It Ends With Us - Colleen Hoover

Summary and Recommendation:

Colleen Hoover's book It Ends with Us follows Lily's emotional journey through complex relationships with her violent husband Ryle and her childhood love Atlas. The narrative delves into the intricacies of Lily's relationships, her internal agony, and her resolve to end the abusive cycle for the sake of her kid. This amazing read allows the reader to see this abusive relationship through the eyes of a woman truly suffering. It permits us to question ourselves in all the times we judged a woman for staying in a violent relationship when understanding the full story. The book also tells the story of Lily’s past and relationship with her first love, giving us a heartwarming love story that acts as the sun in this dark, foggy setting. 

Personal Rating:

4/5 stars

Age Rating:

16+ The book contains some violent and strong scenes as well as curse words which may be triggering for teenagers under this age. The writer includes detailed descriptions of violence such as choking and slapping which can be very disturbing. However, it is important to note that Colleen Hoover (the author) did not specifically target teens as an audience for this book. Still, it contains a lot of teenage appeal and delivers important, positive messages for young adults and teenagers to learn. The book contains some sexual scenes.

For Teachers: 

This book could be an excellent summer read to assign! It has a very engaging story. As mentioned previously, the book carries many positive messages, such as the importance of breaking toxic or unhealthy family cycles, which is extremely hard. The book offers a beacon of hope to those who feel as if they can’t break from their own family cycles and shows how there is truly a light at the end of the tunnel. I believe this book should be assigned to Juniors or Seniors as they will understand the messages better and not be as disturbed by the violence present. I recommend emailing the parents before assigning the book to ensure they are okay with the strong content present.

Similar Books:

These books are all recommended for people who have enjoyed It Ends With Us. They have the similar characteristic of high school sweethearts meeting again as adults and the bittersweet feeling at the end. Me Before You also talks about dealing with personal issues and finding hope (similar to It Ends With Us). Find more in: https://www.tlbranson.com/books-like-it-ends-with-us/ 

Other Books By The Author:

EDUCATIONAL HELP:

SAT words:

Apart from all of these positive points, the book will also help you educationally. The vocabulary and language present will help you not only sophisticate and expand your vocabulary but also contain some difficult words you need to know for the SAT! Therefore, reading this book can increase your score on this standardized test's Reading and Writing section.

Examples Include: 

• Introspective - Contemplative, Reflective

• Aversion - Disgust, Malice

• Prodigious - Phenomenal, Immense

• Disparage - Derogate, Abase

• Obnoxious - Displeasing, Objectionable

• Cognizant - Well-informed, Aware

Learn more at: https://www.gradesaver.com/it-ends-with-us/study-guide/glossary-of-terms

Coordination With Other Classes:

It Ends With Us can correlate with other classes besides the English language which can help you in creating projects, using it for references on essays, etc. in that class. An example of this is Psychology class, which is a class you might take if you are doing the AP or IB curriculum. As mentioned many times the story depicts the complex subject of family patterns, a theme often discussed in psychology, which can give the reader an understanding of how it is and feels to be stuck in one. The book also delves into the harsh and guilting thoughts of someone being abused by their loved one, while creating excuses for them and blaming themselves. Something extremely valuable to learn about that is present in the book is also the manipulation and emotional abuse Lily (the main character) suffers, as well as her internal battle with how she wants to react and how she needs to react.

Learn more at: https://medium.com/@mehreenkhursheed2/7-major-lessons-to-learn-from-it-ends-with-us-by-colleen-hoover-complete-book-summary-45efddcdd70f#:~:text=The%20story%20highlights%20that%20life,make%20bad%20choices%20and%20mistakes.

Amount of Time Needed For The Book:

It Ends With Us is a book that takes approximately 6-7 hours, so if you read 30 minutes every day during summer, it would take two weeks (14 days), assuming it takes a full 7 hours. If a teacher offers this book in class and reads it for 30 minutes per class it would take a little over a month assuming you have the class three times a week, 7 weeks if you have it twice a week. 

About The Author:

(Quick summary about the author from Britannica: https://www.britannica.com/biography/Colleen-Hoover)

Born in Sulphur Springs, Texas, on December 11, 1979, Colleen Hoover is an American novelist who rose to fame in the early 21st century for her wildly popular romance-themed novels with unexpected twists in the story. Hoover self-published many of her novels instead of using more conventional marketing strategies, and they quickly gained popularity on social media, particularly TikTok. Her most famous book: It Ends With Us, was inspired by the story of her mother who suffered abuse from Hoover’s father.

Contact Colleen Hoover:

• Hoover’s Email: colleenhooverbooks@gmail.com

• Colleen Hoover Team: hooverink@outlook.com

• To send Colleen mail, address it to: PO Box 1520 Sulphur Springs, TX 75483 USA

Find More: Colleen Hoover’s Website: https://www.colleenhoover.com/pages/contact-us