that this book is widely regarded as the number one young adult book is incredibly worrying. Twilight is classical literature in comparison to this. I have MANY problems with this book. basically everything apart from the ending and at least mentioning abuse as a subject in romance. 1. speaking of the abuse thing. I think it's INCREDIBLY important to talk about this subject. But in this book it felt more like a temporary obstacle to romance than the life altering, partially deathly, horror that it is. of course not every book has to become a thriller just by mentioning abuse but incredible how unreal it fel in this sense. it was like... hollow and "perfect". like the entire rest of the book. and I especially struggle with giving the benefit of the doubt because of the fact that Hoover is actively protecting her son (her son is himself an abuser. Not to the very violent/dangerous extend as far as I'm aware of but he did abuse his girlfriend and Hoover never did anything about it like publically reprimanding/distancing herself from her son. I don't care about an author's private life and I don't know about the situation. but I don't want a novel about abuse from someone who excuses abuse as soon as it's her own son.) 2. Lilly. Blossom. Bloom. It was funny for about five seconds. then it proceeded to turn the whole book into a bad joke. and everything relating to the flowershop was weirddddd. the characters also all have the psychological depth of cardboard. 3. the letters to that Ellen woman. I'm not american. I didn't grow up with that culture or pop knowledge. the entire time I was just like "???". of course I was able to gather that she was some pop star media woman idk but it made the entire thing feel so pretentious and aggressively meaningless. like couldn't the letters have been to her dead grandma? or an imaginary friend? even a plushie or santa clause would have felt more meaningful. the entire book I imagined Lilly mansplaining her past to a female Justin Bieber. and that's the next problem. Show. Don't. Tell. changing the medium of a book can be incredibly creative and refreshing for the readers, it can make the whole Identity of a book (like A Good Girl's Guide To Murder). but that doesn't mean you can just write 50% of the book's plot in a summarised, diary type of retelling in the first person. well I mean you can but don't expect to be called peak literature after that lazy excuse of writing a backstory. everyone can write a diary. 4. the whole Atlas thing felt icky in my opinion. don't get me wrong, I liked Atlas. but are we just going to pretend that she didn't KEEP HIM ALIVE for an extended amount of time, and just gonna move on to the romance part? Like this would presumably create anything from a power imbalance, to an obsession from one side or the other. but not a healthy, equal romance/relationship. I'm not saying that it's shameful or whatever but we can't just pretend that the past never happened. in moments like these I feel especially like the characters don't have a single thought going on in their brain. 5. lastly I just think this entire book is absurd. the writing is a crime against all authors (you and I both know the car scene with the baby. if you don't then don't look it up, I'm jealous of your ability to forget). Everything feels so pretentious and fake like wdym Lilly Blossom Bloom opened a flower shop and her bestie just walked in, wanting to work for free basically? even the abuse parts felt like when people talk about Lolita "yes yes it's horrible!... but look at the aesthetic!". the entire book feels less like a novel or romance or whatever and more like a trashy wattpad fanfiction. I did finish the book in one sitting. mostly because it doesn't have any real content or plot and every time my mind went "???" I just continued reading without thinking about it much (which was all the time). Tiktok overconsumption core. has anyone coined the word BookSlop yet? if not then this would be my first pick alongside most of the other Coleen Hoover books which all have kinda good topics similar to the abuse thing but then just turn it into a kink.

It Ends with Us” by Colleen Hoover is a powerful contemporary romance novel that explores difficult themes like domestic abuse and the complexities of love and relationships. The story follows Lily Bloom, a young woman who has moved to Boston to start her own flower shop. Her life takes a dramatic turn when she meets Ryle Kincaid, a charming neurosurgeon. “It Ends with Us” is also notable for its portrayal of the strength it takes to break the cycle of abuse. Lily’s journey of self-discovery and empowerment is central to the narrative, and her decisions are portrayed with sensitivity and realism.

also die Idee war ja ganz gut, love me über so Themen zu reden statt sie totzuschweigen oder zu privatisieren. ABER, Umsetzung ohjee! Die Charaktere waren flat, der Schreibstil ein disaster (in my humble opinion) & ich hatte trotzdem das Gefühl man will mir ne Romanze erzählen, was ich problematic fand.. Achso und dann waren da noch diese random ass briefe an Ellen DeGeneres hä

es war gut, in 2020, jetzt würde ich es persönlich nicht nochmal lesen

Ich finde die Themen, die hier angesprochen werden sehr sehr wichtig!