It starts and ends with us.

As I'm a mood reader, I found myself watching the movie trailer of It Starts with Us starring Blake Lively and found myself picking up the book. A book that was gifted to me for Christmas by a family member and has been sitting on my bookcases since because I just haven't been in the mood and now I've read both books within two days and veered off my monthly tbr list.

I know Hoover has some controversies but this is the second and third book I've read that shes written and devoured within 24 hours. The first being Verity. I can't say shes one of my fave authors, just that I enjoy reading some of her books. Hoover tends to romanticize and glorify toxic relationships and books are marketed to a young adult audience considering some of these themes. However I understand these toxic relationships in the novels I've read by her and while all the books I've read by her, have toxic relationships, I read them as if all these women were love blind, coming to learn what these relationships turned into. This is the same for these books. While the situation Lily gets in during these novels, it's all too very real and perhaps some of the issues should have been dealt with in a much more serious note but just like some close friends of mine, watching from the outside with fresh eyes can make you see how accurate some of these toxic relationships portrayed can be. 

There is no such thing as bad people. We're all just people who sometimes do bad things.

This duology hits home with me because I know women who have been in the same boat as Lily. Being blindsided by the one you love. Not being believed. Being stuck.

You think this is your typical romance book, and it kinda is but it is so much more than that and I don't want to spoil it for anyone that has not read this book. There are two stories that come together and flashback chapters that just warm my heart. I think Atlas and Lily are just so sweet.

Did we need "It Starts With Us" not really but it was a nice to catch-up with Lily and read how she slowly grows and comes to terms with everything that has happened in the first novel. 

If this sounds like something you need a trigger warning for, I highly suggest looking for them first.

I knew what was coming in these books and it still broke my heart, it left me frustrated at times and it left me proud of how far Lily had come. All these emotions I felt for my friends outside of this book.

I highly recommend if you'd like a fast read and to shed some tears too.

#TeamAtlas