The following version of the novel was used to create this study guide: Hoover, Colleen, It Ends With Us. Atria Books, August 2, 2016. Kindle.

In the romance novel It Ends With Us by Colleen Hoover, Ryle Kincaid and Lily Bloom are an unlikely couple from the beginning. Ryle is too focused on his career as a neurosurgeon to want a relationship, Lily refuses to be a one-night stand. When Ryle finally admits that he cannot live without Lily, Lily never dreams that the relationship will turn abusive.

Lily meets Ryle on the day of her father’s funeral. She has just given what she believes to be the worst obituary ever because she could not think of one good thing to say about her father, Andrew. Andrew was physically abusive to Lily’s mother, Jenny. He additionally put the first boy Lily loved in the hospital when he found the two of them in bed together. Andrew told Lily that she had brought shame on the family by falling in love with a homeless man.

Lily begins reading a series of journals she wrote as a teenager, focusing primarily on the ones she wrote during her relationship with Atlas Corrigan. Atlas was a senior in high school. He was homeless because his stepfather kicked him out of the house. He had nowhere else to go at the time. Lily helped Atlas by providing him with food and allowing him to take a shower in their house. She let him sleep in her room when it was too cold for him to be outside.

Lily fell in love with Atlas and was heartbroken when he moved to Boston after an uncle there said Atlas could live with him. Atlas told Lily he was going to join the Marines and would look her up when he returned. He did not want her to wait for him. It was that night that Andrew beat Atlas with a baseball bat. Lily knew he was alive, but she has not heard from him since.

In the present, Ryle gives Lily mixed messages about a relationship. He tells her that he does not want to make a commitment. Then, he sends her flowers or shows up unexpectedly at her apartment. Ryle finally agrees to test a relationship. During one of their first dates together at Lily’s apartment, Ryle hits Lily. Both of them are drunk. Even though Ryle has burned his hand on a hot casserole dish, Lily cannot help but laugh. Ryle apologizes to her, just like Lily’s father apologized to her mother. He claimed it was an accident. Lily warned him that if he ever hit her again, she would leave him.

That evening, Ryle and Lily went to a new restaurant. Lily had eaten there once before and knew Atlas worked there. She hoped they would not see him that night, but he came to their table to ensure their food was good. Lily could tell Atlas was angry when he saw the mark on Lily’s eye and the bandage on Ryle’s hand. He assumed Ryle had hit Lily. Atlas confronted Lily later and ordered her to leave Ryle. When Lily made excuses, Atlas told her that she sounded like her mother. Atlas hid his phone number in Lily’s phone in case Lily ever needed help.

Ryle hurt Lily again when he found Atlas’s phone number. He accused Lily of lying to him. When Lily followed him in an attempt to tell him the truth about what happened, he pushed her and caused her to fall down the stairs. Lily ordered him out of her apartment. The next day, Allysa, Ryle’s sister, convinced Ryle to tell Lily about his experience as a child. Ryle explains that he found his parents’ gun and unintentionally shot his older brother. Since that time he suffers with bouts of anger and sometimes blacks out. He begs Lily to take him back. With her help, he claims that he can overcome his anger.

Ryle attacks Lily again a short while later after he suspects that Lily is still in love with Atlas. He finds and reads Lily’s journals so he knows that the Boston magnet that Lily keeps on the refrigerator is a gift from Atlas. He also learns that the heart-shaped tattoo is an acknowledgment of the influence Atlas had on her life. Ryle tries to rape Lily in his anger and bashes her head with his when she bites his tongue.

Lily calls Atlas because she cannot think of anyone who can help her. In the emergency room, the doctor tells Lily that she is pregnant. Atlas allows Lily to stay at his house while she heals and tries to determine the next step in her relationship. When Lily leaves, Atlas warns her that he is unable to have a casual relationship with her. He wants her to come back to him if she is ever in a position where she is able to fall in love again.

Meanwhile, Lily tells Ryle that she wants to wait until the baby is born to decide the future of their relationship. She believes she is too emotional to make the right decision while she is still pregnant. Just moments after Lily gives birth, she tells Ryle she wants a divorce. She wants her daughter to grow up without remembering her father only as an abuser. Lily also knows that she is worthy of better treatment. About a year after her divorce from Ryle, Lily meets up with Atlas on the street. They decide on the spur of the moment to start a relationship.