It Starts with Us by Colleen Hoover
Just as Lily and her ex-husband Ryle were getting used to their amicable co-parenting routine, she unexpectedly runs into Atlas, her first love, once more. She is thrilled that for once, time is on their side after over two years apart, and she says yes right away when Atlas asks her out. Although they are no longer married, Ryle is still very much a part of her life, and Atlas Corrigan is the one man he will detest being in the lives of his ex-wife and daughter, which soon dampens her delight.
It Starts with Us by Colleen Hoover
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Ryle and Lily are currently divorced and attempting to co-parent without endangering Ryle’s temper-sensitive daughter Emerson. Ryle has so far largely complied with Lily’s requests, but he is optimistic that they will one day reconcile. Lily is torn after running into Atlas, the man she has loved since she was a child. She wants to give dating him a shot, but she is concerned about Ryle’s reaction. She doesn’t want to upset the apple cart since things are going well right now. But she longs to be with Atlas, the one man she can trust not to harm her.
Despite the challenges life throws at them, Atlas and Lily opt to take things slowly but quickly settle into a routine. The nighttime vandalism at Atlas’s eateries continues, and Ryle isn’t reacting well to the news that Atlas is back in Lily’s life. Not to mention, Atlas discovers he has a sibling and vows to shield him from the upbringing he experienced!
I was glad to see Lily leave her violent husband after giving birth to their baby Emerson at the end of IT ENDS WITH US. Not all victims of intimate relationship violence are able to leave. And not all victims of abuse survivors.
Although Ryle is no longer Lily’s husband in IT STARTS WITH US, his manipulative, threatening, and irate outbursts are all but gone. After almost two years of not seeing or speaking to Atlas, a love interest that developed out of peculiar circumstances during their adolescent years, Lily stumbles into him. Atlas and Lily discover that their adolescent love is just as powerful, if not stronger than it was.
Ryle, a very possessive and entitled ex-husband and father, as well as other life difficulties, cause issues as Lily and Atlas attempt to decide whether and how they may see one other. Hoover does a great job of illustrating the many abusive behaviours, from gaslighting to blaming. This isn’t simply another romance or love story. In this story, two victims of domestic violence attempt to work together in order to forge loving, healthy relationships while dealing with the harm that has been done to them.
