‘It Starts With Us'(2022)-An Inspirational Tale of Change: Comprehensive Book Review

With 2022’s most anticipated release, It Starts With Us, the author has finally released a sequel to the story of Lily and Atlas, after being slowed by fan petitions. Nobody could have predicted this six years ago.

It was official that the #1 New York Times Bestselling Author had officially made it and gone global after the first of the two novels, It Ends With Us, went viral.

The author ended the first book with Lily and her newborn, and now, six years later, fans have some closure with the sequel It Starts With Us.

It Ends With Us told the story of Lily Bloom for the uninitiated. Atlas Corrigan, a 17-year-old homeless boy, was the first person Lily helped when she was 15.

Colleen Hoover’s “It Ends with Us” (2016) Glorious Read : A Review

In It Starts With Us Atlas and Lily split up as children due to circumstances, but Lily never let Atlas leave her heart. Even after she found love with Ryle, her time with Atlas foreshadowed her new love. Ryle has had a bad temper for a long time, which he frequently directs at Lily.

Lily, now older and wiser, decides to divorce her abusive husband Ryle for the sake of her daughter Emerson because she witnessed her father’s domestic abuse on her mother as a child. Almost a year after her breakup with Ryle, Lily runs into her first, and possibly only, love, Atlas.

It Starts With Us tells the story of Lily and Atlas and how fate and circumstance eventually worked in their favor and brought these two lovers back together in 37 chapters. The novel It Starts With Us was released on October 18th, and like any other devoted CoHort, I stayed up all night to finish it – and what a journey it was!

Colleen’s writing style and ability to create the perfect book boyfriends never ceases to amaze me. The story of Lily and Atlas is not typical CoHo writing style, which means there are no unexpected plot twists that will leave you stunned. There is no shocking betrayal that will leave you hurt.

The plot is straightforward. Lily adores Atlas but is concerned about her single-parenting arrangement with Ryle. Ryle’s personal, misdirected issues are channeled through Lily because she is the only one he can intimidate until he can’t. Atlas adores Lily, and there is nothing he is certain of more than her.

With Atlas’s help, Lily grows more confident and adamant about her decisions throughout the novel’s plot. Ryle becomes increasingly obnoxious by the minute, and Atlas, the charming “Greek God Adonis,” has readers swooning at every line he says.

Atlas Corrigan will undoubtedly be number one on the list of “Men Written By Women” because Colleen Hoover ensured the man had no flaws at all. Nothing is wrong with his character, and as a young reader, this is my main beef with Colleen. How does one go about finding an Atlas in real life? Because we are fairly certain that boys like him do not exist!

That is why It All Begins With Us is simply the story of how Lily and Atlas met. We have no idea how things will turn out, but we have faith in Atlas Corrigan. From the butterflies Lily felt with Atlas to swooning over the charming Smooth-talker himself and wishing Ryle ill whenever he appeared.

It All Starts With Us is a light read with a few intense moments here and there. Atlas Corrigan has and will continue to melt readers’ hearts, and he should go down in history as the best Golden Retriever boy in book boyfriend history!

Lily is a strong-willed character, so watching her experience fear when confronted with Ryle’s rage will undoubtedly make you nervous as a reader. I hope that people who are victims of domestic violence find hope in Lily’s story, and I admire Colleen Hoover for addressing important issues in each of her stories. It All Starts With Us is an excellent novel that is well worth reading.

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Quotes From ‘It Starts With Us’

1.“She’s my person, and I am hers, and that’s something I’ve known since the first week we met.” Atlas

2.“You’re going to drive five miles just to give me a hug?”
“I’d run five miles just to give you a hug.”Lily and Atlas

3.“If it takes a million kisses for her not to think about the scars that surround her heart tattoo, then I’ll kiss her there a million and one times.” Atlas

4.“It’s not the first time he’s mentioned I saved him back then, but every time he says it, I want to argue with him. I didn’t save him. All I did was fall in love with him.”Lily

5.“I’ve spent my life not making bold moves when it comes to her. I wanted to make sure she knew where I stood this time.” Atlas

6.“Thank you for being the most comforting part of my life right now. Thank you for always being the beacon I need every time I feel lost. Whether you mean to shine on me or not. I am grateful for you. I’ve missed you. I absolutely should have kissed you.” Atlas

7.“I’m exactly where I belong, being loved by Atlas Corrigan.”Lily

8.“In the past and for forever, you are my favorite person. Always have been. Always will be. I love you. Everything that you are.”Atlas

9.“I can draw a seedling with two tiny branches. Yours and mine. We’ll be on our own brand-new, tiny family tree—one that starts with us.”Josh

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