It Starts With Us by Colleen Hoover

 

"Life to me had always felt like a burden I had to bear. Something heavy and murky that made waking up difficult and falling asleep a little bit scary."

After last week's re-read of It Ends With Us, I was so excited to begin the sequel to Lily and Atlas's love story. I had seen some conflicting opinions on the second book not being as good as the first and whatnot so I wasn't sure what to expect, but a message from Colleen herself was not my first guess! She had written thanks to all her fans and how she hadn't expected to write a sequel to It Ends With Us but as so many had fallen for Lily and her journey, Colleen felt it right to give Lily her happy ending.

This book was indeed different to the first in a number of ways, but not necessarily bad. Read on to find out how.

The Main Plot (Spoilers Ahead!)

We pick up the story at the exact moment we left off; Lily was delivering her little girl, Emmy, to Ryle for his day with her and ran into Atlas on the way. A year and a half after they last spoke, Lily decided in the moment that she was finally in a good enough position to let herself love again.

Atlas is obviously over the moon that Lily has opened contact with him but he's got some problems to deal with in his personal life; a mysterious person with a grudge that's spending their free time at night to rough up Atlas's restaurants, a long-absent and abusive mother trying to get into contact with him and a teenage brother he never knew of turning up out of the blue needing Atlas's help desperately. How he will manage all of this drama and make time and space for Lily in his life he doesn't know, but fans of Atlas know that he will be damned if he will lose Lily to anything or anyone ever again.

As Atlas and Lily begin seeing one another, Lily is juggling Ryle's feelings and temper at her dating someone - let alone a person Ryle blames for the ending of his marriage - while also finding her footing once again with feeling safe around men in general after being so badly abused by the person she loved and, in turn, expected to love her back.

The love is still there for both Lily and Atlas; they just need to navigate the new ground neither of them have experienced before. Being a family even when you're not blood-related, sharing custody with a past abuser you're still nervous around, creating a bond with a long-lost relative while trying to make up for lost time. The only thing our loved-up couple can find stability in is each other, and I was there for it all the way.

The Pros and Cons (More Spoilers Ahead!)

➕ I thoroughly enjoyed the chapters switching between Lily's and Atlas's narration. I got to experience misunderstandings and perspectives from both sides of the same coin and it was quite enlightening since I've never been in any of the situations that the characters in this story find themselves in. Immersing myself in these problems and seeing how they were dealt with felt almost therapeutic; one of the big messages here being that handling conflict doesn't always have to end in fists. That sometimes, you've gotta grow up and play the cards you've been dealt. 

➕ The drama that seeps into the lives of the characters ranged from those that we hear about every day - sharing custody of a young child with an ex husband (albeit a terribly abusive one) - to the far-fetched but certainly not unheard of - finding out you have a little brother who's in his early teens and has spent his childhood thinking you abandoned him. Finding peace with the problems they faced, using understanding and patience as tools, was refreshing; too few books I see these days tackle issues in this way.

➖ I was not a massive fan of how the book ended. I loved that Atlas and Lily were getting married, yes, and I adored that the last we hear from Atlas is his vows to Lily, but I wasn't a huge fan of the vows themselves. I didn't feel they accurately supported his character and what he would choose to say, but this may be only a personal viewpoint and not something shared with other readers (let me know in the comments if you felt the same!). I also felt the wedding was sort of skipped to and also skipped over. I would've enjoyed reading a snippet or two of Lily's feelings on the day or a description of where the venue was or maybe a sunset ending, but perhaps that's just me.

➕ I loved the relationship between Atlas and Theo. This was pure gold throughout the entire book - every time Theo made an appearance and gave Atlas advice on his love life (or other parts of his life) I cracked up. Colleen wrote a sarcastic, witty, patient and humorous teenager - characteristics that I don't think have ever co-existed within a teenager before, nonetheless - I loved his personality and the role he played within this book. Spectacular stuff!

I will be giving Colleen Hoover a strong 5\5!⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

When I sat back after finishing this book and had some reflection time I found that, indeed, this sequel has a very different vibe to the first. I can see why some readers found it jarring perhaps, or maybe felt there wasn't enough drama somehow, because Lily is no longer swimming in treacherous seas. The story itself isn't about living with abuse or surviving it, as in the first book; the narrative has moved on from this and become a story about Lily finding her happy ending in a safe and stable relationship with a fully matured man who is the polar opposite to Ryle, who most of us inclined ladies were swooning over in the first book. Not to mention we also add Atlas's character first-hand view to the mix. Either way, I enjoyed this progressive story and can't thank Colleen Hoover enough for giving her readers the happy ending we were all hoping for Lily and Atlas.

I hope you enjoyed this week's book review! The next book in my TBR list is The Midnight Lock by Jeffery Deaver - it's a part of a series that focuses on a paraplegic forensic investigator. I enjoy in-depth looks into crime-related stories so here's to starting on that today and I'll see you back here next week for my next review!

Let me know if you've read this book before and what you thought of it! Haven't read it yet? See the LinkTree in my Instagram\Facebook bio to order it online in time for the weekend - in the meantime, come join me on Instagram for extra content!

Love and Light,

Melissa x