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The Intel

The Cocktail Correspondent

Colleen Hoover’s “It Ends with Us” — When 4.6 Million Ratings Meet Hollywood Drama

Alright, here’s what I’ve been tracking down: a romance novel that topped charts in 2022 and 2023 despite being published in 2016, spawned a sequel, became a movie starring Blake Lively, and somehow managed to generate more controversy off-page than on it. When a book gets 4.6 million Goodreads ratings and becomes the center of a legal battle between its lead actress and director, I do what I do: dig through the internet’s collective opinion and see what the hell is going on.

Image: Amazon

The Intel

What I Found

I spent my recent research sessions reading through hundreds of Goodreads reviews, Reddit discussions, and tracking the Blake Lively-Justin Baldoni legal saga. Here’s what the internet actually thinks.

The “Is This Even Romance?” Debate

Readers are split down the middle on what genre this book belongs in. One Redditor put it bluntly: “Calling ‘It Ends With Us’ a romance novel is misleading.” The book was marketed as romance with a love triangle, but what readers got was a raw, unflinching look at domestic violence. One two-star Goodreads reviewer who initially rated it higher came back months later to drop it to two stars, citing concerns about how the book romanticizes abuse and uses it as a plot twist rather than treating it with the gravity it deserves from page one.

The controversy centers on Ryle Kincaid, the neurosurgeon love interest who readers meet on a rooftop kicking chairs in rage. Multiple reviewers point out that the red flags are there from the beginning—aggressive behavior, boundary violations, coercion—but the book frames these as sexy intensity until the “reveal” that he’s abusive. As one reviewer noted, “Ryle was already portrayed as a concerningly violent and manipulative man” from the start, yet many readers still fell for him before the violence escalated.

The TikTok Renaissance Nobody Expected

Here’s the thing about this book: it was published in 2016 and did okay. Then TikTok discovered it in 2021 and it became a phenomenon, topping bestseller lists in 2022 and 2023—six and seven years after publication. The #BookTok crowd latched onto it hard, turning it into aesthetic content with its pink cover fitting perfectly into the #coquette aesthetic. Multiple reviewers expressed concern about young girls (ages 11-15) reading it purely because “it’s pink” without understanding the heavy themes of domestic abuse, attempted rape, and trauma.

Atlas vs. Ryle: The “Savior” Problem

The book features two love interests: Atlas, Lily’s first love who was homeless as a teenager, and Ryle, the wealthy neurosurgeon husband who becomes abusive. Reddit discussions point out the problematic “savior” dynamic—Lily doesn’t leave Ryle because of her own strength alone, but because Atlas is there as a better option. Several reviewers noted this sends a damaging message: “Many women who experience domestic abuse do not have the option to leave just because there is a better man out there.”

There’s also the uncomfortable age gap issue nobody wants to talk about. Atlas was 18 and Lily was 16 when they first had sex—technically legal in many states, but reviewers questioned why Hoover didn’t just make them the same age to avoid the squick factor entirely.

The Audiobook Intel

The audiobook narrated by Olivia Song gets consistent praise. AudioFile Magazine specifically highlighted Song’s sensitive portrayal of Lily’s internal struggle. Multiple listeners mentioned finishing the 11-hour audiobook in one or two sittings. It’s available on Audible, Spotify Premium (15 hours/month for subscribers), and standard audiobook platforms.

The Movie Drama That Eclipsed The Book

And then there’s the 2024 film adaptation, which generated its own Wikipedia page for controversy. Blake Lively filed complaints alleging Justin Baldoni (who directed and co-starred) created a hostile work environment and launched a smear campaign against her. The New York Times reported that Lively complained during shooting about repeated physical boundary violations and inappropriate comments. Variety notes the drama puts the sequel film in serious doubt. There’s even a Reddit community dedicated to following the lawsuits.

My Analysis

This book has a marketing problem. Hoover herself said in the author’s note that this book is different from her usual entertainment-focused work—she wanted to write something educational about domestic violence based on her own mother’s experience. But publishers marketed it as a romance with a love triangle, and Hoover has publicly stated she’s against trigger warnings because they’re “spoilers.” The result? Thousands of readers went in expecting a sexy romance and got traumatized.

The “good person who does bad things” framing is dangerous. Multiple reviewers pointed out that Ryle donates to charity and is given childhood trauma as explanation for his abuse. The book includes the line “There’s no such thing as bad people, just people who do bad things,” which several domestic violence advocates have called out as harmful. When Ryle attempts to rape Lily and she still doesn’t immediately leave, readers justifiably questioned the messaging.

TikTok made this book bigger AND more problematic. The viral success six years post-publication means more people read it, but also means young readers found it through aesthetic content rather than understanding what they were getting into. When your book becomes popular because the cover is pink and fits an aesthetic, that’s a problem for a story about domestic abuse.

The audiobook appears to be the secret sauce. Olivia Song’s narration gets universal praise for handling the emotional weight sensitively. Multiple reviewers who struggled with the book in print found the audiobook more engaging. If you’re going to read this, the audiobook seems to be the move.

The movie drama reflects the book’s themes uncomfortably well. A story about a woman dealing with an abusive man turned into a real-life story about an actress dealing with alleged boundary violations and smear campaigns from her director/co-star. The meta-narrative is almost too on-the-nose.

The Question Nobody’s Asking

Why did Colleen Hoover write Ellen DeGeneres as Lily’s diary confidante? The main character writes letters to Ellen throughout the book as a coping mechanism. The book was published in 2016 before Ellen’s reputation imploded, but still—of all the public figures to choose as a beacon of light during darkness, that choice aged like milk in the sun. Hoover even thanks Ellen in the acknowledgments. Yikes.

The Verdict

Read if: You want to understand the Colleen Hoover phenomenon, you’re interested in books that tackle domestic violence (even imperfectly), or you’re curious about what 4.6 million people rated on Goodreads.

Skip if: You’re looking for an actual romance, you want entertainment over emotional devastation, or you’re a young reader without the maturity to process heavy themes of abuse and trauma.

Start with the audiobook if: You want Olivia Song’s sensitive narration to guide you through the emotional weight. Multiple reviewers confirmed this is the best way to experience the story.

Fair warning: This is marketed as romance but functions as domestic violence fiction. If you go in expecting Nicholas Sparks, you’ll be blindsided. Know what you’re getting into.

The Cocktail: “Just Keep Swimming”

Named after Lily’s (and the book’s) obsession with Finding Nemo’s mantra

Ingredients:

  • 2 oz vodka (because you’ll need it)
  • 1 oz blue curaçao (for that Dory aesthetic)
  • 3 oz lemonade (sour like the internet debates)
  • Splash of Sprite (the bubbles represent hope or delusion, take your pick)
  • Lemon wheel garnish

Instructions: Fill a glass with ice because this book will make you feel some things. Pour vodka and blue curaçao, add lemonade and Sprite. Stir gently—unlike Ryle on that rooftop kicking chairs. Garnish with lemon wheel. Drink while reading Goodreads reviews instead of the actual book if you want to skip the trauma.

Tasting notes: Sweet at first, then sour, then you’re not sure what you’re feeling anymore. Kind of like reading this book.

The Bottom Line

The internet is torn between calling this an empowering story about leaving an abuser and a problematic romanticization of domestic violence. With 4.6 million Goodreads ratings ranging from “life-changing” five stars to “harmful” one stars, the consensus is that Colleen Hoover wrote something powerful but deeply flawed. The TikTok resurgence and movie controversy have only amplified the debate. Whether this book helps or hurts the conversation about domestic violence seems to depend entirely on the reader’s age, life experience, and ability to see through the romantic framing to the darker themes beneath.

That’s the job.

Got intel on a book everyone’s buzzing about? Found a series that’s blowing up on Reddit but flying under the mainstream radar? Send me the details. But remember: I need links, screenshots, proof. Vague “I heard people talking about it” doesn’t cut it. I track down sources. You bring the lead, I’ll bring the investigation.

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