Colleen Hoover’s “It Ends With Us” is an powerful and emotional read that dives deep into the complexities of domestic abuse with encapsulating the nuanced decisions one has to make while being in an abusive relationship.
This novel dives into this subject in a really strategic way. When most people pick up this book, they think they are about to read a romance, but in reality they are about to open something much more complicated. You feel almost stupid realizing this while reading because “It Ends With Us” is referring to ending the generational cycle of abuse, saying this cycle ends with me and you.

The subtle advertising strategy is important to the impact of the book. When creating any sort of product, you have to think about your audience. In this case, Hoover did– young women who love to read romances often need to hear Lily’s story and in a way that isn’t going to alert people around them that they are reading about domestic violence. If a woman was in an abusive relationship reading this book, she probably wouldn’t realize it relates to her while picking it up, and it doesn’t alert her abuser. It looks like a cute romance novel.I honestly don’t know if this advertising was intentional or not, but either way, I think it was a part of the genius that is this book.

In addition to its direct impact for survivors, this book seems to also have an impact on people who are watching these relationships from behind the scenes asking the question “Why doesn’t she just leave him”? Hoover carefully explains how it isn’t just that simple in a lot of cases. There could be kids involved, mutual friends, true love, and feeling trapped without any way out. It’s easy to just say, “leave him.” It’s difficult to understand how men make you feel like you should stay and to remember that the victim isn’t the one in the wrong even if they stay with them.

No book is without flaws, however, I think that overall this book is impactful in more ways than one and was definitely worth your time to read.