The suffering of fresh starts is experienced by readers in "It Starts With Us."

 

The follow-up to Colleen Hoover's best-selling book and BookTok hit, "It Ends With Us," is titled "It Starts With Us." The sequel picks up just where "It Ends With Us" left off, guiding the reader through the complexities of life following divorce and domestic violence. Compared to its predecessor, "It Starts With Us" is a lighter read that lets the reader experience Atlas and Lily's connection as they work through their divorce, find family, and begin a new life after trauma. Hoover portrays a "second-chance" romance in many respects, switching back and forth between Atlas and Lily's perspectives. For a complete understanding of the significance of some of the little events in "It Starts With Us," you must first read "It Ends With Us."

Hoover clearly has faith in her readership and doesn't hold back when exploring difficult subjects in any of her books; in "It Starts With Us," for example, she doesn't present a simple love story. Hoover makes it apparent that partnerships are difficult and that you must constantly strive for love while toying with the lovely notion of a reunion with your first love. "It Starts with Us" often offers compelling narratives that feel true to the lives of the people, highlighting both the beautiful and the dirty. 

Unlike most sequels, "It Starts With Us" didn't feel too drawn out; instead, it contains just enough action and central themes to stand alone as a standalone narrative. The plotlines mirrored in this book feel new and distinct from "It Ends With Us," even if it is not a standalone. This helps to tastefully advance the plot.  

"It Starts With Us" struck a deep chord with me as the child of divorced parents, having experienced co-parenting myself, and seemed to accurately capture the challenges of marriage that I witnessed as a child. This book brings the statistic that nearly half of marriages end in divorce to life. 

In "It Starts With Us," Atlas and Lily make an effort to revive their adolescent romance, but they also have to consider the potential consequences of their love as adults. Hoover depicts Atlas and Lily as having a lovely, naive love. Like siblings, Atlas and Lily adore one another. Their affection for one another is akin to corny one-liners from "Finding Nemo" and is a recurring inside joke in both books. Though sweet and awkward, their love is far healthier than the poisonous relationships they both had previously been in. Hoover says maybe love should be a little naive.