Sometimes the one who loves you is the one who hurts you the most…

I bought this book after found it on Goodreads Choice Awards 2016 as the Best Romance novel. The cover and review of the book impressed me in some way that I decided to purchase it even though the brief summary did not sound interesting enough. And let me tell you, I was wrong. It does deserve the award and more.

The main character is Lily, a mid-twenty woman who studied about marketing but dreams to have her own flower shop.  The impression Lily created for me at the beginning changes little by little, until the last page of the book that I had a complete image of her in my head, who I want to be when I grow up. She coincidentally meets and falls deeply in love with Ryle Kincaid, an ideal boyfriend/ partner that you can ask for. He seems too perfect to be real, for both Lily and me that sometimes I had to agree with Lily that she is so lucky to be his girlfriend. Everything is beautiful until Ryle does something unacceptable to Lily and to any other woman in the world. Then the whole childhood filled with resent of her own father comes back and hits her harder than ever.

Fifteen seconds.

That’s all it takes to completely change everything about a person. 

The story continues with Lily keeps forgiving and making excuses for her boyfriend and later is her husband for the same mistakes he has, at the same time is swayed by her childhood soulmate Atlas.

Two men with so many good characteristics, both love Lily with all their hearts, but Lily knows that she has to choose.  Her decision, in my opinion, is the plot twist of the novel because of not the result itself but the reason lies behind that.

It Ends With Us is more than a romance novel. It reflects many issues in our life such as family relationships, domestic violence and homeless issues. To me, the book is a masterpiece which nourishes my inner and raise my awareness of people and rights I need to stand for. To the author, Colleen Hoover, ” It was the most  grueling  thing I have ever written” since the novel itself means a lot to her and her mother, totally different comparing to previous ones.

It stops here.  With me and you. It ends with us.

Van