⭐️.5 I think I may have matured out of reads like this, but the movie looks decent.
⭐️.5 I think I may have matured out of reads like this, but the movie looks decent.
I can‘t. I feel sickened. Bailed at 3/4 of the way through. Lots of triggers here, and shameless manipulation of them for maximum discomfort. Somehow I thought this was going to be a gripping drama, but it‘s a semi raunchy romance with violence against women. Nope. Are all of her books like this?
From what I heard about this, I think my heart is in for a little emotional journey. I‘m about 150 pages in, and I can already start to see some warning signs of Ryle. I‘ve been doing some highlighting since a lot of sentences used are actual life lessons 💐
In my opinion, this was definitely worth the hype. I know it was a little bit predictable at certain points, but I still loved it. The characters were just so well portrayed. I felt so many emotions when I was reading this book and I really do think it will be one that I think about for years after I read it. I think the author unpacked a lot in this book in a very graceful way while also writing the story beautifully.
I never jumped on the binge Colleen wagon, so don‘t mind me just treating her and her books like any other. 🤣
What an emotional toll this takes on your heart. I fell in deep love with all of the characters. I needed to know their stories, how they connected and what shattered them personally. What a bravely bold and beautiful book with some of her natural 🌶️, of course. Raw and real, this book definitely doesn‘t let go of your heart.
I just finished sobbing my way through this book, but I‘m not even sure where to begin. It is tender, heart-wrenching, filled with hope, laughter, and sadness. I don‘t want to give any spoilers, I highly recommend reading the personal note from the author afterward. Highly recommend. It does contain depictions of domestic violence and sympathy for the abuser. The story was engaging with well-developed and nuanced characters.
I was not prepared for the emotional roller coaster Colleen Hoover took me on with this book. I found myself getting angry when Lily was hurt. I found myself feeling happy when Lily and Ryle were doing good. I also found myself feeling proud for breaking the cycle when Lily asked Ryle for a divorce. Such a good read! 5 out of 5! #52bookclub24 (prompt 25: an author everyone has read)
My first book of the year! This is also my first book by Colleen Hoover! I‘ve heard a lot of mixed reviews for this author. Either you love her or hate her. I‘m curious, what is your opinion of Colleen Hoover?
I now understand the hype of this author. 😊 Now I'm in suspense for the sequel.
I look forward to reading her other novels.
It wasn‘t my favorite by her, but a good read
My mother went through it.
I went through it.
I‘ll be damned if I allow my daughter to go through it.
I kiss her on the forehead and make her a promise. "It stops here. With me and you. It ends with us."
He leans toward me and wraps an arm around me. "I would beg her to leave him," he says through his tears. His lips press desperately against my forehead and I can feel some of his tears as they fall onto my cheeks. He moves his mouth to my ear and cradles both of us against him. "I would tell her that she is worth so much more. And I would beg her not to go back, no matter how much he loves her. She's worth so much more."
His shoulders begin to shake, and for the first time since the day I met him, he has tears. Real tears that rush down his cheeks as he holds his daughter tightly against him. I'm crying, too, but I keep going. For her sake.
"What if…" My voice breaks. "What if she came to you and said, 'My husband tried to rape me, Daddy. He held me down while I begged him to stop. But he swears he'll never do it again. What should I do, Daddy?'"
“If Ryle truly loves you, he wouldn't allow you to take him back. He would make the decision to leave you himself so that he knows for a fact he can never hurt you again. That's the kind of love a woman deserves, Lily."
“In the future… if by some miracle you ever find yourself in the position to fall in love again… fall in love with me” Lily and Atlas 🥰
I am late to the game on this one, and finally decided to go for it after all of the hype. It totally lived up to it! I really enjoyed it and plowed through it. Lily is easy to pull for even when sometimes it‘s hard to walk through her justifications.
This book is not safe. Several reviews said that readers felt that there is censored in this book. I researched it and Lilly‘s two boyfriends are very abusive. My friend called this book pornography, so I am abandoning it
I‘ve been mulling over this for awhile. https://www.cnn.com/2023/08/27/entertainment/colleen-hoover-books-controversy-ce...
Fast, easy read. But I don‘t get the hype with this author. 🤷🏼♀️
I thought I loved her husband but my gut turned out to be wrong with the turn of a page. This book definitely had me kicking and punching the air with giddiness
As always it was 5⭐ and as heartbreaking as the 1st time I read it. I hope It Starts With Us is as good as this one!
This entire book is so tragic, I don't understand why it's being pushed as a romance novel. The subject matter is tough (domestic abuse) and I understand dealing with these things isn't black and white. But I feel like the author romanticizes it too much which kind of grossed me out. I will say it was very readable, in the way a bad Lifetime movie is watchable. It's terrible and sad but you're glued to the screen to see what happens anyway.
Trying this out simply because I've been seeing Colleen Hoover everywhere lately. Only 5 chapters in though and I'm just not vibing with it. Is this really what people find romantic now??? Like just badgering women until they reluctantly agree to sleep with you?
I have read a few Colleen Hoover‘s to know this is not really my style. I decided to read this one because the movie will be coming out, it had its good moments and it‘s eye roll moments. I‘m kind of over the toxic/abusive male boyfriend trope, with the ridiculously over the top intimate sex scenes. I give it 2 and a half stars. ⭐️⭐️✨
I didn't love this, but I didn't hate it. I certainly don't get the hype. It wasn't a bad story, I just didn't feel like there was anything very different about it at first. I didn't start to get into it until the very end when things started to change and the cycle started to break. The editor's note at the end where she talks about how a lot of it is based off of her own nother's abusive relationship, it made me respect it a lot more.
Let summer begin!😎🍉🌻 And by summer I mean reading on my deck. 📚🌴I want to make the most of these beautiful summer days by getting out here earlier and more often. It was a rough winter. We set the snowfall record for the whole country I believe. Time to enjoy warm sunny days.
Not really loving the tagged book tho.
I was definitely late to the game with this one!!! Love story, hard “life truths”, redemption…all the feels!!! Should be a must read, especially for young women learning about life and love.
This is a heavy read and I was not anticipating that. I‘m reading some light things next.
#2023Book40
This didn‘t quite live up to the hype for me, mostly because it was too predictable. And, as often happens with these types of books, the side characters were way more interesting than the main characters.
The second half was better for me than the first. Deeper. Less predictable. Important. Author‘s Note was moving.
I could relate to Lily and those rough things that had happened in her past felt believable. There were some characters that were a bit superficial.
This book made me feel! This was like watching at disaster happening: you can't anything to prevent it and you can't stop looking.
I was surprised what I got because I didn't know really much - well, nothing - about this book beforehand. But I was really intrigued to follow how this story would end.
I should be finishing a final paper but I am not. Instead I am being dragged further and further into this book. I was nervous to read Colleen Hoovers books due to all of the hype around her name. Now though I see it. I did not know what I was getting myself into when I opened these pages. The shock and intrigue in this book is keeping me on my toes and I cannot stop turning the pages!
Colleen Hoover nailed that abusive relationship. In my mid-twenties I was in a abusive relationship. I was with him off and on for 2yrs. He did everything I asked to take him back like therapy, it never helped. I eventually had to move to another city. What finally reached me was a book someone gave me: “Men who hate women and the women who love them” like Lily I had to break the family cycle. When I left I said “I love you, but I love me more.”
Trigger warning: domestic violence & abusive relationships. This book has a great love story and a sad story of the difficulties of relationships. It‘s about first loves, strong loves, family, best friends, working hard to achieve your dreams and be successful. And it‘s about breaking the pattern of abuse.
Cycles exist because they are excruciating to break. It takes an astronomical amount of pain and courage to disrupt a familiar pattern. Sometimes it seems easier to just keep running in the same familiar circles, rather than facing the fear of jumping and possibly not landing on your feet.
That‘s what fifteen minutes can do to a person.
It can destroy them.
It can save them.
“Imagine all the people you meet in your life. There are so many. They come in like waves, trickling in and out with the tide. Some waves are much bigger and make more of an impact than others. Sometimes the waves bring with them things from deep in the bottom of the sea and they leave those things tossed onto the shore. Imprints against the grains of sand that prove the waves had once been there, long after the tide recedes.“
“We only get so many years to live it, so we have to do everything we can to make sure those years are as full as they can be. We shouldn‘t waste time on things that might happen someday, or maybe even never.“