Read a wonderful fiction book after a long time and let me just tell you this before you read any further, ALL MEN AND WOMEN MUST READ THIS BOOK!
I don’t know if I am going to be doing a great job not revealing much about this book without showing how much I loved and adored the story, but I am going to try.
This story is Lily’s, the narrator, a 23 year old redhead. From the first chapter itself, you can connect with her. She is witty, smart, kind and just like all of us is struggling through the complexities of life.
Sitting on the ledge of a twelve story building, coming from a funeral and overwhelmed with her thoughts, she meets Ryle, a Neurosurgeon. Their meeting ticks everything romantic for me, the awkwardness, the funny banter, the “we are strangers but I think I can tell you personal stuff” kind of conversation. Just the best.
Lily is very mature, more than what you’d expect of her age. With a dream to have her own flower shop in Boston. Away from her hometown where growing up was rather difficult for her because of the abusive relationship of her parents that she had witnessed. Our wants and needs in a relationship comes a lot from the kind of relationships we have seen around us growing up. Especially our parents. And to know that this book is based on the author’s real life explains a lot about the essence of the book. Colleen hits an ace with this one on the sentiment and the depth part with her writing. All the connections are so beautifully developed and nurtured that you feel the love and the hurt on a personal level. The mother daughter relationship, the female friendship, the sibling love, the romance, EVERYTHING!
It’s a story of a powerful young woman, written by a powerful young woman and it comes across. The nuances and the paradox of values and reality makes you reflect back on your life. The conversational dialogues are so well written, that the cinephile in me can’t wait for the movie to come out already. The parts where Ryle and Lily tell each other ‘the naked truth’ had my heart, everytime.
With the characters her writing makes you fall for Boston, it too plays an important role in the story and how!
Just love for this book for all the emotions it brought out of me that almost made me quiver and question my values and things that I settle for because of familiarity. After finishing the book in just a couple of hours I could make sense of the title of the book, It ends with us. The generational traumas and hurt can end with you if you show courage and the strength to believe that you deserve better.
Get your book today and thank me later 🙂