You're Not Sorry

It Ends With Us by Colleen Hoover

I really wanted to hate this book. Colleen Hoover is all over the internet. I’ve seen clips on TikTok about her writing and it just looked awful. So I jumped on the band wagon and gave the book a go and I’ll eat my words, this book was good in a way I didn’t expect.

To explain, I thought this was going to be a spicy romance novel. Boy was I wrong. This was a tame, twisted, wild love story. Tame and wild in the same sentence is rather contradictory but its genuinely how I feel about the love triangle this love story untold. The tame being Atlas and Lily and the wild being Ryle and Lily. I hated Ryle from the beginning. He was such an asshole when Lily broke her ankle and she was swooning over him. I was so against this relationship from the start, she barely knows him and she is obsessed with him after having 3 conversations with him over the span of 6 months. Who does that? Lol me, but like I still realize that’s unrealistic and box up those feelings. Lily didn’t do that.

She should’ve recognized the signs earlier of his disrespectful comments. I mean I hated him from the first 25% of the book. How did she not see that? I guess she didn’t have many friends so she lived in her head probably making the situation better than it was. Also why didn’t she have any friends? She didn’t keep any from college or even her friend Devin, but he was acquaintance level because he was never mentioned again.

I think that’s what made me really hate this book is the unrealistic aspects of the characters. Colleen tried to write about an average girl but to me all of her qualities are not average and so calculated to drive the story.

All that being said. I actually ended up loving this book. The ending between Ryle and Lily made me SOB. I have to put the book down for a good cry before reading further. I’m talking like at least 5 times. Colleen could really capture the emotions of Ryle and Lily during the end of Lily’s pregnancy. I genuinely felt like I was in Ryle’s shoes even though I’ve never remotely been in Ryle’s shoes at all. The exact same goes for Lily - completely non relatable in my life but so relatable to read off the page. I felt like I was Lily weighing the options.

As much as I wanted Ryle to own his mistakes and do what Lily’s mom said - If he loves you he will recognize he is the problem and divorce you without leaving the decision to you. I think it was perfect Lily made the decision to leave. At the end of the day, if I was Lily - I wouldn’t have kept the baby. She would be free from ties to him completely and I would be in constant fear the child would inherent Ryle’s temper. I had just finished a book with a similar issue of domestic abuse and a pregnancy where the main character weighed her options and wanted to terminate the pregnancy. Which I feel is an average question women consider if they were to be in this position as Lily.

I will say the best part of this story were the amazing quotes about life. Naked Truths. I 100% agree with Ryle, I would love it if people were more transparent. I’ve learned to live my life as transparent as possible whether I intended to or over shared one day and made it my entire personality.

Honestly, I don’t have much to say about Atlas other than he was a plain guy with no personality or character development. Lily trauma bonded with him as a kid and that leaves a mark but it’s not really something that is a relationship starter. I feel like Lily and Atlas are just not compatible or maybe they are 2 boring people that belong together. Good for them - I hope they can make it work.

So let me say it and then I will start to believe it, my hatred for the book stems from my hatred for Colleen Hoover and not the story or the characters. I throughly enjoyed how captured I was by this story for having a completely different premonition.

At the end of the day Ryle, you’re not sorry. Lily deserves her own start.

Stick with me Moment: Do you ever wish people were more transparent?

Taylor Swift Song Association: You’re Not Sorry

Rating 5/5 Stars