When it comes to writers who have been the most influential names in the 21st century, there’s no way we can miss out on mentioning Colleen Hoover. Hailed as the queen of romance, the author has crafted several young-adult and new-adult novels that are highly beloved worldwide.
Of those many novels, It Ends with Us is surely one that has a special place in the hearts of readers, which is why the author had been flooded with requests to craft a sequel for it.
Her fans finally gained some joy when she announced that the sequel would come in the form of It Starts with Us. Released in October 2022, about 800,000 copies of the novel were sold on the release day alone, including the first-day sales and preorders.
As per Publishers Weekly, it was the third bestselling novel of 2022 and was also named the Book of the Year by WH Smith in 2022.
Being a sequel to It Ends with Us, the novel picks up right where the first book left off, immersing the readers once again into the world of Lily and Atlas.
If you’re looking for a book review on It Starts with Us, then we’re here to provide you precisely that, along with a fascinating discussion of this long-awaited story.
| Title | It Starts With Us |
|---|---|
| Published Year | 2020 |
| Author | Colleen Hoover |
| Genre | Contemporary Romance, New Adult Fiction |
| Setting | Present-day small town in Texas, USA |
| Protagonist | Lily Bloom |
| Antagonist | Ryle Kincaid |
| Plot Summary | Lily, a young woman with a traumatic past, falls in love with Ryle, a successful neurosurgeon. Their relationship is tested as dark secrets and patterns of abuse emerge. Lily must confront her own fears and make difficult choices to break the cycle of violence. |
| Themes | Love, forgiveness, domestic abuse, personal growth, breaking cycles, family dynamics |
| Major Characters | Lily Bloom, Ryle Kincaid, Atlas Corrigan, Alyssa Kincaid, Karen Bloom |
| Literary Significance | It Starts With Us" delves into sensitive topics with emotional depth, portraying the consequences of abuse and the power of personal choices. It explores complex relationships and themes of healing, making it a significant work in the contemporary romance genre. |
Table of Contents
Summary of It Starts With Us
It Starts with Us begins after the events of It Ends with Us.
The Plot of The Novel
After Lily divorces Ryle and gives birth to her daughter, Emerson, she becomes busy managing her flower shop, taking care of her baby, and attempting to move on from her past.
After she runs into Atlas again one day, we get to know of her reluctance to initiate a relationship with him and rekindle their romance. It’s because she’s a single parent and is unsure of how that dynamic will work with Atlas, and she’s also afraid of Ryle’s anger issues possibly ruining things for her.
Despite these fears, Lily and Atlas begin dating, and everything progresses in a steady manner. Atlas also meets his mother, Sutton, after years and learns that he has a brother named Josh.
The Climax of The Novel
Atlas is a chef who owns two restaurants and has been facing vandalism at his businesses. It’s later revealed that it’s Josh who is behind this act. Atlas then rescues Josh from their abusive mother and gains custody of the kid.
Even though Ryle intervenes every now and then with his violent and unpleasant tendencies, the relationship between Atlas and Lily remains strong, and the two also move in together. Lily also receives ample support from her mother and Allysa, Ryle’s sister, regarding her equation with Atlas.
In the end of the novel, the lovebirds get married and finally begin their life in a fresh way.
It Starts With Us Book Review
The minute someone begins reading It Starts with Us; they are immediately re-immersed into the lives of the characters they came to love in the first book. Colleen Hoover ensures to give them all well-defined character arcs.
Lily transforms from a young girl needing closure regarding her past to a strong woman with firm principles who is able to stand up for herself and finally to a competent and loving mother. It’s interesting to see how her bond with her own mother grows in the process.
Atlas truly emerges as the most exquisite embodiment of the saying ‘men written by women.’ He’s thoughtful, caring, compassionate, progressive, and overall, the most wonderful male fictional character one can ever come across.
Lily and Atlas’ love will indeed go down in bookish history as eternal. Hoover gives their relationship ample space to nurture, bloom, and flourish.
No matter how rough the situations get, she makes sure never to show their love as toxic, thereby proving to be the opposite of what Lily’s relationship was like with Ryle.
Even though no jaw-dropping plot twists take place in the novel, the pacing is still commendable. While the undercurrent of dark themes such as depression, abuse, and PTSD are still present, Hoover deals with them all delicately and adeptly, ultimately giving us a sequel that’s both endearing and enthralling.
Characters In The Novel “It Starts With Us”
Hoover has created plenty of intriguing characters in It Starts with Us, reminding the readers of why they got affected by them in the first novel. A couple of the characters we meet in this story include:
1. Lily Bloom
Lily is a single mother who recently divorced her abusive ex-husband. The novel focuses on her relationship with Atlas and how it nurtures their respective lives.
2. Atlas Corrigan
Atlas is Lily’s long-lost love. He deals with family issues of his own while attempting to build a life with Lily.
3. Ryle Kincaid
Ryle is Lily’s ex-husband. He is abusive and has major anger issues, which is why Lily left him quite soon after they got married.
4. Josh
Josh is Atlas’ brother, whom he discovers about much later. He then gets custody of Josh and raises him almost like a parental figure.
5. Theo
Theo is the son of Atlas’ colleague. Even though he’s a kid, he acts as Atlas’ therapist and later becomes Josh’s friend too.
6. Allysa
Allysa is Ryle’s sister. Despite everything that happened between Lily and Ryle, Allysa constantly supports Lily and is a positive presence in her life.
7. Jenny Bloom
Jenny is Lily’s mother. She is a doting grandmother to Emerson, Lily’s daughter.
8. Sutton
Sutton is Atlas and Josh’s mother. She was terrible towards Atlas during his childhood days and is also abusive toward Josh.
Quotes
In true Colleen Hoover fashion, It Starts with Us is filled with memorable quotes that stay with you long after you’re done turning the pages. Some of those quotes are as follows:
“Maybe the idea of love ending being a negative thing is simply a matter of perspective. Because to me, the idea that a love came to an end means that, at some point, there was love that existed. And there was a time in my life, before you, when I was completely untouched by it.”
“I prefer honesty over loyalty any day, because with honesty comes loyalty.”
“Sometimes people think if they love a broken person enough, they can be what finally repairs them, but the problem with that is the other person just ends up broken, too.”
“My loyalty is to the people who bring positivity into my life. My loyalty is to the people who want to build me up and see me happy. Those are the people I’m going to make decisions about my life for.”
“If it takes a million kisses for her not to think about the scars that surround her heart tattoo, then I’ll kiss her there a million and one times.”
“We don’t focus too much on what isn’t working out in our lives. We focus on what is, and there’s a lot to be grateful for.”
Conclusion
Rarely does it happen that a sequel is as good as its predecessor, but since Hoover is a master of her craft, she managed to debunk this particular myth. It Starts with Us is the perfect homage to the story that readers across the globe fell in love with years ago.
Once you’re done reading the book, it almost feels as if Lily and Atlas’ love story has come full circle, letting them become the same people who had fallen madly for each other as kids. They’re surely one of the fictional couples everybody would root for.
The novel also shows just how much Hoover has grown and matured as a writer. It has a clear distinction from her other stories and is yet just as entertaining and satisfying. If a wholesome love story is what you’re looking for, then this novel will be the perfect pick for you.
