Lily's Transformation In It Ends With Us By Colleen Hoover

Living in an abandoned house was a 17-year-old by, Atlas. He was homeless and if it weren't for Lily his life would have been a whole lot different. She helped Atlas by providing food, blankets, and most of all her friendship. A large portion of the novel is letters that Lily has written in her journal, to Ellen DeGeneres. She talks about her feelings, her relationship with Atlas, and the changes that have happened due to the sudden loss of her stepfather. As the story progresses Lily grows up and moves to Boston. She opens the flower shop of her dreams and meets a guy named Ryle. At first, they don’t seem to have much in common at all but they soon realize that they have a lot more in common than they thought. Overall I enjoyed this novel

Lily’s life hasn't always been easy however, she tries to make the best of her situation. Even though the odds are stacked against her, she is determined to make her flower shop a success. Throughout the novel, Lily has changed in many ways. One way Lily has changed is she has grown to love her life, even though it can be bumpy every once in a while. Ryle is a minor character in the book but he has played a big role in Lily’s life. He motivates Lily to be the best person she can be and to follow her dreams. Ryle often refers to this quote “There is no such thing as bad people. We’re all just people who sometimes do bad things.” (Hoover 17). This statement is a really large part of the novel. What Ryle says motivates Lily and helps her find closure with the loss of her abusive stepfather. Furthermore, Ryle has proven to be a very important part of Lily’s life even though they don’t get along all the

Lily did not grow up in a positive home environment. Her mother got divorced when Lily was young. She married a new man who was less than kind to her and her mother. Although her mother tried to hide it, Lily knew that her stepfather was very hurtful to her mother all along. When her stepfather passed it was sudden and unexpected. However, she felt guilt in her heart because when she spoke at his funeral and started to say all the kind things that he had done, she stopped. She did not have one kind thing to say about the man that was unkind and hurtful to her and her mother. When he passed she pretended to feel upset but in reality, she felt an ounce of relief that this man was gone. Ryle helped Lily through this by saying “All humans make mistakes. What determines a person’s character aren’t the mistakes we make. It’s how we take those mistakes and turn them into lessons rather than excuses.” (Hoover 151). Lily took this phrase very close to her heart. She knew that she needed to forgive herself and move on. After she took some time for herself and had many conversations with Ryle she was finally able to overcome the mistakes and guilt from her