Book Summary: It Starts With Us by Colleen Hoover
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 bestselling phenomenon It Ends with Us left off.
Book Review: It Starts With Us by Colleen Hoover
If you’re a fan of contemporary romance novels that really make you feel things, then Clear your schedule because Colleen Hoover’s latest, It Starts With Us, is an emotional hurricane you won’t be able to put down. As the much-anticipated sequel to her smash hit It Ends With Us, this book plunges readers right back into the lives of complicated lovers Lily Bloom and Atlas Corrigan. And let me tell you, their story is an exquisitely turbulent ride.
The Plot
It’s been a few years since we last saw Lily fleeing her abusive marriage in search of a fresh start in Boston with her young daughter Emerson. Just when Lily is finally starting to piece her life together, she has an unexpected and earth-shattering reunion with Atlas Corrigan—her first love and the one that got away. Back in the day, their connection was intense and all-consuming, but life pulled them apart. Now, after crossing paths by pure chance, all those buried feelings come rushing back with mind-blowing force.
Lily and Atlas can’t resist falling into an intoxicating new romance, but their path is strewn with obstacles. Lily is still reeling from the trauma inflicted by her monstrous ex-husband, making it extremely difficult for her to open up and trust a man again. And Atlas has his own closet full of skeletons – suffering through a horrifically troubled childhood that left him emotionally battered. As they inch closer, dark secrets get dragged into the light, testing their bond in devastating ways.
The Main Characters
I have to give Colleen Hoover huge props for crafting such authentic, flawed, and multidimensional lead characters that genuinely feel like real people. Lily is the kind of heroine you can’t help but empathize with and root for every step of the way. She’s been through absolute hell, but her resilience, fierce love for her child, and sheer determination to heal and find happiness again is nothing short of inspiring. Hoover allows Lily to be tough yet vulnerable, confident yet insecure—an undeniably human contradiction.
Then you have Atlas—the kind of leading man that makes you want to simultaneously shake him and pull him into an enormous bear hug. This poor guy has endured a lifetime of hardship that would crush most people’s souls, yet he still fights to unearth his softer side and let love in. Hoover took me on a journey getting inside Atlas’s head, peeling away his layers like an onion until I was utterly invested in his healing and personal growth. Their explosive chemistry was off the charts, but their emotional baggage is heavier than an 18-wheeler.
Writing Style and Themes
If you’ve read Colleen Hoover’s books before, you know she wields words like precision instruments, capable of drawing out massive emotional grenades or moments of profound tenderness with equal skill. Her writing strikes a brilliant balance between sharp wit, intense vulnerability, and deliciously steamy romantic tension that will have you squirming one minute and wiping away tears the next. She’s a true master of her craft.
Hoover touches on so many resonant themes that cut to the core of the human experience in this book. Resilience in the face of unimaginable adversity and abuse. The agonizing quest for self-love and feeling worthy of love. The brutal legacy of childhood trauma and the courage required to finally break those cycles. Themes of forgiveness, redemption, and grabbing hold of second chances also loom large.
But perhaps the most powerful thread that ran through It Starts With Us for me was the emphasis on choice—the choices we make that shape our destiny in profound ways, for better or worse. That concept rang so true as Lily, Atlas, and the ensemble cast made decisions, big and small, that altered their trajectories irrevocably. It’s a potent reminder that we all have the power to author our own lives through the choices we make daily.
What People Are Saying
This book is absolutely slaying it with readers and critics alike. Fans are eating up the deliciously angsty romantic journey while also applauding how deftly Hoover handles Lily’s continued healing from the trauma of domestic abuse. Atlas’s raw vulnerability and quest for inner peace has connected with readers on a deep level too. People are raving about how immensely satisfying the emotional payoff is by the gutting final chapters.
Many reviews also call out Hoover’s brilliant knack for crafting characters and dialogue that crackles with relatability – these folks may be fictional, but they feel like bonafide real people you know and can intimately identify with. There’s just an authenticity about the voices that sucks you in completely.
My Take
Okay, time for my two cents (or probably more like twenty cents knowing how wordy I can get!). I’m endlessly in awe of Hoover’s talent for marrying compulsively readable melodrama with profound emotional depth and insight into the intricate human psyche. It Starts With Us is a masterclass in slowly rip-roaring your heart out before meticulously stitching it back together.
On a personal level, Lily’s struggles with shaking the trauma roots planted by her abusive ex really cut me deeply. Those scenes where she’s battling panic attacks, obsessive thoughts, self-doubt? Painfully, beautifully real. I was there with her.
And Atlas. The more I got inside that man’s head and unearthed his grim backstory, the more I just wanted to give him the biggest embrace and tell him it would all be okay. Hoover perfectly captured that feeling of being so scarred by your roots that you almost sabotage anything good that comes along. His growth danced with Lily’s recovery in such a poetic way.
The steadily building romantic tension between the two leads was magnificently paced too. Those longing looks and charged verbal exchanges had me fanning myself like a Victorian dame. Then once they finally unleashed the floodgates? Hoover struck just the right balance between sizzling heat and grounded emotional intimacy. I was hooked!
I really related to the exploration of choice and authoring your destiny too. The moments where characters like Lily stand at a crossroads and have to decide to stay paralyzed by the past or rewrite their story were so gripping. We all face those critical junctures in life when we can either keep sleepwalking through trauma, or wake up and take the brave step forward. Lily’s path really resonated with me.
Wrapping It Up
At the end of this whirlwind literary journey, I closed It Starts With Us with a sense of fullness and cathartic release. Hoover took me on an intricately woven odyssey through the highest peaks of heart-bursting romance and the deepest valleys of pain and trauma recovery, all while infusing such rich insight into the precarious human condition.
These characters—Lily, Atlas, and the entire ensemble—aren’t static literary constructs, but fully alive, multidimensional people who will take up residence in your heart and mind long after the final page. Hoover’s ability to burrow into the nuances of romantic relationships while also excavating complex human psychologies is a rare gift possessed by few authors.
If you’re craving an exquisitely crafted, emotionally resonant novel that explores the tenacity of the human spirit and the healing balm of hard-earned second chances, look no further. It Starts With Us is a powerhouse addition to the contemporary romance canon—a story that will simultaneously gut you and leave you feeling unexpectedly hopeful about the future. Do yourself a favor and get swept up in this unforgettable tempest of a book. You’ll be different after weathering its storms.
