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Home » It Starts With Us Book Review By Colleen Hoover (It Ends With Us Sequel Review)

It Starts With Us Book Review By Colleen Hoover (It Ends With Us Sequel Review)

By Deborah October 20, 2022

⭐⭐

Rating: 2 out of 5.

It Starts With Us, the highly anticipated sequel to the emotionally gripping It Ends With Us, was finally released on October 18th, 2022. The sequel is the narrative of Lilly and Atlas eventually navigating their second chance at love following leaving her ex-husband Ryle and raising their daughter Emerson. It Starts With Us is told through diary entries and letters that Lilly and Atlas exchange, allowing us to see their past through Atla’s eyes.

Despite her divorce, Lilly is still not free of Ryle. It begins with us showcasing the beginning of Lilly’s new journey post-Ryle but with Ryle still present in their life.

Atlas’s life is also changing in addition to running his restaurants, with his past catching up with his future.

It Starts With Us Blurb

Before It Ends with Us, it started with Atlas. Colleen Hoover tells fan favorite Atlas’s side of the story and shares what comes next in this long-anticipated sequel to the “glorious and touching” (USA TODAY) #1 New York Times bestseller It Ends with Us.

Lily and her ex-husband, Ryle, have just settled into a civil co-parenting rhythm when she suddenly bumps into her first love, Atlas, again. After nearly two years separated, she is elated that for once, time is on their side, and she immediately says yes when Atlas asks her on a date.

But her excitement 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 Corrigan is the one man he will hate being in his ex-wife and daughter’s life.

Switching between the perspectives of Lily and Atlas, It Starts with Us picks up right where the epilogue for the “gripping, pulse-pounding” (Sarah Pekkanen, author of Perfect Neighbors) bestselling phenomenon It Ends with Us left off. Revealing 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” (Anna Todd, New York Times bestselling author).

It Starts With Us Review

I must admit that it was a pleasure to return to Lilly and Atla’s story. I really loved the story and I like that it made me smile and sad at the same time just like the first book (It Ends With Us) it is not a sad book.

However, it’ll shelve this on my just because you can doesn’t mean you should pile. 

The plot really didn’t have the impact that It Ends With Us had. I think It Ends With Us ended perfectly well. One of the best book endings I’ve read if I must say, especially after reading the reader’s note at the end. However, adding to this just looks like it is a marketing and business decision rather than a creative one. If you had asked me I’d have said just leave it alone. But it’s not like anyone asked me. 

Nevertheless, it was eye-opening to see the story of the aftermath of abuse and see the horrible scars it leaves physically and emotionally affecting others around them too. It All Starts with Us depicts the aftereffects of abuse in all forms. It demonstrates how realistic, and terrible, and how even a happily ever after is tainted by the anguish and reminder of abuse. 

It Starts With Us starts right where It Ends With Us ends. It’s the story of Lily and Atlas after she ended it with Ryle. Switching between the perspectives of Lily and Atlas, It Starts with Us picks up right where It Ends with Us stops. Revealing more about Atlas’s past and following Lily as she embraces a second chance at true love while navigating a jealous ex-husband.

It was okay and probably well-written. However, it felt a bit rushed and didn’t really go in-depth on some things which I think kind of worked well for the book. 

I don’t like this book better than the first one and I still agree that it wasn’t a book that needed to be written, nevertheless, It was well executed and I’d still recommend it seeing as it is a light read to give lovers of the first book more on Lilly and Atlas’s relationship. It’s not an ending to their story seeing as they still have their whole lives ahead of them Ryle also.

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