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Books/Art

‘It Ends With Us’ book review

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By: Ella Sutherland & Lauren Kottke

Note: This book review details abuse in a relationship, so note this may be a trigger for some.

*Spoiler Alert* This review gives aways details about the end of the book.

‘It Ends With Us’ is a heartfelt story about a girl named Lily Bloom that grew up in a small town in Maine. She did not have a great life growing up because her dad was not a good person. Her dad abused her mother all throughout Lily’s life and she never could figure out why her mother stayed. When she grew up she ended up moving to Boston which had been her dream for so long.

One night she was on a rooftop after her dad’s funeral, where she gave a eulogy. While she was up there a man came up and he was very angry. They started talking and she learned that he was a doctor and he had lost a patient and that’s why he was angry. They had a strong connection and when they parted he took a photo of her.

They ended up meeting again when she opened a flower shop and his sister started working for Lily. They begin to get really close and started falling in love. Everything in their relationship is going good until Ryle burns his hand and gets angry and hits her. He promises he would never do it again.

A couple days later they go to a restaurant, and Atlas (her childhood love) is the chef. He notices that she is hurt and so is her hand, so he confronts her and she gets mad. He comes to her shop the next day and gives her his number in case of emergency.

Nothing bad happens for awhile and Ryle and Lily get married in Vegas. A few weeks later, Ryle finds the number Atlas gave her, gets really mad, and pushes her down the stairs. He again apologizes and says it won’t happen again.

Then Atlas comes out with an article about his restaurant called BIBS which stands for “Better in Boston”. On Lily’s fridge there is a magnet that says “Better in Boston”. Ryle puts it together that they were in love and gets so mad that he hits her and then tries to force himself on top of her. She then calls Atlas and he picks her up. In the end, she goes to the hospital and finds out she is pregnant, and she has the baby and tells Ryle that she wants a divorce.

Throughout the entire book Lily is reading her old letters that she wrote to Ellen Degeneres, who she had as a pretend friend. It goes more in depth about her past life. She didn’t have many real friends and one day she saw a boy that turned out to be Atlas. He was on her school bus and he got off at the same stop. She noticed that he took a weird route to walk home from the bus stop and saw that he went into the house that had been abandoned for a while.

After seeing him for many days and realizing that he was homeless, she left blankets and food at his doorstep. They started to become friends and would always hangout. They eventually developed more of a romantic relationship. He was Lily’s first kiss. He would go over to her house everyday after school before her parents came home from work.

One day they witnessed Lily’s dad tried to force himself on Lily’s mom and Lily saw and tried to call the police, but her mom stopped her. She was very angry at her mom for letting her dad get away with hurting her.

Lily and Atlas were getting closer and their dream they shared was to move to Boston when they were older. Atlas was leaving for the military, and on his last night he and Lily were making out in her room and Lily’s dad came in and beat up Atlas almost to the point of death. She never saw Atlas again until Boston.

Lily spent her childhood watching her father continually abuse her mother. She felt helpless in the situation because she had no power. All she wanted to do was protect her mom. But she mostly couldn’t understand why her mother would stay with such a horrible person. Her mom and dad stayed together for awhile until Lily’s dad passed away. Lily never really forgives her dad for what he did to her mom.

It is very unusual for Colleen to use real events in her books, except for ‘It Ends With Us’. The book revolves around Colleen’s own mother’s story. Her mother went through abuse and felt she was only doing justice by telling her mom’s story. In the book, the first time Lily was hit by Ryle is actually a true story. It is the exact same incident that happened to Colleen’s mom.

It was hard for Colleen to write a story so personal. Writing events that she witnessed. She took her time to depict the characters in the perfect way. She made characters that the readers fall in love with to show the heartbreak that victims go through. Colleen’s mom fell in love with her dad and went through heartbreak as he turned into a different person. This book shows how hard it is to leave someone you care so much about.

Ella give this book a 5/5 and Lauren gives it a 4.5/5

Clubs and Activities, School Life

The Plaid (On)Line?

A few weeks ago, a mysterious box was anonymously dropped off at the office of Highland Park. Within it, a hodgepodge of peculiar papers. Some were carefully sorted in chronological order, others waiting to be unearthed and dusted off like fossils. Some yellowed and faded by time, others more boisterous and flashy in style. But mainly, there was words. All full of them, so many. Words. The box was lugged up to room 2205, where Ms. Hanson deposited it in the hands of Ms. Lingofelt, the newly-appointed school newspaper adviser.

Numerous, forgotten editions of The Plaid Line had come home.

I had walked into Ms. Lingofelt’s room last month for the second meeting of the school newspaper with a renewed sense of hope. Despite a limited number of people showing up for the last meeting, I could see the potential. The potential of The Plaid Line actually being something other than a complete and utter flop, like the previous year. The possibility of The Plaid Line actually mattering to the student body, of making a difference. I was excited by talk of finding a place in cyberspace; the establishment of a website that could and would reach further. “Starting from scratch!” I had dreamt.

I hadn’t known, I never knew of what had been, until I was introduced to the archives of The Plaid Line. With the first edition being printed in 1964, The Plaid Line strived to bring the Highland Park Senior High community closer. Of course, the newspaper staff members and advisers changed systematically. Inevitably, The Plaid Line evolved. I saw this evolution first hand, taking some time to page through the hundreds of articles.It was hard not to smile at an article from 1965 by Claudia Winters, “Senior’s Hives Buzz With Much Activity”, highlighting a student whose hobby was beekeeping. I was astonished by how that pyramid I pass every morning after getting off the bus meant so much to the students of 1994, who were upset at its almost abolishment. Their protest was documented in “No More Pyramid?” by Elizabeth Geery. I couldn’t help but laugh at an article from 2002, “Movement to DVD” by Garrett Tiedemann, which observed the transition happening in video stores from VHS tapes to DVDs. As I read more and more, I couldn’t help but wonder why this fascinating testament of Highland’s history fell apart. These articles transcend time, and define what should be: a school newspaper enrichment of the high school experience. I became determined to restore The Plaid Line to its original glory, because we as students deserve as much.

However, I cannot do it all on my own. We need you. If you don’t think you could help out, you’re wrong. At The Plaid Line, we are going to strive to provide a little bit of everything, so if you are interested in anything, that means you can help out. As much as it would be great to get more people on The Plaid Line, there is something we need from you even more: your support. Please check out our website often for new, exciting content, follow our Twitter, or receive notifications by email. The Plaid Line wants to serve all Highland Park Senior High students, staff, parents, and alumni. This is possible, but only with your endorsement of the new, online Plaid Line. Please tell your friends, and have those friends tell their friends, and so on and so forth. Spread the word: The Plaid Line is back. And just in time for its 49th volume.

Look familiar? This is a photo pulled from the 1974 October edition of The Plaid Line, showing students milling about the courtyard before school starts.
Look familiar? This is a photo pulled from the 1974 October edition of The Plaid Line, showing students milling about the courtyard before school starts.