“It ends with us.” A line that seemingly holds no significance. Yet, if you’ve read the book or watched the film with the same title by Colleen Hoover, it means so much more.
“It Ends with Us” is one of the most controversial and hated books on BookTok (a book community on TikTok); however, if you are online and search the book’s title, you will also see that it is one of the most loved books in the community. For many, “It Ends with Us” is a heart-wrenching story that deals with heavy topics and true love. For others, it is an abomination that incorrectly depicts domestic violence. As I said… controversial.
As a BookTok girly myself, I’m not new to hearing about this book. It has been out since 2016 and almost everyone and their mother has read it. Personally, I had never picked it up; however, when I heard they were producing a movie based on the novel starring Blake Lively as Lily Bloom, I knew I finally had to see what the fuss was about.
So, I picked the book off of my shelf and read it. Here are my honest thoughts (warning: they are all over the place):
I laughed, cringed, and wanted to throw the book across the room more times than I will admit, but, overall, I rated the book two and a half out of five stars.
I wouldn’t say that I disliked the entire book, but I will say that the writing, unbalanced pacing, and some of the weird plot points made me dislike the book so much that I had difficulty connecting and caring for the characters.
Hoover’s writing and pacing simply weren’t for me. I understand that the book was written and published at an entirely different time during the book community, meaning that a lot of things that people liked in 2016, I may not like today.
However, I also did not like Ryle at all. Towards the very start, he was not a good man to Lily, coercing her to get physical and using his trauma to excuse his anger issues. Even after all of that, Lily still left off on good terms with him, which I don’t think he deserved.
I will say that I enjoyed how Lily and Atlas’ past was depicted through her old journals. Plus, I enjoyed quite a few of the story’s side characters (Alyssa, in particular, was the best friend Lily could’ve asked for). In addition, I admit that the story was, at its core, very heart-wrenching and, if it was simply written a bit differently, I would have loved it a lot more.
I am a tough rater, so take my opinion with a grain of salt. That being said, the movie was also very interesting. After watching it, I was pleasantly surprised; I actually liked it more than the book.
I rarely say that film adaptations are better than their original written form, but this is one of those rare cases. Released on Aug. 9, 2024, I have to say that this film was genuinely one of the best adaptations of a book I’ve ever seen.
The filmmakers kept all of the best quotes, took out unnecessary bits, and altered the ending so Ryle, played by Justin Baldoni, was left out. Even on its own, not comparing it to the novel, the movie was very well done.
One of my friends and fellow Canyon students, Tamara Quintanilla, also agreed with this statement. When I asked her thoughts on the movie, she commented, “As someone who has never read the book… I went into the theaters completely blind, and it was probably the best decision I have ever made. The movie itself was actually beautifully directed and really revealed the very bipolar relationship between a lover who is experiencing domestic abuse.”
I truly found it interesting how all the movie needed was to alter a few parts to make it liked by so many. Even though “It Ends with Us” by Colleen Hoover is extremely controversial, its movie adaptation was entertaining and better than many of us expected.
