It Ends with Us begins by wrestling with the past, and the back and forth between present and future forms the narrative. We witness this in the introduction of Lily Bloom, who is thinking about her father, Andrew Bloom, whose funeral she has recently attended. Her animosity of her father leads her to remain silent when called upon to deliver a eulogy. She also thinks of her father as she witnesses Ryle Kincaid unleash his rage on a chair, and she will finally tell him how she feels about him. Ryle introduces one of the novel’s themes by stating that there are no good or bad individuals, simply “people who sometimes do bad things” (17). During this session, Lily will talk about sleeping with a homeless kid and how her father beat him when he found out. To try to make peace with her father, Lily will read her old diaries, but she is captivated into the account of her encounter with Atlas Corrigan, the homeless guy she told Ryle she had slept with. She will reflect on how free she felt after her father was diagnosed with cancer and she was unable to harm her mother. Lily’s migration to Boston and the establishment of her flower store with her inheritance mark a new beginning for her. Not only does the shop allow Lily to be creative and try something new through unique floral arrangements, but it is also where she meets Allysa and Marshall, as well as where she runs into Ryle again.
The entries featured juxtapose the relationship between Lily and Atlas with the current relationship between Lily and Ryle. In her notes, Lily does not identify her developing attraction to Atlas, yet as an adult, this is one of the characteristics that Lily stresses in her contacts with Ryle. Another contrast is the reciprocity in how Lily and Atlas interact with one another. While Ryle and Lily’s initial encounter emphasizes their different relationship orientations, the fact remains that when they meet again, Lily and Atlas’s relationship begins with Lily providing Atlas with food, clothing, and allowing him to shower, in exchange for him gifting her gardening tools. As they continue to spend time together and Lily continues to assist Atlas, Atlas becomes a source of comfort for Lily, particularly after witnessing her father attack her mother.
Chapters 5–8 Analysis
Trust emerges as a central element in these chapters. Lily remains attracted to Ryle, who attempts to test Lily’s boundaries while claiming he is disinterested in a relationship, eroding Lily’s faith in him. Despite his assertions that he doesn’t want a relationship, he visits her apartment and begs her to sleep with him. When that fails, he goes to her business and buys her flowers. The final straw for Lily is discovering that he has preserved a picture of her from the first night they met. Lily advises him to quit pressing her if he does not want to be in a relationship. In the end, Ryle agrees to a relationship, but in order to gain her trust, he must pledge not to have sex with her immediately. Unlike Ryle, with whom Lily must establish confidence, Allysa demonstrates herself to be a good friend and someone Lily can implicitly trust, warning her about her brother’s poor track record in relationships.
In her diary entries, 15-year-old Lily writes that while she and Atlas have become closer, he appears to have “trust issues.” Lily, on the other hand, realizes that this is due to his past and how he was expelled from his home. Despite Atlas’ reluctance, she reaches out to him and assures him that he is “strong enough to survive whatever was going on in his life” (106), and that he can thrive on his own. In response, Atlas hints that Lily is strong. They become even more drawn to each other as a result of this reciprocity, and Lily feels more comfortable confiding in him about her domestic predicament. Atlas responds by demonstrating that he understands abuse. When Lily continues to assist him, he opens up about how he has no choice but to finish high school and then join the military.
Chapters 9–12 Analysis
The contrast between Lily’s present-day contentment and the upheaval at home, as detailed in the diary entries, drives the next several chapters. Atlas reappears in Lily’s life, causing her past and present to intertwine. The entries reflect Atlas and Lily’s bittersweet experience. Atlas becomes ill while living in the abandoned house and must be discreetly nursed back to health by Lily. After he recovers, Atlas informs Lily that he will be departing for Boston to live with his uncle, which makes Lily both thrilled for Atlas and sad to see him go. Atlas continues to assist Lily in dealing with the abuse at her home. Bonding over their struggles has turned their relationship romantic and more physically intimate, making Lily even more distraught at his impending departure and bereft when he leaves.
In the present day, all of Lily’s relationships appear to be improving. Allysa grows close enough to Lily to disclose that she works to avoid thinking about her difficulties conceiving. To Lily’s delight, she eventually gets pregnant. Lily and Ryle’s connection progresses from a trial run to a legitimate relationship. Lily’s feelings for Ryle become clearer after she meets Atlas while having dinner with her mother and Ryle. While she is disappointed that she hasn’t seen Atlas in a long time, she believes that her “chapter with Atlas is over” (158), and that they are both happy now.
Chapters 13–16: Analysis
The cycle of domestic violence is highlighted in these chapters as Ryle beats Lily, calling into question their relationship and bringing to light the link between Ryle and Lily’s father. During the event, Lily laughs uncontrollably as Ryle’s hand is burned, and Ryle replies unthinkingly by slapping her. Lily’s memories of her father include a cycle of aggression followed by an apology. Lily knows she doesn’t want to believe this is anything more than an accident, but she rationalizes that she doesn’t want to put her hatred toward her father onto Ryle. At the same time, Lily recognizes the usual pattern of lying to Allysa and Marshall to conceal what happened. She also lies to Atlas, whom she encounters again at the restaurant. Unlike Allysa and Marshall, Atlas’s experience with abuse and with Lily allows him to properly infer what happened.
While Lily tries to justify Ryle’s conduct by citing her intoxication and Ryle’s burn, and insists that he would not do it again, the narrative implies that Ryle’s outburst is part of a pattern. Ryle has a temper, as the novel establishes from the first moment they meet. The beginning of their relationship also demonstrates Ryle’s liberties with Lily. Allysa’s caution, as well as her unease about the new relationship, serve as additional warning indicators. Additionally, after Atlas and Ryle fight and Atlas tosses Ryle out, Ryle yells in frustration. He exhibits his self-centeredness by informing Lily that he does not desire a relationship or the complications that come with it, rather than sharing his insecurities. This action contrasts with Atlas’s behavior the next day, when he goes to apologize to Lily. While Ryle referred to Lily’s connection with Atlas as a “pity fuck,” Lily attempts to clarify. Atlas tosses aside Lily’s clarification. Atlas understands how important he was to her, unlike Ryle, who has developed insecurities.
Chapters 17–20: Analysis
Going back over her previous entry, Lily focuses on how her relationship with Atlas left her wanting closure, but how her relationship with Ryle has the depth that she once had with Atlas. This prompts her to marry Ryle impulsively, despite the fact that they haven’t been together for more than six months. Nonetheless, the narrative depicts yet another case of domestic violence that follows the previous pattern of violence. Ryle does not accept responsibility for injuring Lily until much later, and only when he is pleading for forgiveness. Lily exemplifies a practice of being complicit in condoning his behavior.
Ryle’s concerns lead to the next outburst, when he discovers a piece of paper with Atlas’ phone number in Lily’s phone. He flees, enraged, rather than discussing the situation with Lily. When Lily attempts to speak with him, Ryle throws her down the stairs and refuses to accept responsibility for his actions. “You fell,” he responds when she claims he pushed her, and continues to insist even as Lily tosses him out of her flat (232). Ryle then begs pardon once more and asks Allysa to make an appeal to Lily. Lily listens to Ryle for Allysa’s sake and learns about his tragic past—the unintentional killing of his brother, Emerson, when they were toddlers, which has resulted in rages and blackouts. Ryle maintains that “it is not my excuse.” It’s my reality” (241), however the time he tells Lily, right after assaulting her and pleading for her forgiveness, calls into question this claim.
Lily is divided between her earlier promise to leave him if he hurts her again and the realization that she is falling into a habit in which she seeks ways to forgive his cruelty. While Lily rationalizes sticking with Ryle as long as he asks for help, the narrative makes it obvious in a compassionate way that Ryle’s background is now being used as an excuse by Lily, perpetuating the cycle of domestic violence.
Chapters 21–24 Analysis
The following incidence of violence contradicts Lily’s claims that Ryle and her situation are not similar to her father and mother’s. At first, Ryle looks to be in control of his wrath. During a dispute about the position he wants in Minnesota, he decides to leave after knocking over a vase and returns much calmer. Lily and Ryle’s relationship has grown to the point where they are considering becoming parents, having been captivated by Marshall and Allysa’s newborn daughter, Rylee.
Nonetheless, Ryle’s worries over Atlas’ status in Lily’s life serve as the cause for his rage. Lily comes home one night to harsh interrogation regarding a gift Atlas gave her years ago, and she discovers that Ryle breached her privacy by reading her diaries. Ryle acts threateningly against Lily, bites her, and attempts to rape her, in a situation similar to the one Lily observed between her mother and furious father. When Lily tries to protect herself, Ryle headbutts her into unconsciousness. When Lily awakens, Ryle apologizes again, but this time Lily is unable to defend his actions. Nonetheless, Lily leaves with Atlas, and the discovery of her pregnancy complicates her circumstances. She is ashamed, which the narrative portrays as part of a pattern of domestic abuse. Her child has now established a bond to a man who abused her, and she believes that this will cause people to pity her and wonder why she did not leave sooner, as if it were an easy decision.
Chapters 25–28 Analysis
As Lily spends more time with Atlas, she has feelings of confusion and loss regarding both her relationship with Ryle and her friendship with Atlas. Lily feels contempt for Ryle as well as grief for the loss of their connection, and she must resist the temptation to absolve him of culpability by taking it upon herself. Lily understands the desire to modify her own conduct, which excuses Ryle’s acts. “The reasoning,” she writes in her letter to Ellen DeGeneres, “forces me to imagine our future together and how there are things I could do to prevent that type of anger” (282). To add to the uncertainty, Lily is in a double bind with her child, who must now “grow up in a broken or abusive home” (283). This makes her feel like she is already responsible for failing her daughter.
Her uncertainty with Atlas stems from Lily’s assumption that, while he promised her on her sixteenth birthday that he would find her, he did not, and her later revelation that he did find her but chose to let her go. Caught up in so many emotions, Lily must avoid the temptation to believe she would not have suffered as much if he had contacted her and to wrongly blame him. When Atlas admits that he sought her long ago, found her happy with someone else, and did not consider her worthy of a relationship, Lily feels an even greater feeling of loss. “My fingers move on the tattoo on my shoulder,” she confides. “I begin to wonder if I’ll ever be able to fill in that hole now” (305).
Chapters 29–32 Analysis
In these chapters, Lily informs her mother and Allysa about Ryle’s maltreatment and pregnancy. Lily worries about whether they will push her to stay with Ryle, and how this may undermine her desire to maintain distance, alluding to a prevalent aspect of the pattern of domestic abuse in which women are pressured to remain in abusive relationships. However, both Allysa and Lily’s mother believe that Ryle’s actions have cost him a future with Lily. They both push her to leave him, and their replies mirror what Lily earlier stated in her entry about her mother, who lacked the financial and emotional support that Lily does. Lily now knows how limited her mother’s options were.
Furthermore, Lily’s mother offers another perspective on the pattern of domestic violence: the danger of “losing sight of your limit” (335), or growing increasingly tolerant of violence. Both Allysa and Lily’s mother understand Lily’s love for Ryle, as well as her fury, which makes her feel less alone. This is especially crucial now that Ryle has returned and Lily can see how much he cares for her and their kid. Lily’s mother associates Lily’s decision to leave Ryle with her self-esteem, claiming that while Ryle may love her, “He doesn’t love you the way you deserve to be loved” (336). Her response reflects Atlas’s statement that Lily “deserves” more than just love, and that Atlas should provide her with a better existence.
Chapter 32: Epilogue Analysis
Lily now feels more prepared to interact with Ryle since she has a support structure in place. His patience with her is rewarded when Lily allows him to join in her life as her baby’s father. She lets him bring her gifts down to her apartment, and when he doesn’t press her for a talk she isn’t ready for, two weeks later she invites him to view the mural she created in the baby’s room. Several weeks later, Ryle visits more frequently and has been sleeping on Lily’s couch and caring for her while she waits for labor.
While this reflects Lily’s previous statement about plants rewarding care, she has not given Ryle false hope. His focus now is on developing a bond with his baby and Lily, his baby’s mother. She simply refuses to divorce because she doesn’t want to make the decision while pregnant. For Lily, asking for space is similar to asking for respect. Her request that Ryle not try to influence her decision is reminiscent of the beginning of their relationship, when Lily urged Ryle not to seek her out if he wanted a fling and, later, not to have sex with her to demonstrate his devotion for her.
Lily’s decision to file for divorce serves as a reward because it is essentially an act of love for her family. Ryle gives Lily room, convincing her of her decision. Although this appears to be a terrible decision and contradicts Ryle’s care for her when she was pregnant, it is one motivated by Lily’s love for him and her daughter. Lily reflects on Ryle and her own father, namely how she was “blinded to all the best things about him thanks to all the glimpses [she] got of him when he was at his worst” (357). She does not want this for her daughter or Ryle, which gives her resolve. When Lily justifies her decision by asking Ryle how he would counsel his daughter if she were in the same circumstances, he gets to the same conclusion as Allysa and her mother: leaving an abusive situation to reinforce one’s self-worth.
The novel ends with the concept of patience and care being rewarded. In the epilogue, Lily and Atlas meet again. Lily has already divorced Ryle, yet he is still a part of their daughter’s lives. She tells Atlas that her daughter’s second name is Dory, the character from Finding Nemo who inspired the protagonist to keep swimming. According to the novel, Atlas is no longer swimming or suffering under terrible circumstances. He is even more successful, having launched a second restaurant. He informs Lily that he now feels his life is “good enough for her” (367). Lily agrees, and Atlas informs her that she can stop swimming now that they have “finally reached the shore” (367). He says that he and Lily have both survived their own ordeals and are now free to find happiness together.
Character Analysis
Lilly Bloom
The novel’s narrator, Lily Bloom, is a 23-year-old college graduate who recently moved to Boston from Plethora, Maine. Lily is a fiery redhead who doesn’t mince words. After her father’s death, she leaves her job at a top marketing agency and spends her fortune to create a flower shop, as gardening is her love and outlet. The tale begins with Lily’s animosity of her father, who has died, for being harsh to her mother. She becomes involved with Ryle Kincaid, who later becomes abusive to her. Throughout the narrative, Lily struggles with her past, not only with her father, but also with her relationship with Atlas Corrigan, a homeless kid she helped and who helped her. Atlas’ comeback in Lily’s life reopens old wounds for her, as his departure was abrupt, but it also empowers her when she feels the most alone.
Lily’s mother describes her as “brave and bold” (336), but she also has sympathy. Lily exhibits compassion by assisting Atlas, despite her father’s teaching that individuals in bad situations do not deserve help, and despite peer pressure. She even shows sympathy to Ryle after he has injured her, offering to help him overcome his fury. Her sad experience with Ryle only deepens her sympathy as she learns more about the cyclical nature of domestic violence and why women struggle to leave people who have hurt them. Her final decision to leave Ryle is an act of charity. She makes this decision not out of revenge, but because she loves her daughter, Ryle, and herself.
Ryle Kincaid
Ryle Kincaid, a confident, gorgeous resident neurosurgeon from England who was born to a psychologist father and a devout mother, is likewise dealing with his past. Ryle was six years old when he accidently shot his older brother, killing him. Ryle has been experiencing fits of fury since then. Focused on his profession, he initially seems to be uninterested in any romance, but eventually falls in love with Lily. His affection for her is insufficient to prevent him from beating her, and his assaults are exacerbated by his insecurity and jealousy of Lily’s previous relationship with Atlas. Although Ryle initially tries to justify his actions, he eventually matures and becomes unselfish, realizing that what he has done to Lily has terminated their relationship and that their separation is best for their daughter.
Atlas Atlas, with brown hair and blue eyes, overcomes his hard history. His mother remarries a man who dislikes him and with whom Atlas had clashed. Atlas is kicked out of his home and forced to live in an abandoned house with no electricity or water. After obtaining Lily’s assistance for several months, he contacts his uncle and relocates to Boston. Throughout this difficult time, he exhibits generosity, and despite having almost little tangible possessions to offer Lily, he offers her his support and expresses gratitude for everything she does for him. Atlas develops strong affections for Lily and swears to find her once his life improves. Atlas’s feelings for Lily compel him to wait for her, first when he meets her after his first military deployment, and again when she is struggling with the effects of Ryle’s abuse. Unlike Ryle, Atlas is confident in Lily’s feelings for him and can prioritize her needs over his desires. He gains success by operating two eateries. At the end of the novel, he finally feels like he can give Lily the life she deserves.
Andrew Bloom
Even though Lily’s abusive father is no longer alive, he continues to throw a long shadow. Andrew, the image-conscious former mayor of Plethora, Maine, is portrayed as a violent and abusive guy who assaulted his wife throughout Lily’s youth and once injured her. When he discovers Atlas with Lily, he assaults the youngster with a bat. According to Lily, Andrew was a harsh, greedy man who once beat his wife over where she parked and did not believe that those in need were deserving of assistance. At the same time, Lily liked Andrew’s ability to treat his wife well at times and his willingness to apologize for hurting her.
Jenny Bloom
Jenny Bloom, a teaching assistant who cared for her violent husband till his death, has been regarded as beautiful by Lily. While Lily initially feels that her mother merely overlooks her difficulties, Jenny’s realization at the end of the novel is that abuse erodes a person’s boundaries. Jenny was imprisoned in her abusive marriage since she had no support and had chosen to leave Andrew. After Andrew’s death, Jenny relocates to Boston to be closer to Lily and begins dating. Her perseverance in the face of adversity serves as an inspiration to Lily.
Allyssa Kincaid
Lily’s best companion throughout the story, the vivacious and wealthy Allysa is Ryle’s sister. She offers to work at Lily’s flower shop as a distraction from her inability to conceive. Over the course of the novel, she becomes pregnant and gives birth to a daughter named Rylee. Despite her connection with Ryle, Allysa is extremely supportive of Lily.