By Brianna Brinker, Staff Writer
A well-known author, Colleen Hoover, released a book called “It Ends with Us” in 2016. Fast forward to 2024, she has sold over 10 million copies to people worldwide.
The book was so well-loved that the movie version of It Ends with Us came to life. Director and actor, Justin Baldoni, and screenplay Co-Writer, Christy Hall, saw Colleen Hover’s book as a great opportunity for a cinematographic production.
The movie came out on August 9th, 2024, and was watched over 120 million times only in the first 24 hours.
It Ends with Us is a story about a young woman named Lily Bloom who dreams of opening her own flower shop. Throughout her journey, she deals with past trauma from her childhood, dealing with her mother being abused by her father. As much as she tries to avoid memories of her childhood, she later finds herself dealing with abuse in her own relationship.
Lily finds herself meeting new people and reconnecting with people from her past. This story explores relationships about love and pain and the choices Lily makes along the way.
There are so many details collected in the book version of It Ends with Us, that it was a concern of fans of the book that the movie would not be as favored.
Reading books allows your brain to imagine everything as if you were watching a movie in your own head, such as what the characters look like and how the scenes are perceived. Book fans know all the details they read, so they have noticed all the details that were excluded in the movie.
For the fans of It Ends with Us, there are some key differences you might have noticed throughout the movie.
First, Lily Bloom’s age, who was played by Blake Lively. In the book, she was only 23, a recent graduate from college. In the movie, they aged her 13 years older. It led the characters to be more mature and further in life.
Another change was the absence of some characters. For instance, Lily’s best friend, Devin. Her roommate, Lucy. As well as Ryles’ parents.
Atlas Corrigan, Lily’s first love as a teenager, who was played by Brennan Sklenar, has a love for cooking and later opens his own restaurant. Fans noticed that the name of his restaurant was different from the name in the book.
In the book, it was called Bibs. It stands for “Better in Boston,” a saying he treasured from his past relationship with Lily Bloom. In the movie, it is called Root which is from a memory he shared with Lily from his childhood.
Another key difference between the book and the movie is that in the book, Lily wrote in her journals to the TV host, Ellen DeGeneres, about every key detail of her life. In the movie, it is not shown very much.
Maddie Melendez, a senior majoring in criminal justice-homeland security, says, “A big difference I found between the movie and books was the exclusion of the Ellen storyline. Although for the movie it may not have been important to include, it was one of my favorite parts to read.”
Lastly, Lily reacts differently to the abusive acts Ryle commits against her. In the book, Lily stands her ground more and tells him she will leave him if it happens again. In the movie, she dismisses the first two abusive acts until the third incident.
Lily Glasglow, a sophomore majoring in nursing, said, “I liked that domestic violence was the biggest plot point because it is such a prevalent issue men and women suffer through. It could’ve easily been glossed over but it wasn’t.”
It Ends with Us is a powerful book and movie and expresses that it takes strength to break free from a toxic relationship. It represents the importance of loving yourself and forgiveness. Likewise, it is important to know you can leave the abusiveness of relationships and create a happy ending. That’s what It Ends with Us is truly about.
If you or a loved one is struggling with domestic violence, please call 800-799-SAFE (7233) or text “HOME” to 741741.
