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I don't even know where to start with this one. This was my first Colleen Hoover book.
Naked Truth: The idea that it might be my last is very relieving.

Was it worth the hype? Hell no.
It Ends With Us was below average at best. I didn't understand what exactly made this book so mind-blowing, heart-breaking, wonderful, emotional, yadda yadda that literally everyone and their mother rated it 5 stars.

I couldn't for the life of me connect with anyone in this book.

It was so batshit crazy at some points that I wish I had it in me to punch it and then throw it into a dumpster fire. But not everyone can be an abuser like Ryle.

The core message was nothing but the absolute truth. Breaking the cycle of abuse is hard as fuck and requires you to sacrifice so much of yourself in the process. Not many people who stand on the outside looking in understand that it's hard for the abused to not return to their abuser. I recently read that on average, it takes the abused about 7 tries to finally not go back for good.

But you need good writing and well-fleshed-out characters to get the message across in a way that's interesting and new to a reader. Two things that this book clearly lacked.

I really loathed Lily's character. She had me wincing at every line that came out of her mouth and every decision she took. Her SIL Alyssa was a dumb fuck who couldn't put two and two together until the very end.

Who in their right mind cannot deduce the signs of an abusive relationship when they see a man with bloody bandages around his hand and a woman with bruises on her face? My 8-year-old niece could tell you that. There were numerous instances where Lily got into "accidents" with Ryle, yet nobody was suspicious. How? Are y'all blind?

Colleen was out here distributing *trigger warning* (view spoiler)[mental illness, abuse, homelessness, unwanted pregnancy, rape, suicide, domestic violence and a bunch of other messed up things (hide spoiler)] like it was free real estate. But nothing was elaborated upon. These things were just thrown in the mix, with no real discussions on them.

I couldn't bring myself to care or empathize with the story or the characters. I only liked one quote; the one at the very end about finally reaching the shore. Touched my heart. But that's it.

I hated the wacky names too. Who in their right mind names their kid Lily Blossom Bloom? Or Emerson Dory Kincaid? All parents in this book are secretly trolling their children, I swear.

I also fucking hate when most YA/NA authors think to themselves "Oh let's add an accidental baby in the very last chapter!! That'll surely make this book a thousand times better!!"

Only....not. That's not what happens. Whoopsie babies don't advance the plot in any way. They do nothing for the book. Please don't add whoopsie babies.


Here, have some more disgusting things about this book:

-Ryle knocks on about thirty doors to find Lily's apartment, after which he begs her for sex. And they say romance is dead.

-Lily is turned on by a surgeon's scrubs. I'm a very nonjudgmental person but is Lily aware of how unhygienic it is to have sex with a guy who's wearing the same scrubs he wore in surgery? Just...disgusting.

-Lily was a minor when she lost her virginity to Atlas, who was an adult at the time. In no universe is that okay. Don't excuse it by saying "B-b-but they had only x years of gap between them."

-Lily first meets Atlas on a rooftop where he is kicking the shit out of some plastic chairs. Then he proceeds to flirt with lily, she turns him down, and he doesn't get the hint. He continues to be a creep and somehow this is the epitome of romance for lily.

-She’s so much prettier than Marshall and Allysa’s baby.�

"I know exactly what he means, though. Rylee is a gorgeous baby, but no one will ever hold a candle to our own daughter."

How fucked up and superficial do you have to be to compare who's more "beautiful"- your sister's newborn baby or your own.
Like, they are newborns for fuck's sake. Every baby is beautiful, you jackasses.



No character in this book was likeable but if I had to kill them all and spare one, it'd be Atlas. This is so sad in itself because Atlas's only personality traits were being 'the homeless guy' and the perfect perfection that ever perfected. Not to mention, his character was very fucking bland.

I keep coming back to this review because no book has ever enraged me more. Part of what plays into my anger is the staggering number of people who recommend this book as if their life depends on it, people who've rated it 5 stars, and people who incessantly post about it on social media. The same shitty quotes which really aren't that deep and life-changing keep circulating everywhere.

It makes me feel so strange and frustrated at the lack of active thinking on the part of readers.
I feel like the subreddit banner for 'I'm 14 and this is deep' should be the cover of this book.


At the end of the day:
My Disappointment is Immeasurable and My Day is Ruined.