“It Starts With Us” by Colleen Hoover (“Ugly Love”) is the long awaited sequel to “It Ends With Us.” The first book came out in 2016 and while Hoover initially did not intend to write a second novel, fans persistently asked until she finally gave in.

“It Ends With Us” follows Lily Bloom, who moves to Boston to start her own flower shop. The book begins the night after her fathers funeral and Lily thinking about what an awful person he was. He was abusive toward her and her mother.

It is at this time when she meets Ryle. They instantly connect, and after a string of coincidental meetings, they begin dating. Lily soon realizes Ryle is not as good as he seems to be when their relationship turns abusive.

During the time of their relationship, Hoover parallels letters Lily had written when she was younger. She wrote about her first love, Atlas, and their relationship throughout high school. Little does she know, Atlas is also living in the same area in Boston as her.

Lily and Ryle’s relationship slowly falls apart and Lily has nowhere to turn. She finally decides to leave Ryle, but not before finding out she is pregnant with his child. 

The beginning of “It Starts With Us” takes place immediately after the ending of “It Ends With Us.” This book shows Lily and Atlas finally having the happy relationship they deserve.

Hoover does an amazing job of showing the struggles of moving on from an abusive relationship. Lily is constantly trying to protect herself from another outburst from Ryle, while also trying to move on with her life. 

Hoover is very open about where she originally got the idea for this book: Her father was abusive toward her mother. This gives Hoover an insight on how abusive relationships work and how they affect people around the abuser.

Since “It Starts With Us” was not something Hoover had initially planned to write, it had the potential to be poorly written. However, that is not the case. Hoover jumps right back into the life of Lily and Atlas as if no time had passed.

Readers finally get to see a glimpse of Atlas’s past and how it unravels some of the mystery surrounding him from the first book. It is clear he never moved on from Lily and has been waiting his whole life for her to come back to him.

“It Starts With Us” is very wholesome, and Hoover includes everything her readers could have wanted. She throws in some surprises for the characters which also give the story a different angle from the first book.

Both “It Ends With Us” and “It Starts With Us” talk about parental and domestic abuse in many forms. Make sure to look up trigger warnings before jumping into this series. Although “It Starts With Us” has a much lighter tone than “It Ends With Us,” there is still a lot of talk about abuse and manipulation.

Image from Colleen Hoover via Goodreads