Run Time: 2hrs 11mins

I really had no plans to see this. I had sworn off all Colleen Hoover properties after I reading Verity last year. Ironically, I actually pictured Blake Lively in the role of Verity. But, I had a free ticket after the little scuffle broke out last week (details in my post for Blink Twice) so I figured why not catch the only movie I hadn’t seen yet? It was about what I expected. For the past 2 weeks my for you page on TikTok has been overrun with all the latest drama surrounding this movie and it’s controversies. If you didn’t know, the basic rundown is that Blake Lively has recently been accused of being a mean girl and really not taking the themes of this movie seriously while on the press tour for it. She was quoted in an ad saying “Bring your girlfriends and wear your florals” making it seem like it’s going to be a fun romance, not a movie depicting disturbing domestic violence and assault. Colleen Hoover herself is also not with out her controversies, but I’ll let you decide if you want to go down that rabbit hole. There’s something very strange going on in Hollywood right now, and I imagine it has to do with the 2023 strikes. The writing in many movies seems really rough and unfinished. Also, I find it very odd that there are 2 different movies playing in theaters right now that include intense scenes of gratuitous violence against women. I don’t think either film handled this topic with the respect it deserves, and they both failed to properly convey the topics with in advertisements, leaving many viewers feeling blindsided. However, even beyond the real life controversies the movie itself is just not great. It reminded me so much of the tragic romance stories that were so popular on Tumblr and Wattpad in the 2010s. Especially the soundtrack, this definitely would’ve been in a top 10 movie soundtracks blogpost.😂 Not to mention the line delivery was so bad at moments I had to stifle laughter a couple times. Side note: just because your character acknowledges her name Lily Blossom Bloom is ridiculous, does not make is any ridiculous. Did you go to the JK Rowling school of naming characters? Looking at you Cho Chang. Beyond the teen drama vibes, the movie also really struggles with pacing and I was actually a little bored at points. I will say I didn’t have the same visceral reaction I did to Blink Twice but I think that’s only because I knew what was going to happen. Now, I know there are plenty of die hard Hoover fans, along with the people who felt this story spoke to them and even helped them see their own abuse. There is absolutely nothing wrong with being moved by a story like that. However, there are so many other movies and media that are much more tactful in their approach. If you are interested in a story involving overcoming domestic violence and breaking cycles of abuse, I HIGHLY recommend the novel and now series Maid. It’s the beautiful memoir written by Stephanie Land, about her struggle to break free from an emotionally abusive relationship and keep her daughter safe. It focuses much more on the fall out from emotional abuse, rather than depicting any gratuitous physical violence. For now I give It Ends With Us a 4/10, I still won’t be reading anymore Hoover books.