{{short description|2022 novel by Colleen Hoover}} {{Use mdy dates|date=October 2022}} {{Infobox book | name = It Starts with Us | image = It Starts with Us (Colleen Hoover).png | alt = | caption = First edition cover | author = [[Colleen Hoover]] | language = English | genre = [[Romance novel|Romance]] | publisher = [[Atria Books]] | pub_date = October 18, 2022 | pub_place = New York | media_type = Print (paperback) | pages = 336 | isbn = 978-1-66800-122-6 | isbn_note = (First edition) | oclc = | dewey = | congress = | preceded_by = [[It Ends with Us]] }} '''''It Starts with Us''''' is a [[romance novel]] by [[Colleen Hoover]], published by [[Atria Books]] on October 18, 2022.<ref>{{cite news|last=Veltman|first=Chloe|date=October 24, 2022|title=Author Colleen Hoover went from tending cows to writing bestsellers|url=https://www.npr.org/2022/10/24/1129735256/colleen-hoover-bestselling-author-releases-new-novel-it-starts-with-us|work=[[All Things Considered]]|publisher=[[NPR]]|access-date=October 3, 2023}}</ref> It is the sequel to her 2016 best-selling novel ''[[It Ends with Us]]''.<ref>{{cite news|last=Mechling|first=Lauren|date=October 12, 2022|title='Never seen anything like it': how Colleen Hoover's normcore thrillers made her America's bestselling author|url=https://www.theguardian.com/books/2022/oct/11/colleen-hoover-author-tiktok-it-ends-with-us|newspaper=[[The Guardian]]|access-date=October 18, 2022}}</ref> The novel continues from where ''It Ends with Us'' ended and centers on the relationship between Lily and Atlas.<ref>{{cite magazine|last=Haupt|first=Angela|date=October 12, 2022|title=Why We Can't Stop Reading Colleen Hoover's Trauma-Filled Novels|url=https://time.com/6221457/colleen-hoover-trauma-it-starts-with-us/|magazine=[[Time (magazine)|Time]]|access-date=October 18, 2022|archive-date=October 18, 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221018042821/https://time.com/6221457/colleen-hoover-trauma-it-starts-with-us/|url-status=dead}}</ref> It alternates chapters between the [[First-person narrative|first-person narration]] of Lily and Atlas.<ref name="Telegraph" /> The sequel was first announced in February 2022.<ref>{{cite news|date=February 11, 2022|title=Atria Books to Publish Colleen Hoover's Sequel to Viral BookTok Novel, It Ends With Us in October 2022|url=https://about.simonandschuster.biz/news/hoover-it-starts-with-us/|work=simonandschuster.biz|access-date=October 18, 2022|archive-date=May 28, 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230528202714/https://about.simonandschuster.biz/news/hoover-it-starts-with-us/|url-status=dead}}</ref> It became [[Simon & Schuster]]'s most pre-ordered book of all time.<ref>{{cite magazine|last=Comerford|first=Ruth|date=October 17, 2022|title=New Colleen Hoover becomes S&S's most pre-ordered title to date as campaign unveiled|url=https://www.thebookseller.com/news/new-colleen-hoover-becomes-sss-most-pre-ordered-title-to-date-as-campaign-unveiled|magazine=[[The Bookseller]]|access-date=October 18, 2022}}</ref> Hoover wrote the novel as a "thank you" to fans of the first novel.<ref name="Telegraph"/>
==Plot== Lily Bloom's daughter Emerson with ex-husband Ryle Kincaid is now 11 months old. Lily unexpectedly runs into her former lover, Atlas Corrigan, on the streets of Boston, but the encounter is cut short. After dropping Emerson off with Ryle, Lily returns to work. She is unable to stop thinking about her run-in with Atlas, but is hesitant to text him out of fear of how Ryle will react.
Atlas' friend Theo convinces him to text Lily, but Atlas is disappointed by her curt response. When Lily returns to her apartment that evening, she finds Ryle and Emerson inside. He requests to start having overnights with Emerson, but Lily asserts that Emerson will not be allowed to stay with Ryle overnight until she is old enough to speak. She also requests that Ryle return her apartment key, which he begrudgingly does.
Atlas' restaurants are being vandalized, but he chooses not to report it to the police after he discovers some food missing, empathizing as he too was once homeless and starving. While inspecting some of the damage, he receives a call from ahis estranged mother, Sutton, whom he hangs up on and immediately blocks.
Atlas visits Lily at her flower shop. Ryle arrives unannounced. Lily, nervous about how Ryle will react to seeing Atlas there, hides Atlas in a closet. That night, Atlas invites Lily on a date, and she accepts. She drops off Emerson with her best friend and Ryle's sister, Allysa. While on the drive to their date, Lily falls asleep. Instead of waking her, Atlas occupies himself by reading journal entries Lily wrote about him when they were kids.
When Lily returns to pick up Emerson, she finds Ryle watching ''[[Finding Nemo]]'' with her. Ryle is angry, having deduced that Emerson's middle name, Dory, is dedicated to Atlas because of the significance the movie had to Lily and Atlas as children, but Lily asserts she chose the name unrelated to Atlas.
Sutton shows up at one of Atlas' restaurants and reveals that he has an eleven-year-old brother named Josh, who is missing. Later that night, Atlas waits at one of his restaurants to confront the vandal, who returns and is revealed to be Josh. Atlas takes Josh in, initially planning to return him to Sutton, but he changes his mind after witnessing her abusing Josh.
While attending a wedding together, Atlas notices a heart-shaped tattoo on Lily's collarbone. After she tells him he was the reason she got the tattoo, they share a kiss, and have sex later that night. Atlas leaves early the next morning to take care of Josh, leaving Lily a note. Ryle arrives at Lily's apartment; when he sees undergarments strewn around her living room, he assaults Lily in a jealous rage. She flees the apartment and collects Emerson from her mother's house. Lily takes Emerson to Atlas' house, where Lily and Atlas officially define their relationship.
Ryle sends Lily aggressive drunken texts throughout the following days. Eventually, he shows up at her flower shop. Lily says she will be talking to a lawyer about his custody of their daughter. Ryle goes to Atlas's restaurant and assaults him. Atlas does not fight back, instead trying to talk him down. Ryle is frustrated, but ends up leaving.
While at Emerson's birthday party, Ryle tries to talk to Lily, but she refuses to speak with him alone, saying she will only converse with him if Allysa and her husband Marshall are there. When the four meet, Lily delivers an ultimatum: Ryle must attend anger management courses, and his visits with Emerson be supervised. Ryle is enraged, but ultimately agrees to her terms.
Meanwhile, Sutton implores Josh to come live with her, but he declines, insisting on living with his father in Vermont. Atlas takes Josh to see his father, but Josh changes his mind and wants to live with Atlas instead. Atlas meets with Sutton at his restaurant and requests full parental rights over Josh, with weekly family dinners at Atlas's restaurant, to which Sutton ultimately agrees.
Six months later, Atlas asks Lily to move in with him, and she accepts. A year and a half later, Theo helps a nervous Atlas go over his wedding vows to Lily, which include a reference to ''[[Finding Nemo]]''.
==Reception== By the end of its release day, the novel sold 800,000 copies, a number that includes pre-orders and first-day sales.<ref>{{cite magazine|title=Colleen Hoover's 'It Starts with Us' Sets S&S Sales Record|date=October 20, 2022|url=https://www.publishersweekly.com/pw/newsbrief/index.html?record=3975|magazine=[[Publishers Weekly]]|access-date=December 3, 2022}}</ref> ''It Starts with Us'' debuted at number one on [[The New York Times Best Seller list|''The New York Times'' fiction best-seller list]] for the week ending October 22, 2022.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.nytimes.com/books/best-sellers/2022/11/06/combined-print-and-e-book-fiction/|title=Combined Print & E-Book Fiction|work=[[The New York Times]]|date=November 6, 2022|access-date=October 28, 2022}}</ref> It was the third best-selling novel of the year according to ''[[Publishers Weekly]]'', selling a total of 1,885,351 copies.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Milliot |first=Jim |title=Colleen Hoover Was Queen of 2022's Bestseller List |url=https://www.publishersweekly.com/pw/by-topic/industry-news/bookselling/article/91256-colleen-hoover-was-queen-of-2022-s-bestseller-list.html |access-date=April 28, 2023 |website=[[Publishers Weekly]] |language=en}}</ref> The next year it was the second best-selling novel of 2023, selling a total of 1,244,471 copies.<ref>{{cite magazine|last=Milliot|first=Jim|date=8 January 2024|title=Women Ruled the 2023 Bestseller List|url=https://www.publishersweekly.com/pw/by-topic/industry-news/bookselling/article/94047-women-ruled-the-2023-bestseller-list.html|magazine=[[Publishers Weekly]]|access-date=January 12, 2024}}</ref>
In its [[starred review]], ''[[Publishers Weekly]]'' called it a "stunning sequel" that showcases "the author's talent for creating nuanced and empathetic characters".<ref>{{cite magazine|date=October 18, 2022|title=It Starts with Us|url=https://www.publishersweekly.com/978-1-66800-122-6|magazine=[[Publishers Weekly]]|access-date=October 19, 2022}}</ref> ''[[Kirkus Reviews]]'' wrote, "Through palpable tension balanced with glimmers of hope, Hoover beautifully captures the heartbreak and joy of starting over."<ref>{{cite magazine|date=July 27, 2022|title=It Starts with Us by Colleen Hoover|url=https://www.kirkusreviews.com/book-reviews/colleen-hoover/it-starts-with-us/|magazine=[[Kirkus Reviews]]|access-date=October 18, 2022}}</ref> Marianka Swain of ''[[The Daily Telegraph]]'' gave the novel 2 out of 5 stars, describing Hoover's writing quality as "closer to ''[[Fifty Shades of Grey]]'', a strange mix of twee and graphic, plus the added irritant of solemn therapy-speak pronouncements". Swain also lamented, "She [Hoover] favours blunt dialogue and inner monologues over description, subtext or character development."<ref name="Telegraph">{{cite news|last=Swain|first=Marianka|date=October 17, 2022|title=BookTok superstar Colleen Hoover has sold 20 million novels – but does she glamourise trauma?|url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/books/what-to-read/starts-us-colleen-hoover-review-booktok-superstar-brings-back/|url-status=live|newspaper=[[The Daily Telegraph]]|archive-url=https://archive.today/20221017210924/https://www.telegraph.co.uk/books/what-to-read/starts-us-colleen-hoover-review-booktok-superstar-brings-back/|archive-date=October 17, 2022|access-date=October 18, 2022|url-access=subscription}}</ref> Alice Giddings of ''[[Metro (British newspaper)|Metro]]'' wrote, "While it doesn't have the grit or the emotional pain and catharsis of the first book, Colleen's latest work is exactly what it needs to be, which is the light at the end of the tunnel."<ref>{{cite news|last=Giddings|first=Alice|date=October 17, 2022|title=It Starts With Us review: The long-awaited It Ends With Us sequel drops tomorrow|url=https://metro.co.uk/2022/10/17/colleen-hoovers-it-starts-with-us-book-review-17565492/|newspaper=[[Metro (British newspaper)|Metro]]|access-date=October 18, 2022}}</ref>
''It Starts with Us'' was named [[WHSmith]]'s Book of the Year for 2022.<ref>{{cite magazine|last=Comerford|first=Ruth|date=October 18, 2022|title=Hoover's It Starts With Us named W H Smith's Book of the Year|url=https://www.thebookseller.com/news/hoovers-it-starts-with-us-named-w-h-smiths-book-of-the-year|magazine=[[The Bookseller]]|access-date=October 18, 2022}}</ref>
==Film adaptation== [[Justin Baldoni]]'s Wayfarer Studios holds the rights to ''It Ends with Us'' and ''It Starts with Us'' after acquiring them in 2019.<ref name="Variety-0827">{{cite web|url=https://variety.com/2024/film/news/it-ends-with-us-sequel-in-doubt-blake-lively-justin-baldoni-feud-1236114099/|title=''It Ends With Us'' Sequel in Doubt Amid Blake Lively-Justin Baldoni Feud: 'There's Probably No World Where They Work Together Again'|date=August 27, 2024|first1=Rebecca|last1=Rubin|first2=Tatiana|last2=Siegel|website=[[Variety (magazine)|Variety]]|access-date=August 27, 2024}}</ref> In August 2024, following the release of [[It Ends with Us (film)|the film adaptation of ''It Ends with Us'']], director Justin Baldoni acknowledged the potential for a film adaptation of the sequel novel. However, he later stated that he would not return in his role as director, suggesting that [[Blake Lively]] direct the film instead.<ref name="Future_ET">{{cite web|url=https://www.facebook.com/EntertainmentTonight/videos/509011211621775/|work=[[Entertainment Tonight]]|title='It Ends With Us': What Justin Baldoni Hopes to Achieve With Blake Lively|author=Smith, Rachel|date=August 9, 2024|accessdate=August 12, 2024|archive-date=August 12, 2024|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240812125537/https://www.facebook.com/EntertainmentTonight/videos/509011211621775/|url-status=live}}</ref><ref name="Future_Deadline">{{cite web|url=https://deadline.com/2024/08/justin-baldoni-directing-it-ends-with-us-sequel-blake-lively-1236035888/|work=[[Deadline Hollywood]]|title=Justin Baldoni On Directing 'It Ends With Us' Sequel: "There Are Better People For That One, I Think Blake Lively's Ready To Direct"|author=Tinoco, Armando|date=August 9, 2024|accessdate=August 12, 2024|archive-date=August 11, 2024|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240811212145/https://deadline.com/2024/08/justin-baldoni-directing-it-ends-with-us-sequel-blake-lively-1236035888/|url-status=live}}</ref>
==References== {{Reflist}}
{{Colleen Hoover}} {{Authority control}}
[[Category:2022 American novels]] [[Category:2022 English-language novels]] [[Category:American romance novels]] [[Category:Atria Publishing Group books]] [[Category:Contemporary romance novels]] [[Category:First-person narrative novels]] [[Category:Novels by Colleen Hoover]] [[Category:Novels set in Boston]] [[Category:Sequel novels]]