"It Ends with Us" is an incredibly popular romance novel by Colleen Hoover. That novel has done well for 6 years now. The sequel, "It Starts with Us," was released last month, is already breaking all book sales records.
The touching It Ends with Us started with Atlas Corrigan. Colleen Hoover writes about Atlas in It Starts with Us and shares what comes next in this long-anticipated sequel.
The main characters Lily and her ex-husband, Ryle, have just settled into a co-parenting schedule when she suddenly bumps into her first love, Atlas, again.
This takes place two years after the couple separated. She is happy that – as things stand -- time is on her side now, and she immediately says yes when Atlas asks her out.
Her cheer is quickly hampered by the knowledge that, though they are no longer married, Ryle is still very much a part of her life—and Atlas is the one man he will hate being in his ex-wife and daughter’s life.
The book’s highlight is shifting perspectives of Lily and Atlas. It Starts with Us picks up right where It Ends with Us left off.
Embracing a second chance
As we proceed, the sequel reveals more about Atlas’s past and following Lily as she embraces a second chance at true love while navigating a jealous ex-husband. It proves that no one delivers an emotional read like Colleen Hoover.
The book has got rave reviews and ever since its publication it has stayed on the bestseller lists. It Ends with Us was the main book that blew up due to its realistic portrayal of domestic abuse and the cycle that can occur if not stopped.
In the new book, we learn how Lily Bloom, the main character, goes on with life. She had grown up in an abusive household where her dad would abuse her mom and her mom never stopped the cycle of it. Later in adulthood, Lily has moved to Boston, Massachusetts, and meets Ryle Kincaid, a handsome doctor.
The book’s USP is how it highlights this journey. We know how happiness doesn’t last long with Ryle abusing Lily when he gets jealous about her first love, Atlas.
With their little girl being born, Lily finally gathers courage -- ‘enough is enough’ -- and decides to ask Ryle for a divorce to break the cycle, leading us to the first title “It Ends with Us.”
That eminently brilliant book ends with Lily and Atlas running into each other about a year and a half after her divorce from Ryle. The sequel It Starts with Us starts from there.
If you are into ‘unputdownable’ winter reads, It Starts with Us is your book.
Ahmad Nazir is a UAE-based freelancer writer
