Hot Take: It Starts & Ends

With Us

While it ends with Ryle and starts with Atlas, the book club of all book clubs begins with Hauste. This is our Hot Take on how to curate a modern book club gathering inspired by Colleen Hoover’s most-celebrated series – complete with recipes reminiscent of Lily’s love stories, decor full of blooms, outfits that Blake Lively should’ve been spotted in & more.

The Vibe

Effortless yet eclectic, bold yet casual – just as these novels emphasize the duality of human character, this aesthetic should combine contrasting vibes. Mutli-colored serveware, quilted patchwork jackets, and playlists that put you in your feels. Let the curation of this dinner party be your version of Lily’s gardening – an outlet for creativity and a means to spark joy in others.

The Food

Because of the many memorable meals described within these novels, this menu foregoes a perfectly-engineered formula of salt, fat, acid and heat, and instead, allows the story to dictate the spice, sweet, and savory. From Lily and Atlas’ first date to Sutton’s favorite meal, this menu revisits the most heartwarming and wrenching moments to inspire all-night-long discussions.

First Date Sliders

Atlas’ Chocolate Chip Cookies

Cheeseboard

Warm Marinated Olives

Atlas' Chocolate Chip Cookies (V)

Cape Cod Coconut Shrimp

Amidst Atlas’ many reunions in It Starts With Us and tense moments in Lily’s flower shop, a take-the-edge-off beverage is a necessity. A grilled stone fruit sangria is sure to be Atlas-approved while a flower-topped elderberry cocktail pays homage to our protagonist – signature drinks at the wedding we’d all be dying to go to.

Bloom Spritz

It Starts With Us Sangria

The Discussion

It End With Us

When Lily and Ryle first meet, they start telling each other naked truths. Do you agree that sometimes it's easier to be completely honest with someone you’ve just met? Why do you think that is?
One very influential character in the book is Ryle’s sister and Lily’s best friend, Alyssa. How do you think having a character who has loyalties to both of the protagonists changes the tone of the book?
“It’s easy when we’re on the outside to believe that we would walk away without a second thought if a person mistreated us. It’s easy to say we couldn’t continue to love someone who mistreats us when we aren’t the ones feeling the love of that person. When you experience it firsthand, it isn’t so easy to hate the person who mistreats you when most of the time they’re your godsend.” How do you feel about this quote?
When you learn of Ryle’s childhood trauma with his brother who dies, does it change anything for how you feel about Ryle’s character? What do you think Hoover was trying to do with this backstory?
Of all the many heart-wrenching moments in the book, which stuck out to you the most? On the other side of the spectrum, which filled you with the most happiness and/or hope?

It Starts With Us

Consider the two titles of the books in this series, It Ends with Us and It Starts with Us. What do you think is the significance of the title of the book in each case?
Atlas enters Lily’s life again after a chance encounter, but we learn he had always been preparing for Lily in the back of his mind. In what ways does he create a different world for Lily and her daughter?
The story is told by alternating between the perspectives of Lily and Atlas. How does that change the tempo, mood, and overall feel of the story?
Is there anything in the book that came as a huge surprise? Anything you expected to happen but that never did?
It Starts with Us was written because Colleen Hoover fans begged, pleaded, and petitioned for another installment to the series. Do you think she made the right decision by giving into to her fans requests?