This article contains discussions and descriptions of physical and emotional abuse.
MAJOR SPOILERS for It Ends With Us (2024) and Colleen Hoover’s sequel book It Starts With Us are ahead!
Summary
It Ends With Usmight focus more on Lily and Ryle’s abusive relationship, but the ending with Atlas raises questions about what happens to him in Colleen Hoover’s sequelIt Starts With Us. The bestselling author’s bookIt Ends With Usis the first of her novels to get an onscreen adaptation, though other books have been optioned by production companies. Despite the mixed critical reception, the highRotten Tomatoesaudience score and thebox office success ofIt Ends With Usshow that the Colleen Hoover adaptation resonated with viewers.
The success of the movie can be attributed largely to Hoover’s passionate fanbase, butIt Ends With Usalso fixed Ryle’s controversial endingfrom the book, which could win over some skeptics. Lily still meets up with Atlas after the time jump, but she’s parenting Emerson alone. Because of the change, many parts of Lily and Atlas’ story inIt Starts With Uswouldn’t fit with the movie’s ending. However,the majority of Atlas’ story in this book has more to do with his past and his secret brother, adding context that could deepen his character arc in the movie.
Atlas Reveals He Wants To Start A Relationship With Lily
Atlas Makes The First Move After He And Lily Meet Again
At the beginning ofIt Starts With Us, both Atlas and Lily are insecure about their interaction at theend ofIt Ends With Us. They are both questioning how each other feels. Lily knows she wants to be with Atlas but fears what Ryle’s response will be – a worry she would only have in the book, since she parents Emerson alone at the end of the movie. Atlas wants to be with Lily but worries that she doesn’t feel the same way. Their worries get a bit monotonous, but that could be because the audience reads both perspectives.
What Happens To Lily Bloom After It Ends With Us
After Lily Bloom leaves her abusive husband, Ryle Kincaid, at the end of It Ends With Us, her story continues in Colleen Hoover’s It Starts With Us.
Though Lily and Atlas are at a standstill for the first five chapters ofIt Starts With Us,Atlas goes over to Lily’s flower shop to express his interest in dating her, calling their potential relationship the second-best thing that could happen to her. This seems to win over Lily, though they keep their dates secret until Ryle finds out when barging into Lily’s apartment, agreeing to move in baby steps.
Atlas' Restaurants Are Vandalized By His Half-Brother
Atlas Learns The Person Breaking Into His Restaurants Is His Brother Josh
During the year-and-a-half gap that Lily and Atlas don’t talk, he opens a second restaurant called Corrigan’s that specializes in Italian cuisine. At the start ofIt Ends With Us, Bib’s gets vandalized with the phrase “A** whole.” Because of the phrase’s spelling and the bag of stolen croutons, Atlas believes it’s a homeless, hungry kid. Then, Corrigan’s gets broken into and spray-painted with the phrase “F*ck u Atlass” with the last three letters underlined, which makes him feel like there’s a personal motive for the incidents. He has two more break-ins from the same kid.
Atlas' kindness sets the foundation for the best part ofIt Starts With Us– the growing connection between Atlas and Josh.
Through security footage, they figure out that the person responsible is a teenage boy. However, the boy’s identity remains a mystery until Atlas’ mother, Sutton, shows up at Bib’s to ask about his half-brother, whom he doesn’t even know exists. Atlas quickly puts together everything, staking out Bib’s to catch his younger brother. Rather than reacting in anger,Atlas approaches Josh with compassion when he shows up, giving him food and inviting him to his house. Atlas' kindness sets the foundation for the best part ofIt Starts With Us– the growing connection between Atlas and Josh.
Ryle’s Feelings Toward Atlas Get Worse
Ryle Uses Atlas As An Excuse For His Abuse Again
Though he already hates Ryle throughoutIt Ends With Us, Ryle becomes increasingly hostile towards even the idea of Atlas inIt Starts With Us. He demands that Lily change Emerson’s middle name, Dory, because he assumes it has to do with Lily’s childhood love. He never bothers to ask her if he’s right. This logic is not only paper thin, but his reaction is a drastic overreaction to the situation. Lily loved Ellen DeGeneres before she even met Altas. Plus, morally, he lost the right to have an opinion on this when he started abusing Lily.
If you or someone you love is experiencing domestic violence, please call the domestic violence hotline at (800)799-7233, or visitthehotline.org(US) orNo More(International).
Later, Ryle physically abuses Lily again – throwing her against a wall, slamming his hand next to her, and choking her – when he sees that Lily had a guest over the night before, assuming correctly that it was Atlas. He sends her a barrage of verbally abusive texts about her parenting abilities and Atlas. In bothIt Ends With UsandIt Starts With Us,he uses his jealousy as an excuse for his abuse, despite the fact that there’s no excuse to abuse someone.
Ryle even goes to Atlas’ restaurant to start a fistfight, though the chef responds calmly to his girlfriend’s ex-husband. Unfortunately, no matter what Lily or Atlas does to try and quell Ryle’s anger, it seemingly continues until the end of the book. Ryle only tolerates Atlas, for Emerson’s sake, when dropping the toddler off.
It Ends With Us Fixed All My Issues With Colleen Hoover’s Book & I’m Thrilled
Though I went into the movie skeptical due to Colleen Hoover’s book, It Ends With Us fixes all my problems, delivering a powerful and moving story.
Atlas Gets Parental Rights To Look After Josh
Atlas Takes Action To Protect Josh From Sutton
After Sutton threatens to call the police on Atlas, he’s forced to take Josh back to her. However, she hits Josh and throws him into the hotel room immediately when he arrives. Atlas doesn’t hesitate to grab Josh and take him to the hospital, vowing that he won’t have to live with her. However, Josh doesn’t want to live with Atlas; he wants to live with his father, Tim. When Atlas takes him to Tim’s house, Josh learns about his father’s abuse of Atlas, which was first discussed inIt Ends With Us.
The choice to reconnect with their mom is just as bothersome, as a reader, as Ryle spending time with Emerson at the end ofIt Ends With Us,because Sutton’s done nothing to change her abuse.
He also realizes that Tim could have come back for him but chose not to. Josh subsequently decides to stay with Atlas, starting a new family tree. Though the title initially seemed to be about Atlas and Lily,It Starts With Usis actually a reference to Atlas and Josh breaking the cycle of abuse.After returning to Boston, Atlas invites Sutton to dinner at his restaurant, where he tells her that he wants full custody and parental rights over Josh. He threatens to take her to court for abuse if she refuses.
It Ends With Us' 13 Biggest Book Changes
The It Ends With Us movie keeps the spirit, premise, and characters of the book while fixing problematic elements and improving the messaging.
However, he offers her a chance to have a family dinner with them once a week so that she can fix her relationship with Atlas and Josh. The choice to reconnect with their mom is just as bothersome, as a reader, as Ryle spending time with Emerson at the end ofIt Ends With Us,because Sutton’s done nothing to change her abuse. Moreover, Altas doesn’t ask Josh how he feels about this. Considering Josh hides from her earlier in the book and tenses up when she’s around, it feels cruel for Atlas to put his brother through family dinners, even if he means well.
Atlas & Lily Get Married
Atlas And Lily Get Married At The Very End Of It Starts With Us
The last chapter ofIt Starts With Usshows Atlas before his wedding to Lily.He nervously adjusts his tie and looks over his vows, which is a nice change of pace from the confidentcharacter inIt Ends With Us’ movie adaptation. Based on the line about two years passing of Theo making snide remarks, it seems that Lily and Atlas have been together for two years. However, earlier in the book, Atlas says Josh just turned twelve, and in the last chapter, he says that Josh just turned fifteen, which would imply that three years have passed.
As such, it’s unclear exactly how long after Lily and Atlas have started dating they’re getting married. His groomsmen include Josh, Darin, Brad, Theo, and Marshall. The book ends with Atlas’ perspective, which feels odd given that the book series focuses more on Lily. The ending is also anticlimactic, since the readers don’t even get to see their wedding. Either way, it’s nice to know that Lily eventually moves on to a happy, long-term relationship, though, after the hell she faced with Ryle inIt Ends With Us.
