03/02/2025
It Ends with Us.
Lily Bloom visits her hometown in Maine to deliver a eulogy at her father Andrew's funeral. At the funeral, she says she will list five of her favorite things about him, but stares silently at her empty list before walking off.
Back home in Boston, Lily sits on the rooftop of an apartment complex when a man arrives and angrily kicks a chair. He apologizes, introduces himself as Ryle Kincaid, and reveals that he is a neurosurgeon. They flirt, but their encounter is cut short when Ryle is called for an emergency surgery.
While renovating the building that will become her first flower shop, Lily Bloom's, Lily meets Allysa, who is looking for work. Lily hires Allysa and they soon become close friends. Lily later learns that Ryle is Allysa's brother.
At Allysa's birthday party, Ryle confesses to Lily that he is infatuated with her. They kiss, but Lily stops him from going further, citing that he is only interested in casual s*x while she wants a relationship. She spends the night at his apartment without having s*x. The next morning, she agrees to date him. Ryle convinces Lily to take him to meet her mother, Jenny, at a new restaurant, Root; while there, Lily discovers that the owner and head chef is her high school boyfriend, Atlas Corrigan.
A series of flashbacks reveals that Lily's father was physically abusive to Jenny. One day, Lily discovered Atlas living in a vacant home next door after he ran away to escape his mother's abusive boyfriend. Lily befriended him, and they soon fell in love. Upon finding Lily and Atlas in bed, Andrew severely beat Atlas, resulting in the latter being hospitalized. Atlas then left for the Marines, and consequently did not see Lily for many years.
One morning, Ryle burns his hand while cooking breakfast. When Lily tries to help him, he slaps her, but immediately apologizes and insists it was an accident. He later takes Lily, Allysa, and Allysa's husband Marshall to dinner at Root, where Atlas notices Lily's bruised eye and Ryle's bandaged hand. Atlas confronts her in the bathroom and implores her to leave Ryle. Ryle finds them and assumes the worst, leading to a physical altercation that culminates in Atlas ejecting Ryle.
Atlas visits Lily's shop to apologize and gives her his phone number in case she ever needs it. Lily tells Ryle about the history of abuse in her family. While visiting Allysa and Marshall in the hospital following the birth of their daughter, Ryle proposes to Lily, which she accepts. Soon after they elope, Ryle finds Atlas' number hidden in Lily's phone case. In the ensuing argument, he pushes Lily down the stairs and knocks her unconscious, though later he claims she accidentally fell and that he tried to catch her.
Both Lily Bloom's and Root are featured in a local magazine, including an interview with Atlas in which he explains he named the restaurant in Lily's honor. In a jealous rage, Ryle attempts to r**e her. She escapes and seeks out Atlas. He takes her to the hospital, where she discovers that she is pregnant. She stays with Atlas for a few days, during which he reveals that he planned to commit su***de on the night she found him, but she inspired him to continue living.
When Lily opens up to Allysa about Ryle, Allysa confides that, at six years old, Ryle accidentally shot and killed their older brother, Emerson, leading to unresolved trauma that manifests in bouts of uncontrollable rage. She insists that Lily not take Ryle back. Lily moves out, though Ryle implores her to return, promising to seek help and cease the abuse. Shortly after giving birth to their daughter, whom they name after Emerson, Lily tells Ryle she wants a divorce. He begs her to reconsider but finally agrees after she asks him how he would react if their daughter were being abused by a partner. She hopes she has finally ended the cycle of abuse in her family, telling her daughter, "It ends with us."
Months later, Lily and Jenny take Emerson to visit Andrew's grave, where Lily leaves the blank eulogy on his headstone. Lily later encounters Atlas at a market. She tells him that she is no longer with Ryle, and they smile at each other.
PDF and EPUB files.