It Starts with Us

 

 Hello! Welcome to my first blog post. I'm excited you are here! Please make sure you subscribe so you can follow along with the latest content and join my Nerdy Girls Book Club.

I figured it was fitting to use "It Starts With Us" as my first review since this is the start of my blog post. If you have not read "It Ends With Us", I would strongly recommend going back and reading that first. However, maybe you are one of those people who are like, "No! I don't want to follow the rules! I do what I want!" Cool Cool, totally get it. More power to you. You just might be a little confused about some of the context in the second book. 

 The first book was extremely meaningful to me as I grew up with a mother who was abused by my father, and left and as someone who has been in situations that are similar. I will say that abuse comes in may forms and is not just physical but is also emotional and psychological. As the child of a survivor and a survivor myself, I was so glad that someone had shed light on the issues and struggles that an abuse survivor has to go through. It helps to answer a lot of the questions that we get asked of, "Well why didn't you leave if it was so bad?" Sometimes it's not safe to leave. Sometimes, there is financial involvement and children evolved, which involves planning and time. It's not that simple and its hard to explain but I think Collen Hoover does a beautiful job. I wish that I could have been as strong as Lily, the main character, who was able to straight up, tell her abuser... It Ends Here! I will say that in those situations, everyone has a true breaking point and that was hers. Well, we have several.. but when it comes to our kids.. that's it and that was mine. 

Ok, your probably like, cool cool, but what about the second book? I just wanted to give a little background and my feelings on the first before moving to the second book.

So, in the second book, we start off in the book with Lily running into Atlas on the street. Of course this is going to cause all sorts of mixed emotions. I know that if I was a newly divorced mom after an abusive relationship and ran into my first love whom I still have feeling for... there would be some emotions. It then proceeds with the same awkward issues that everyone deals with in a new relationship, like who text who first and "I don't want to say that because it might scare them" kinda vibes. This is a little different because not only does it include the baggage of a crazy ex- husband, a baby, and a previous situation with this individual. Moving along, we see more of crazy ex- husband Ryle and is lack of boundaries. We also see Atlas and his mother pop back into the picture and he finds out he has a younger brother. 

This book continues on the abuse conversation since we find out more about Atlas's past  relationship with his mother and find out there is more to the story. We then find out that his mother is now abusive toward his younger brother which, again, brings up emotions. There is a pat in the book where the little brother says, "I can usually tell if it's a concussion." Total gut punch for those of us who have experienced child abuse. I remember one time that my mom back handed me and broke my nose. I was driving at the time so I couldn't stop even though I could barely see through the pain and tear since I was going 50 mph. I remember thinking that same thing, of ...well I did lose consciousness so I don't have a concussion. 

I'm not going to give away the ending but I my thoughts are that it was just as good as the first book. I do love Colleen Hoover and her writing style. It's really hard for me to not like any of her books. I know that some people didn't like "It Ends With Us", and maybe I like it because of the personal connection to it. However, I think that having a personal connection to books and stories is what makes them great. If a book isn't  relatable, then it's hard to stay connected to the story. 

Tell me your thoughts in the comments!