Book Review: It Ends with Us by Colleen Hoover

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Listen: for the first half of this book, I was SURE I just “didn’t get” what people loved about Colleen Hoover so much. The writing felt meh. The characters felt flat. It read like a photocopy of a dozen other romance novels I’d already met.

And then, about halfway through, the book turns against your expectations and gets dark and emotionally complex in a way I genuinely didn’t see coming. The spoiler-free version: what looks like a standard romance becomes a story about the messiness of love and what it takes to break cycles — and that’s all I’m telling you.

What I Loved About It Ends with Us by Colleen Hoover

The turn. Did the prose get better in the second half? No. Did the characters get more complex? Yes — and that’s the more important upgrade. This is mainstream fiction that is actually saying something, with an empowering message tucked inside a beach-read package.

And here’s my soapbox moment, because this book earned it: a book doesn’t have to be a venerated New Yorker pick to be emotionally rewarding. You don’t have to read Tolstoy to “truly enjoy great literature.” Something simple can also be powerful. Let’s stop looking down on mainstream books, okay? Hoover deserves the love she gets for this one.

What I Didn’t Love About It Ends with Us

The sentence-level writing stays serviceable rather than beautiful the whole way through, and the first half asks for real patience. (I’ll also say, honestly: I read the sequel afterward and found it skippable fan service. This book stands complete on its own.)

Final Thoughts on It Ends with Us

I came in a skeptic and left impressed. A simple book with real depth and a message that matters, whatever the literary establishment thinks of it.

My final score: 4 out of 5 stars ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Do I recommend this book? 👍 Yes!

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