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It Starts with Us cover art

It Starts with Us

Written by: Colleen Hoover
Narrated by: Colin Donnell,Olivia Song
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Publisher's Summary

Before It Ends with Us, it started with Atlas. Colleen Hoover tells fan favorite Atlas’s side of the story and shares what comes next in this long-anticipated sequel to the “glorious and touching” (USA TODAY) #1 New York Times bestseller It Ends with Us.

Lily and her ex-husband, Ryle, have just settled into a civil coparenting rhythm when she suddenly bumps into her first love, Atlas, again. After nearly two years separated, she is elated that for once, time is on their side, and she immediately says yes when Atlas asks her on a date.

But her excitement is quickly hampered by the knowledge that, though they are no longer married, Ryle is still very much a part of her life—and Atlas Corrigan is the one man he will hate being in his ex-wife and daughter’s life.

Switching between the perspectives of Lily and Atlas, It Starts with Us picks up right where the epilogue for the “gripping, pulse-pounding” (Sarah Pekkanen, author of Perfect Neighbors) bestselling phenomenon It Ends with Us left off. Revealing more about Atlas’s past and following Lily as she embraces a second chance at true love while navigating a jealous ex-husband, it proves that “no one delivers an emotional read like Colleen Hoover” (Anna Todd, New York Times bestselling author).

©2022 Colleen Hoover. All rights reserved. (P)2022 Simon & Schuster, Inc. All rights reserved.

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There's hardly a genre better suited for audio than romance books. Whether it's a tender story of first love, or a passionate affair, listening to narrators at the top of their game carefully unspooling the threads of a love story is our favourite way to consume these enchanting stories. You'll find sexy tropes, diverse and distinct characters ready to fall in love, and great, innovative rom-com audio recordings with standout performances in this list. These are the best romance books, from classic tales to contemporary romance via erotica and fairy tale love. Happily ever after? No spoilers here, thank you very much.

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What listeners say about It Starts with Us

Average Customer Ratings
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    5 out of 5 stars
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Love it

Love this sequel to "it end with us". Beautifully written. Can't wait to ready another of her books.

2 people found this helpful

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    2 out of 5 stars
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I love Colleen, but this was awful.

I thoroughly enjoyed the first story about Atlas and Lily, but this sequel was boring and drawn out, no real plot line. Definitely my least favourite book shes written.

2 people found this helpful

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Too hyped up

I read the first book, “It ends with us” and was happy with that book, but this book was too rushed sadly. The ending is pretty cookie cutter. I’m sad because I was looking forward to it.

2 people found this helpful

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Slow story line

The story line was very boring. Same scenario dragged on for the 8 hrs over audible.

1 person found this helpful

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❤️❤️❤️

I love it! I know some readers will say that it was unrealistic to actually have an actual Atlas in real life but I think there could be someone out there who maybe resembles his character. Not all people who had a difficult past will have to be broken their whole life. Some people will make that their strength to make their life better despite what they’ve been through. It should start with someone, because if not the cycle will never end. Just like how Lily ended her relationship with Ryle. Its a matter of making good choices in life. We will all stumble upon something in our lives that will leave a scar, but we have to keep moving forward and we should not let those scars ruined our lives. Their love for each other is so admirable and so positive. I cried and laugh and it felt so good until the very end.

1 person found this helpful

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Captivating

After I finished It Ends with Us, I wanted more. I keep hearing lily’s voice in my head and missed her. So happy you wrote part two! This series is not only a love storey but also a lesson in love and how people who really love each other should treat each other. Bravo.

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Disappointing

I LOVED 'It Ends with Us' but this sequel was so boring. Nothing like the first book to the series which was a truly great story. This 'story' was pointless and bland. She should have just kept the ending as is and more open to the reader then to write this book in my opinion

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Loved it sooo much

I’ve been waiting for sooo long for this book and I’m so happy that after the recent popularity of « It ends with us » Colleen decided to write this sequel. It is a wonderful story, a little predictable, but I really think that, as a huge fan myself, it’s the one we wanted and even more.

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Enjoyable

I am new to this author, and was very much looking forward to it after reading the first book. It was pretty predictable, but I enjoyed it just the same. We should all have an Atlas in our life!

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Sweet

This was a cute book, sweet love story. Kinda expected more and I had to chuckle at the female narrator. When ever she tried to talk like atlas would, the low voice. Just sounded funny.

No regrets though, I did enjoy it.
Just kinda anti-climatic.

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  • Cynthia
  • 2022-10-19

Good narration. Story was meh.

Meh. Story is boring and not passionate. Atlas is perfect. Lilly is tired. Characters do things just for the sake of the plot. Journal entries instead of imagery. Love CH, but this one was not worth my credit.

16 people found this helpful

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  • Rebecca Albrecht
  • 2022-10-19

It was ok

I didn’t LOVE it. I think the hype was so much bigger than the story. I’m hoping there will be a 3rd. I was a bit disappointed. It was just “ok”

14 people found this helpful

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  • Anonymous User
  • 2022-10-18

worth the wait

I have never been so excited to listen to a book in my life it was definitely worth the wait but not only that it was worth all the hardship Lily faced in the first book because she finally got her happy ending that we all knew she deserved 10 out of 10 honestly best sequel to A book I have ever read

10 people found this helpful

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    5 out of 5 stars
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  • Ana's Attic
  • 2022-11-26

A Great Extended Epilogue

*Contains Spoilers for It Ends With Us*

“You can stop swimming now, Lily. We have finally reached the shore”

It Ends With Us by Colleen Hoover is one of my favorite of her books, and quite honestly, I didn't really think it needed a follow-up. It was about Lily’s journey to breaking the cycle of abuse. Sure, I loved Atlas in IEWU, but despite loving it, I almost feel like It Starts With Us takes a little of the significance and power of It Ends With Us away.

First of all, I re-read It Ends With Us right before starting It Starts With Us. I HIGHLY recommend a reread first, (especially if it's been 6 years like me) because It Starts with Us continues right where IEWU left off. To me, it read like a really long epilogue. Don’t get me wrong, I absolutely LOVED It Starts With Us, I listened to the whole thing in one day, something I don’t know if I’ve ever done. But it was a second chance romance that just didn’t have that mind-blowing, emotional CoHo significance.

“Sometimes people think if they love a broken person enough, they can be what finally repairs them, but the problem with that is the other person just ends up broken, too.”

The first book ended with Lily bumping into her first love, Atlas, on the street in Boston. It was pretty clear that they found each other for life. It Starts With Us is the actual journey to get there. Lily is coparenting with her abusive ex-husband who still seems like such a great guy most of the time and has Lily second-guessing herself and her decisions. Most of her horrible fights with him were about Atlas, so of all people for her to move on with, Atlas would be the one to cause the most problems in her life.

“In the future...if by some miracle you ever find yourself in the position to fall in love again... fall in love with me.”

But honestly, who the heck could resist him? As we get to know Atlas more (the story is told in alternating POVs), we learn about his past and how and why he ended up homeless when he was 18 and how Lily saved his life. I loved the man Atlas turned into, but perhaps he was a little too perfect.

“We’ll be on our own brand-new, tiny family tree—one that starts with us.”

Note: After posting that I finished It Starts With Us in one day, I had a number of people message me asking for spoilers. I was so surprised to see people hoping for a happy ending for Ryle. I didn't know there was a "Team Ryle".

Likes:
•This is a much happier book that didn’t break me.
•I loved the side story about the vandal at Atlas’s restaurants.
•I loved Atlas’s “therapist” and how he fun-bullied Atlas.
•I liked who Lily’s mom turned into.
•The letters from Atlas.
•I loved Alyssa and Marshall.
•The realism of the doubts Lily had about whether she made the right decision.

Dislikes:
•There was a lot of repeat material in this short-ish book, especially in her journal entries to Ellen.
•Some of the 15-year-old Lily’s journal entries, though beautifully written, certainly did not sound like a 15-year-old.
•Having Ryle’s sister be Lily’s entire support system.
•I kept waiting for shit to hit the fan. It didn’t.
•I wanted more. It felt like there was some stuff that could have and should have been elaborated on, but don't want to go into details because it will be spoilers.

The Narration:
Colin Donnell and Olivia Song are both new narrators to me and they were fantastic, I would certainly like to hear more from both of them. I think this book would be just as good whether read or listened to.

The Down & Dirty:
I loved It Starts with Us by Colleen Hoover. It was a beautifully written second chance romance that I couldn’t stop listening to. But that’s partially because I was waiting for more to happen, like something huge that would blow my mind, but it just didn’t quite blow me away the way most CoHo books do. This read more like an extended epilogue to It Ends With Us to make her fans happy which is perfectly fine with me, I just expected a little more. Still, I loved listening to every well-written word, and it was a very satisfying sequel.

Rating: 4.5 Stars, 3.5 Heat, 5 Narration

8 people found this helpful

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    4 out of 5 stars
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  • Naomi
  • 2022-10-19

Cute Addition

I think this was a cute addition to it ends with us but not nearly as good as it ends with us. I love seeing Lily and Atlas together but I feel like I wanted a little bit more of everything. more tension, more conflict, more drama, more passion. it all fell short for me.

7 people found this helpful

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    1 out of 5 stars
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  • Maria H
  • 2022-10-29

Extremely disappointed

I was looking forward to this book more than anything. It was cheesy, it was awkward, I hate the way it ended and I am so disappointed.

6 people found this helpful

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    4 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars
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  • Karla
  • 2022-10-18

Happy Release Day 10/18

I back ordered the hard copy back in Feb 2022 and bought the audible a couple months ago. I started listening at 6am today on release day. I really loved It Ends with Us; so the anticipation to read It Starts with Us was huge! I enjoy all CoHo books but this 2nd book was so underwhelming for me. I expected so much more from this 2nd book. Curious to read to everyone’s reviews

5 people found this helpful

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    4 out of 5 stars
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  • Alexandria T.
  • 2022-11-18

Happy I read it, it’s not as good as the first one

Let’s be honest, sequels are never as good. I did enjoy this a lot and I’m glad I read it and would recommend it if you loved It Ends With Us. It’s just simply not *as* good. The male narrator was great, I didn’t love the female narrator.

4 people found this helpful

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    3 out of 5 stars
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    3 out of 5 stars
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  • WhatIRead
  • 2022-10-31

Was there actually a story here?

Sadly I didn’t find the story to be very engaging at all. I basically had to force my way through it after loving the first book so much! There was zero conflict. Sadly just very boring.

4 people found this helpful

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  • PheonixRN16
  • 2022-10-18

Colleen Hoover never disappoints!

I could not pause this. I pre-ordered and when it was uploaded to my library at 3:15 this morning; I was beside myself. Sleep was a distant thought. I don’t want to spoil this for anyone who haven’t listened yet; but until I heard THE END, my heart was in my throat anticipating that there would be tragic violence towards Atlas and or Lily.

3 people found this helpful

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  • Coralie
  • 2022-11-05

A must read and listen!

I cried so much! So well narrated! and so emotional especially the end! Thanks so much Colleen for this beautiful story which ended so well! and thanks to Colin and Olivia for interpreting the story that way! Once I started reading while listening at the same time the audiobook, i couldn't stop until I reached the end! This book eventually makes you reach the shore like Nemo and help you go through your problems!

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  • Youllat
  • 2022-10-24

Disappointed

There is honestly no plot, i was expecting more, it feels like hoover just wanted to make the audiance happy so she made a part 2 of it ends with us but naaaah