Reading was not very popular among most teenagers until Colleen Hoover’s It Ends With Us intrigued many young adults and got them hooked on reading again. The story soon became popular after appearing and starting as a cute flowery romance novel, but it soon became a story about surviving domestic abuse, becoming a strong lesson for everyone. The story revolves around Lily Bloom, a young woman who just recently opened a flower shop.
Lily soon meets an attractive neurosurgeon, Ryle. They begin a relationship that seems perfect. They soon after elope to Las Vegas to get married. There is one problem Lily keeps trying to ignore: the little “ accidents” that keep occurring between her and Ryle. Similar to any couple, Lily and Ryle have had arguments. However, they always end up with Lily getting physically hurt. She continues to convince herself that they are accidents. However, she soon discovers that she is pregnant. The day she gives birth to her newborn girl, she asks Ryle for a divorce. Colleen Hoover writes Lily’s thoughts as if she is going to forgive Ryle for the sake of their daughter, but she then says the opposite. She is leaving Ryle for the sake of her daughter. Lily then connects with her childhood friend and lover, Atlas.
This story of surviving domestic abuse has become so popular that the It Ends With Us movie was just recently released, sparking even more popularity. The book-to-screen adaptation stars Blake Lively as Lily Bloom, Justin Baldoni as Ryle Kincaid, and Brandon Sklenar as Atlas Corrigan. Justin Baldoni is also the director of the movie. Fans believe he did a phenomenal job promoting the movie the right way—as a story of surviving domestic abuse. He would openly talk about the issue and do his best to relay the message that survivors are not alone. Blake Lively, on the other hand, promoted the movie as a fun, girly, floral, romance movie. Fans of the movie did not approve of Lively’s commentary about the movie, spreading criticism on social media.
Critics also noted that the clothing worn for the movie did not match the vibe of the one in the book. Many blame Lively for this since she revealed in an interview that she wore her clothes in the movie, ignoring the fashion style of Lily in the book. Anytime a reporter asked her to speak about domestic abuse, she would almost entirely avoid the question and change the subject to promote either her new hair care line Blake Brown, or her husband’s, Ryan Renolds, new movie Deadpool and Wolverine.
Although the movie did a fantastic job of teaching young women a lesson on mental, physical, and verbal abuse, the movie left out many crucial parts of the book that were important in the storyline. For example, when Lily was a child, and she and Atlas were in a relationship, he gave her something to remember them by: a magnet that read “Better in Boston.” This is the reason Lily moved to Boston to open her flower shop. This adorable part of the book was removed from the movie. In the book, Atlas opens his restaurant which he names in honor of Lily, BIBS, referring to the magnate, “Better in Boston.” In the movie, Atlas’s restaurant had an entirely different name. The name Root’s was used for the name of Atlas’ restaurant.
Another crucial part of the book is Lily’s obsession with Elen DeGeneres. When Lily was young, she kept a journal of letters she would address to Ellen about her current situation. She would write about her father, mother, school, and Atlas. This is crucial because this is how Ryle discovers Lily’s past relationship with Atlas, and what Atlas’ restaurant, BIBS, meant. Also, Lily and Atlas’s favorite movie to watch together was Finding Nemo. They loved the character Dory and her famous saying: “Just keep swimming.” This leads to Lily’s daughter’s middle name being Dory. The list goes on, and even though movies can’t include every detail in the book because of timing, missed key moments from the book left fans feeling that the movie was incomplete.
The movie overall did a great job teaching the lesson about courage and the strength it takes to break free from something you love, even though it hurts. Colleen Hoover wrote a sequel to It Ends With Us, called It Starts With Us, which follows the reconnection of Lily and Atlas. It follows the difficult time Lily had with continuing her relationship with Ryle for the sake of her daughter. Hoover’s It Ends With Us will forever be a loved novel. A huge part of the remembrance of the book will of course be in the movie. Fans believe the movie did not do the book justice with the appearance of the characters, especially Lily, the wardrobe, and crucial parts left out. Many fans target Blake Lively for the movie not living up to expectations. Many feel she is at fault for the promotion of the movie being abused, the wardrobe, and the appearance of her character. According to Lively fans should, “Grab [their] friends, wear [their] florals, and head out to see it!”
