and they both stumbled upon each other in rough places. They’re both emotional and open up to each other about random subjects.

I found myself already crying. It really doesn’t take a lot for that to happen, however something about Hoover’s writing got to me. The first plot twist came out of nowhere, but really shouldn’t have. When I looked back to the first chapter, foreshadowing was evident. I think one of the best qualities in Hoover’s writing is her ability to sneak in foreshadowing. An example of this is when Ryle’s sister, Rose, warned Lily about dating Ryle. Like many other readers I thought, Rose’s warning was just about Ryle not being able to commit to a relationship, that was a huge mistake. 

“Fifteen seconds. That’s all it takes to completely change everything about a person. Fifteen seconds that we’ll never get back,” Hoover wrote to illustrate Lily’s thoughts about the haunting night, when Ryle first hit Lily.

A few days after the incident we were introduced to Atlas Corrigan, Lily’s first love, and a chef. He appears when Lily and Ryle bump into him at his restaurant. Atlas sees the mark on Lily, clearly noticing that Ryle has hit her. He begs for her to break up with him, but she refuses to acknowledge the similarities between her and her mother’s abusive relationships, which is extremely heartbreaking. 

In my opinion, the book was amazing. I experienced so many different emotions and found myself getting upset at characters who aren’t even real. Hoover’s ability to portray the difficulty Lily experiences throughout the book is insane and is what made it so emotional. This book delivers so much more than just a simple story of a love triangle. Instead, it tells a story of a domestic abuse survivor finding her strength to make the right choice in the most complicated situation. I strongly recommend this book if you love romance and strong emotion.