It Starts With Us by Colleen Hoover

 

Lily and her ex-husband, Ryle, have just settled into a civil co-parenting 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.

After reading It Ends With Us by Colleen Hoover which I thoroughly enjoyed I don’t know why I waited so long to pick up a copy of It Starts With Us but I settled down to read it last night and before I knew it I only had three chapters remaining which I finished before work this morning. Safe to say I was swept away by this book and wished I had picked it up sooner.

We are reunited with our main characters from the first book and this book carries on where the last left off with Lily now a mum but divorced from Ryle even though they are co-parenting. Atlas is ready to shower Lily with love but Lily has reservations because she doesn’t want to jeopardise things with Ryle and the set up they have but is it time for her to finally move on and feel happiness, security and contentment?

I wasn’t quite sure what I was expecting from this book but it is quite different from the first. It is a more gentle book rather than the deep explosive storyline that we had in book one this one is more full of hope and healing and feels a lot lighter and happier with a rekindled romance.

We are introduced to a new character too called Josh and he brings something new to the storyline to keep things fresh and intriguing. He becomes a key character in this book alongside Lily and Atlas but Ryle feels like he begins to fade away in this novel.

In a way this book is predictable, you could see how the romance was going to end up but it didn’t effect my enjoyment of the book sometimes it is just nice to read a hopeful romantic read without all the dramatic twists and turns and especially after all we see Lily go through in the previous book, she has had more than her fair share of trauma so all I wanted as a reader was for her to get her happy ever after that she deserved.

Personally I wouldn't recommend reading this book without having read the first book because you build such a bond and learn so much about the history between Lucy and Atlas in the first book so if you read It Started with Us on its own it will probably feel a little bit of a fluffy and forgettable read.

I think it is safe to say that the author has finished this book off perfectly and that the characters have come to their natural end now so I can honestly say despite seeing many different opinions on this duology I actually really found myself invested in these two books and I would definitely recommend them to other readers.