This Book Hurt to Read, But the Lessons Were Invaluable

If you have a pulse, you need to read this book.

Photo by Beauty Matinez

Recently I have got back into reading, actually around this time last year. It has been fun rediscovering this hobby of mine. That is until I joined BookTok and ended up with more books on my to be read than I could afford to buy at once.

Though I do not mind, if I had not joined Booktok, I would have never discovered the gift that is Colleen Hoover. Many of Hoover’s books circulate Booktok, e.g., November 9 and Ugly Love, are widely discussed. Despite this, her novel, It Ends With Us, takes the cake.

This book has shown up on my for you page more times than I can count. I thought this book was a lighthearted book about a love triangle. So I decided to read it—I wish I knew I was getting myself into, but I did not.

It Ends With Us is a heart-wrenching novel that tackles the painful truths about the devastations of domestic violence.

Synopsis

“Fifteen seconds. That’s all it takes to completely change everything about a person. Fifteen seconds that we’ll never get back.”

This novel follows Lily Bloom, who moves away from her hometown of Maine and starts her own business, a contemporary flower shop. Amid this endeavor, Lily meets Ryle Kincaid, a charming neurosurgeon who questionably avoids relationships at all costs.

The two get to know each other, and it is evident Ryle has developed an apparent soft spot for Lily. As their relationship progresses, she begins to question everything about it as she finds herself walking in the same shoes her mother once did.

It doesn’t help that her first love, Atlas, reappears and is there to witness it. This book will rip you apart and put you back together, though it still hurts. Here are my key takeaways.

Just Keep Swimming

“Lily, Atlas says just keep swimming.”

Lily and Atlas face incredible hardships during their adolescent years. Lily is forced to watch her mother be abused by her father, and Atlas is homeless.

Lily discovers Atlas is sleeping in an abandoned house behind hers. Without her parents'…