It Starts with Us

I need to know their story. We need more. When I read you I feel like I’m in the story. It becomes so surreal to me.

I wasn't much of a reader until I found this author

I enjoyed it. An easy read.

I love this book just as much as the first one! Definitely a book I couldn’t put down.

Love this book, I do wish the ending had more details, and ended with it starts with like the last book ended. But it was great! I hope they make it into a movie too

Such a great easy read! Finished it in 2 days. I absolutely love Colleen Hoover!

Boring

Absolute fav book I am usually not into books but Lilly and atlas reminded me about one of my relationships and I would love to read more about there journey together and how things with go emerson and josh. This healed my inner childhood

First, I think at least some of the negative reviews come from people expecting literary fiction. Four stars here for Hoover delivering a really solid follow-up. I gather she initially self-published these online. I hadn’t read these until I heard about the movie. They are inspired by Hoover’s mother’s tragic and brave story, and Hoover is clearly so proud of her, which shines through and gives the book even more heart. This whole story is one fictional rendering in an ocean of possibilities, and I hope it inspires other authors to tell their equally individual stories. Strengths: as always, so much more to Lily than this event in her life. I was glued to the flashback of the immediate aftermath of Lily’s father’s attack on Atlas, brief but affecting. A good portion is devoted to a new, unknown character from Atlas’s family, and we see more of Atlas’s mother. Alyssa’s husband has more prominence here in places, supportively. The caring, wise middle-schooler who counsels Atlas is a surprise charmer. I would have liked to see more development of Ryle, for worse or better, and maybe linking the characters together more. There are quite a few comments here about the sex: some people say there isn’t enough of it, or it goes too far. Atlas and Lily “get down,” yes, in romance-fiction style, but that’s as far as it goes.

It was a good book, but sometimes it was just long. This one took me awhile to get through, still happy I read it though.