Colleen Hoover’s It Ends with Us is a viral book that helps readers understand why it can be hard to detach from domestic abuse.
On the video sharing app TikTok, there is a niche community of book readers who share their must-reads through the hashtag #BookTok.
It Ends with Us is one of the most discussed and well-loved books on the app with over 248 million views. This is for good reason.
When picking up the book, nowhere does it tell you the deep topics that get dissected by the main character Lily Bloom and her charming love interests.
Upon beginning It Ends with Us, many may think they’re reading another romance novel about a woman falling in love but that is just where the story begins.
Readers get taken back through Bloom’s past: growing up in a toxic household and her relationship with a homeless boy at her high school.
As she breaks away from her painful past, she meets a neurosurgeon named Ryle Kincaid in Boston. From their first witty interactions, readers are hooked.
Hoover does an amazing job of making readers fall in love with him. A handsome, wealthy, romantic and intelligent neurosurgeon, how could one not?
Through evoking these feelings for the male characters early on while slowly being introduced to abusive behaviour that worsens, readers so badly want to focus on their good sides.
At times the good or romantic sides of someone can be so enthralling that it can be easy to turn a blind eye to the abusive moments that get covered up by showers of love or affection.
Hoover has people both cheering for Bloom to stay with the love interest and yelling at her to leave while flipping through the pages.
It speaks wonders to why people in domestic abuse situations stay. When a life is built with someone you love and when the good times can be so good, sometimes the bad gets justified … and it shouldn’t.
It Ends with Us helps readers understand why it’s hard to not only leave domestically abusive relationships but also why it is so important to turn away from them.
Despite the cycles and patterns of abuse, this book shows the strength of women and triumphs over the power imbalance of abusive men.
More than 640 million or about 26 per cent of women globally have faced abuse from their partners, according to the most recent statistics from UN Women.
This is why the topic of domestic abuse is very prevalent to our society and important to be educated about. Reading It Ends with Us can do so by helping break the stigma revolving around domestic abuse survivors.
The 376-page book is an easy read that keeps readers needing to know how the story unfolds.
With an extremely satisfying ending, It Ends with Us proves is worth the read through and through.
When wondering what book to dive into next, with the advice of TikTok, readers are in good hands.
*If you’re experiencing domestic abuse, support can be reached through Assaulted Women’s Hotline at the toll free number (1) 866-863-0511*