Everand Logo

Welcome to Everand!

  • Discover millions of ebooks, audiobooks, and so much more with a free trial

    Only $11.99/month after trial. Cancel anytime.

    It Starts with Us: A Novel
    It Starts with Us: A Novel
    It Starts with Us: A Novel
    Audiobook8 hours

    It Starts with Us: A Novel

    Written by Colleen Hoover

    Narrated by Colin Donnell and Olivia Song

    4.5/5

    ()

    Switch to ebook

    About this audiobook

    Before It Ends with Us, it started with Atlas. Colleen Hoover tells fan favorite Atlas’s side of the story and shares what comes next in this long-anticipated sequel to the “glorious and touching” (USA TODAY) #1 New York Times bestseller It Ends with Us.

    Lily and her ex-husband, Ryle, have just settled into a civil coparenting rhythm when she suddenly bumps into her first love, Atlas, again. After nearly two years separated, she is elated that for once, time is on their side, and she immediately says yes when Atlas asks her on a date.

    But her excitement is quickly hampered by the knowledge that, though they are no longer married, Ryle is still very much a part of her life—and Atlas Corrigan is the one man he will hate being in his ex-wife and daughter’s life.

    Switching between the perspectives of Lily and Atlas, It Starts with Us picks up right where the epilogue for the “gripping, pulse-pounding” (Sarah Pekkanen, author of Perfect Neighbors) bestselling phenomenon It Ends with Us left off. Revealing more about Atlas’s past and following Lily as she embraces a second chance at true love while navigating a jealous ex-husband, it proves that “no one delivers an emotional read like Colleen Hoover” (Anna Todd, New York Times bestselling author).

    Editor's Note

    ‘It Ends with Us’ continues…

    The sequel to Hoover’s popular “It Ends with Us” picks up immediately where the original story left off. Ex-spouses Lily and Ryle maintain careful civility while co-parenting their young daughter, but when Lily’s girlhood sweetheart, Atlas, returns, Ryle’s dark tendencies reemerge. Hoover strikes a fine and relatable balance of tension and hope, revealed through Lily and Atlas’ alternating perspectives.

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherSimon & Schuster Audio
    Release dateOct 18, 2022
    ISBN9781797145082
    Author

    Colleen Hoover

    Colleen Hoover is the #1 New York Times bestselling author of more than twenty-three novels, including It Starts with Us, It Ends with Us, All Your Perfects, Ugly Love, and Verity. Colleen lives in Texas with her husband and their three boys. For more information, please visit ColleenHoover.com.

    More audiobooks from Colleen Hoover

    Related to It Starts with Us

    Related audiobooks

    Contemporary Romance For You

    View More
    View More

    Related podcast episodes

    Related articles

    • Article

      Ghost Writer

      Jun 5, 2022

      Ghost Writer
      1 min read

    Related categories

    Reviews for It Starts with Us

    4.5/5

    1,180 ratings66 reviews

    What did you think?

    Tap to rate

    Review must be at least 10 words

    • 1/5
      Good god almighty, I was just WAITING and WAITING for something to happen and it never did - def for very simple minds the writing was pretty juvenile. Skip it y'all!

      3 people found this helpful

    • 2/5
      Not the best book I‘ve read… more of the same storyline from the first one… Thank God I heard it for free

      2 people found this helpful

    • 1/5
      Woke Woke. First book was decent. This was unnecessary. Do not recommend.

      2 people found this helpful

    • 1/5
      Ugh! I waited months for this book! Sadly I can't bring myself to finish listening. The narrator has ruined it for me!
      (Just My opinion) im kicking myself, I knew I should have just went straight for the paperback!

      2 people found this helpful

    • 2/5
      I loved It Ends With Us but this one just didn't work for me. Several eye roll moments, part of the storyline completely took away from Atlas and Lily's story and was a bit unnecessary and over the top. I wasn't a fan of the journal entries and long letters, I wanted to be in the present with the characters not stuck in their past. Lots of missed opportunities with Ryle's character. Parts felt very info dumpy. I wanted an epic epilouge ? Overall doesn't touch the first one. 2 ? stars

      2 people found this helpful

    • 5/5
      To say I love this book as an understatement!! I was so sad when it was over because I wanted more more more!! I love this story and hope there is more to come! The characters are one of my favorites even the jerk lol Colleen Hoover hardly ever disappoints and I would have to say this is 1 of my top favorite books (the first books is too)

      2 people found this helpful

    • 3/5
      Did this book REALLY needed to be written? No. But okay, not the biggest fan of the last few books from CoHo but I tried this one, what is one more right? And don't get me wrong it had so much potential, so many chances to be a 5/5 but nope, you get on the edge just to turn around and walk back to start again and again. The only reason this is a 3 it's because of Theo, few things Atlas said and of course Josh.

      2 people found this helpful

    • 4/5
      I loved how everything was going but the end was like, “I want to finish this story now” and I felt like I miss a lot! The end is I don’t like how was told, but the rest was good

      1 person found this helpful

    • 4/5
      The voice actor for Lilly was kinda annoying. Ending seemed a little rushed. However, I enjoyed the story.

      1 person found this helpful

    • 3/5
      It was good, not necessarily needed, but good read none the less. So much more I want divulged but clearly author went down the cut and paste simple beautiful wrapping then actually giving us more detail.

      1 person found this helpful

    • 1/5
      Somehow even worse than the first book. Listened on 1.5 speed to get it over with, I will admit I take sick pleasure in reading horrible novels with weak female leads just to shit on them after.

      I think the premise here is that Lily Rose Petal Bloom is supposed to be a heroine and role model for escaping a domestic abuse situation in the first book because she’s such a strong woman. So strong that we completely fast forward to her first year as a single mom balancing her recovery from abuse and adjusting to being a parent, and cut in at the part where she is falling in love again- because really having a hot lover is all women are supposed to live for. The co-parenting relationship her and Ryle have is so ridiculous with such poor boundaries she is in no way keeping her child and herself safe from a man who has proven to be abusive. Her story communicates unhealthy behavior as being desirable and commendable.

      The story has so many holes (like why TF does her abuser actually have a key to her apartment??? The explanation makes no sense considering she moved apartments…) especially if you listen to both books back to back.

      As much as I hated this book though I wouldn’t pull the classic “I’d give it zero stars if I could”. It deserves the one star for being so blatantly pathetic and obviously bad that hating on it is quite fun.

      1 person found this helpful

    • 5/5
      OMG! This was everything I had hoped it would be!! I always worry when it's a sequel. DO NOT READ THIS BOOK UNLESS YOU READ THE 1ST ONE. You have to have the background to get to where Atlas and Lily end up. And speaking of Atlas..... oh my heart. He is now #1 book boyfriend. I loved everything about their journey and how strong they both are. Their love is a once in a lifetime love ❤️ ❤️. *** this is not a super spicy or smutty book!!

      1 person found this helpful

    • 5/5
      OMG!!! BEST SEQUEL I HAVE EVER HEARD!!! can they make this a movie please and stick to the book!

      1 person found this helpful

    • 5/5
      such a good book!! love this series! can’t wait to read more of her work

      1 person found this helpful

    • 2/5
      This book spends way too much time recapping the past and reiterating the difficulties of leaving an abusive relationship. The actual plot line could’ve been summarized in 2 chapters. The rest was fluff.

      1 person found this helpful

    • 1/5
      Omg it’s like a 13 year old’s idea of adult romantic relationships. Good Lord. I’m ashamed that I even started this second one but the whole abuse angle made the first book seem a bit less shallow - at least I thought that at first! Now I realize my perception was giving the author WAY more credit - spoiler alert, the main character’s naivety, immaturity, superficiality, etc, isn’t a result of her background! That’s just the character! And this time you get to hear a 13 year old’s idea of what a grown man thinks, too!

      1 person found this helpful

    • 5/5
      If you read the first book, It Ends With Us, you have to read the this sequel! The story comes full circle and all the pieces you were left wondering about in the previous story were wrapped up with satisfying endings.

      1 person found this helpful

    • 1/5
      I hated how mental health was turned into an excuse, but no one tried to help him.
      The main character was annoying. She seemed desperate for attention. She didn't stick to her principles. She stated she loved a guy when, in fact, she really didn't, as the writing did not support this. The writing and character development was horrible.
      Her love Atlas was boring.
      I do not understand all the hype. The main lead needs therapy, and so do all the other characters

      1 person found this helpful

    • 3/5
      I think it was meh.
      It was a filler story that would only please the fans that read "It Ends with us" a long time ago.
      1/3 of the story is filled with copy-paste paragraphs from the first story.
      It re-uses the abuse trope that we've found in the first book, but now with a twist to the domestic violence towards children.
      The twist/ struggle of Atlas in the story was obvious from the beginning.
      And the twist for Lily was forgotten as soon as it pleased the author. Suddenly there are no bumps for her, in the road to Atlas.
      I still appreciated that the characters take real decisions, but in this story i started seeing the "dumb" decisions that are associated with CoHo and the entire Romance genre. Decisions like 'oh, i can't see X person, because Y would not understand and i care about his feelings.'
      Then they say stuff like i'm divorced, i don't care.

      Also what was the point of making such a big deal with Ryle if his story ended so abrupted?
      I think CoHo had a deadline with the book and didn't know how to end it.

      LE: I remembered about stuff that is supposed to be relevant (mentioning Gen Z, TikTok, etc.) This stuff won't be relevant if you read this book in 10 years time.

      1 person found this helpful

    • 5/5
      Ugh! I love childhood love stories that end in marriage! Who doesn't?! Atlas and Lily are a dream. I'm so glad Colleen gave us this ending. I wish more authors did this. Thank you Colleen, my heart is content.
    • 3/5
      Kind of a snooze fest ? it felt like the author only wrote it because of the huge success of the first one. Too much emphasis on “how can I make Atlas the most perfect man ever!” And the first half had too many repeated Ellen letters. It felt like a lot of fluff in the book. Definitely not as good as the first.
    • 1/5
      What with this book is good? It’s so slow and nothing happens? I don’t get it? Is it just cult to like it?
    • 5/5
      Very nice to hear Atlas’ point of view. These two are just the most romantic fictional pair, love them and the way the book was paced and finished.
    • 4/5
      It was nice they had a closure. They both suffer from their families but they still believe in love, so they overcome it all.
    • 4/5
      It is my wish to be your fish. Aigoo. ❤️
    • 5/5
      I hope every Lily out there has their own Atlas ?
    • 5/5
      I enjoyed the audio version of this book. Easy and great read.
    • 5/5
      Then here is my first review trying to write for this
    • 1/5
      First book made us understand what a toxic relationship is and how to get over it . The second book made me angry when the author shares with us the fears Lily has if Ryle will understand she is dating Atlas . Where is Lily the powerful girl who in the first book divorced
      Ryle immediately after she gave birth ? Where is this strong girl who could do everything for her daughter and her own happiness? Still in chapter 16 but sorry is not the same line .
    • 4/5
      I like the long time love story and overcoming family drama