Happy Sunday All,

I hope you’re having a marvellous weekend. I have nothing new to report really as I’ve had yet another very chilled weekend. Watched some movies, read some books and cooked some food. There is probably little else I need to have an enjoyable couple of days.

Book 📖

I don’t think I can even truly call myself a book blogger without having read a @colleenhoover book, so I thought I would break that and initiate myself into the CoHo hype. There was no method to which book I chose to read first, other than It Ends with Us was sat on my physical bookshelf and my best friend and I wanted a buddy read, so it was what I picked up. And oh, what a book. I picked up.

Description 🔖

Lily has come a long way in her life. She started in a small town in Maine and was determined to make a success of herself and move away. And so Lily finds herself in Boston, running her own successful business and content with her life. A chance meeting with Dr Ryle Kincaid sets her on a ropey start to a relationship, but soon makes Lily realise how lucky she is.

Just as Lily and Ryle settle into their love, a blast from Lily’s past comes along and has the potential to change everything. Atlas was Lily’s first love but is linked to a life she left behind. Ryle is her exciting new romance but has an aversion to commitment. Will Lily’s past clash with her present and ruin everything that she has worked hard for?

General Thoughts 🤔

Ok, so I had an idea of what Colleen Hoovers book genre was like, but I wasn’t certain so starting this book was a complete blank sheet for me. I didn’t look too much into her other work and I didn’t read the blurb. After a handful of chapters, I though ah, ok, we’re in for some smut but then it ended up being so much more than that.

I loved this book. The story was weaved together perfectly and had me on an emotional rollercoaster the entire time. There were many gasps, many “awwwws”, many giddy giggles which I guess means, I had many of the feels. I flip flopped constantly about what I thought Lily was going to go, but I think I knew deep down what was right for her and what she was supposed to do.

Characters 👫👭👬

Lily was a great main character. She was likeable, strong minded and vulnerable all at the same time. She had a very clear vision of what she wanted her life to be and mostly what she didn’t want it to be. That doesn’t mean that she didn’t make mistakes along the way which is what I think made her feel so relatable. She most definitely made me think harder about judging people and decisions that they make when it comes to relationships and the people they happen to fall in love with.

I learnt something about myself whilst reading this book and it’s that I think I have an issue with liking fictional characters who aren’t always good people. I don’t like them because they do bad things, I think I like them because I want them to be better and I am rooting hard for them to be able to turn things around. I wholeheartedly thought that Lily made the correct decision for her life, but it didn’t mean that I didn’t feel sad about it.

Writing Style ✍️

After reading this book, I think I can confidently say that I am interested in becoming a CoHo fan. I think I need to read more than one book to fully subscribe, but I’m ready to commit to getting there. I loved her writing and the way that she was able to draw out so much empathy (in different ways) in just one book. She was able to make me feel happy, sad, a bit spicy, angry and lots more. I can definitely see why I see warnings about reading a CoHo book all over bookstagram.

Conclusion & Scoring 🎖

I am very happy that I chose to lose my CoHo ‘V’ plates and I can see why she has such a strong following. I buddy read this book with my best friend, which likely contributed to how much I enjoyed it (the chat post our scheduled chapters were amazing) but it wasn’t just that. I think I would have rated this book just the same if I’d read it alone. Be prepared to go through a wave of different emotions reading this book. I cannot wait for the movie and I’m even more excited for It Starts with Us which is due to published later this year. If you haven’t read a Colleen Hoover book, stop hanging around.

😍😍😍😍😍