It Ends With Us

by Colleen Hoover

[Leah]

It Ends With Us is one of those books you think about long after you've finished reading. One of those books that you think of months later, remembering bits of it, picking up on little pieces you missed before, and while I never thought Colleen could top Confess, it would appear I was wrong, really, really wrong. I've spent a lot of 2016 reading Colleen Hoover's fantastic books, but this one hit me on all kinds of levels. People have been raving about this book, and I can absolutely see why, it's such an important read and it seems a lot more adult than Colleen's other books.

It Ends With Us is a personal novel to Colleen and I think that's why it shines so brightly and why it has such an impact - whenever authors write about something they know about, you can really tell, not that Colleen's (or anyone's) other books are poorer, this one just seems to have poured out of Colleen and straight into my brain. It just hit all the right spots, and Lily had such an interesting story, an interesting history, and she was such a strong, likeable character. This is really one of those books you need to read blind, knowing only the basics, that it involves a girl, two boys (one from her past, one from her present) and take it from there, because that's where you'll get the best ever reading experience, I'm not even kidding.

I honestly got halfway through this book and I had no idea where it was going. I liked that it dove into Lily's past - her story with Atlas was so sweet and touching, all at the same time. And I loved that she wrote to Ellen Degeneres, for no reason at all than because she loved The Ellen Show, and Finding Nemo. Then there was her story with Ryle (pronounced like Kyle, with a R). Right from their first meeting, there was a spark, and even after a six-month break that connection was so strong right from the word go. It seemed like the perfect love story - how this girl who liked telling naked truths turned the guy, adamant he wasn't a relationship-type guy into a relationship-type guy. Throw in owning her own business (which gave me all kinds of feels) and this just seemed like the most perfect book, but it wasn't. And that was the beauty of it. It was perfect despite the fact it wasn't all perfect for Lily, and discovering that and seeing her strength was pretty freaking amazing.

This book is really special, it firmly cements Colleen Hoover on my favourite author list and the fact it surpasses Confess says it all, really, because that book was absolutely, ridiculously amazing, in every way, and It Ends With Us surpassed that. It gave me so many feelings, highs and lows, and it really, really hit me. It spoke to me, and it's rare a book does that. It will, easily, make my list of top ten books of the year, it was that profound. I'm really, really eager for a sequel. Please, Colleen, give us a sequel - or a fun Alyssa-centric spin-off, because Alyssa and Marshall are a story in and of themselves, for sure. It Ends With Us will be remembered by me for the months to come, and I can't wait to re-read it, because it's the kind of book you can and will re-read again and again.