Lily?” he whispers, looking at me sincerely. “You just might be the best thing that’s ever happened to me.”Aside from the three main characters in the story, Lily’s mom played a prominent part. Their relationship played an even bigger part. Ryle’s sister and Lily’s best friend Alyssa was one of my favorite characters in this book. When things got hard she was there. One line she said in the book, to Lily just solidified the type of woman she was. Coleen always writes that one side character that you love so hard in her stories, and Alyssa was that character for me. I can’t not mention Ellen, because, well, it’s Ellen. That part was brilliant. It made me smile every time Ellen was mentioned. Rather than trying to sugarcoat my thoughts, I'm just going to be completely honest. I was 100 percent team Ryle from the very first time we met him. Just like Lily, I fell in love with every word and every gesture that rolled off of his body. I. WAS. HOOKED. It also didn't help that I kept fantasizing Doctor Mike as Ryle Kincaid. *heart eyes emoji* I loved his ambition. His personality. His confidence. To be honest, I think I might've loved Ryle even more than Lily did but that's another story for another day. That more than likely explains why I took the second half of this book like a blow to the gut. I’m not going to talk about the actual story at all, but I will speak a bit about the characters. Lily. Speaking of strength, Lily may be the strongest heroine that I’ve read about. Your strength is really tested when you are put in a hard situation where your choices are impossible. I loved Lily so much. I was proud of Lily and the choices she made. I want to be Lily when I grow up.

Lily's story is one that I never wanted to stop reading. If I know that I'm going to need to read a book in multiple sittings (which was the case with this book), I usually try to find a good place to stop. One in which, nothing major is happening and nobody is facing some drastic/perilous moment. Well you see the problem with this book is the fact that there is literally NO. GOOD. STOPPING. POINT! None! There was never a part where I felt safe in letting this book sit overnight because I knew that the story and the what if's would play endlessly in my mind. So I stayed up and read it all in one sitting because I simply couldn't stop. Lily was someone that I connected to right from the get go. I knew as soon as the book started that I would like her, and that never once stopped while I was reading. However, I didn't realize how much her character would affect me while I was reading. As I said before, after I was finished reading, I couldn't have been prouder of her decisions. The strength she had throughout the story to go through what she did, but also her resolve and conviction just made me constantly cheer her on. Lily is truly one of the most admirable characters that I have ever had the pleasure of reading about, and that admiration goes extraordinarily deep. Just because someone hurts you doesn't mean you can simply stop loving them. It's not a person's actions that hurt the most. It's the love. If there was no love attached to the action, the pain would be a little easier to bear.” Sometimes, I read a book and it’s so beautiful, influential and emotional I will cry just thinking about the characters and their story. Not in a bad way necessarily, I just get that moved and that emotional while thinking about it. That is this book. Trying to find the words for this review is bringing me to tears. It’s hard to explain the story completely spoiler free, but this isn’t a ‘sad’ book. It’s a strength book. Because dealing with the issues in this story took so much strength. Unfortunately, I was too far gone and too far in love with the idea of Ryle and Lily to make room for Atlas and because of that, I'm not sure if I'll ever be fully satisfied with that ending. I was happy that Lily was no longer a victim of domestic abuse. I'm glad that after all that happened between them, Lily and Ryle parted on good terms. I'll forever be heartbroken over the idea of what could've been. And I feel indifferent to Lily and Atlas. Sorry not sorry, Atlas. That basically sums up all my feelings in a nutshell. I mean, aside from these three things, everything about this novel was basically good - the writing is extremely clean and easy-to-read, there are some really really funny moments, the romance that does end up occurring is genuinely sweet, and it's overall a win - but on a personal level? I am destroyed. This book is not just good, this book is Fantastic. and that's my opinion. goodnight.

Selected

HOLY WOW! It Ends With Us is one of the most powerful books of 2016 and one of the most raw, honest, inspiring, and profoundly beautiful stories I've ever read. It wasn’t anything like what I expected, but it delivered so much more than I ever hoped for. This is the kind of book that I want to give to every woman and just be like… READ THIS BOOK. NOW. Come to think of it, all the men should read it too. EVERYONE should read this book. Absolutely everyone. It's a story of unshakable love and finding the strength to make the right choice in the hardest situation. I honestly don't think I've ever been prouder of a heroine. I've loved Colleen Hoover's books for a long time because she always writes unique stories... and this one left a lasting mark on my heart. It is a MUST-READ!! On Friday I had a hysterectomy. It wasn't the worst day of my life, but it certainly wasn't the best. One chapter of my life--quite possibly the best chapter--ended. The surgery itself took twenty minutes. Twenty minutes. Can you believe that? Twenty minutes to take out the uterus that carried my three beautiful babies for a total of twenty eight months. Twenty minutes to change my life. Don't feel bad for me, that's not what I want. The offending organ had to come out, I knew this. But it didn't make it any easier. It didn't make the finality of the situation any easier. In all honesty, for a couple of minutes I didn't just feel like a chapter was ending, more like an entire flipping book. Maybe my life isn't made up of chapters, maybe it's part of a duet, or a trilogy? Either way, part of my story was over. tw: graphic domestic violence, graphic attempted rape, suicide, depression, alcohol abuse, depression My copy of this book is literally filled with highlighted quotes in every single chapter but I made a conscious decision not to add any to this review because I really truly do not want to give anything away about the story. Just trust me and jump into this story blind. I promise that it is a reading experience you don't want to miss. I cried for all of the Lily's in the world, and the Ryle's too. I cried for the Atlas'. And I cried for the Kirby's (that's my name. No i'm not named after a vacuum, or a cream puff)

Over a matter of several hours, I slowly woke up from surgery and at one point I remember sitting there and just staring at the wall paper in my hospital room. It Ends With Us was beautifully complicated. It was hot and cold. Up and down. Good and bad. Beautiful and ugly... I'm still trying to figure out how I really feel about it all because I'm genuinely torn on how I want to perceive this storyline. I loved it but in all honesty, I really do think I hate it as well. Not the "I-hate-you-Colleen-Hoover-stop-writing-books-and-find-a-different-career" type of hate but rather "I-hate-you-Colleen-Hoover-for-making-me-hate-everything-that-I-came-to-love" kind of hate because it pretty much summarizes all my thoughts and feelings about It Ends With Us in one sentence.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 where she grew up--she graduated from college, moved to Boston, and started her own business. And when she feels a spark with a gorgeous neurosurgeon named Ryle Kincaid, everything in Lily's life seems too good to be true. I wanted one more baby even though my husband didn't. I wanted one more baby when there are women out there that can't have any at all.