Review of It Ends With Us

Main Characters:

• Lily – A women in her mid 20’s opening her own business
• Ryle – a doctor who sweeps Lily off her feet
• Atlas – Lily’s first love in high school

Book Blurb:

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.

Review:

I don’t want to spoil anything but needless to say it was a complete page turner and it didn’t end the way I expected. The book uses a love triangle as a platform to explore the definition of love, and the dichotomy of emotional abuse and self-sacrifice that is present in every relationship. This single aspect is the reason why I suggest everyone read this book, men and women.

My favorite part of this book was the combination of emotion I felt while reading it. I was enthralled by the love story and then angry and disgusted at the same time. I want my books to bring out strong emotions and I felt the tension and angst when it all bubbled together at the end. It made me cry; that’s why this book got 5 stars.

My other favorite part of the book was the voice of Lily. During one point of the book she really broke down some typical stereotypes of what she experienced, and how it changed her, and her biases. It gave me the opportunity to explore some of those thoughts for myself in a safe space.

It’s a standalone novel, that will pull your heartstrings and then break them. It’s perfect if you’re looking for the not average gushy romance story but something more dynamic and thought provoking. This book won a Goodreads award in 2016, so you know it’s good.