It Ends With Us (Hoover) - Discussion Questions

Discussion Questions
We'll add publisher questions if and when they're available; in the meantime, use our LitLovers talking points to help start a discussion for It Ends With Us...then take off on your own:

1. Lily Bloom gave an uncomplimentary eulogy for her abusive father. Was Lily right to give the kind of eulogy she did? What might you have done—what kind of eulogy might you have given had you been in Lily's shoes? Or...perhaps you have been in her shoes.

2. Why is Lily hesitant at first to become involved with Ryle? Is it his name: is it just too damn perfect to be true? Or is there something else that makes her hold back initially?

3. Talk about Atlas and Lily's young relationship. What drew them together? What happens when they reconnect in Boston?

4. Why does Lily agree to marry Ryle after having rediscovered Atlas...and especially after witnessing Ryle's displays of anger? Is her decision understandable? What would you have advised had she asked you?

5. No Spoiler here: In the end, does Lily make the right decision? What did you want to have happened? What would you have done? Or, again, if you have been in Lily's shoes (or know someone has), what choices did you make?

6. How did learning about Hoover's own familly history affect your reading of her novel?

7. What message have you taken away form this book? Does Hoover overly humanize Ryle, make him too attractive? Or does she give him voice and depth so that we come to understand him?

8. What does the title mean?

(Questions by LitLovers. Please feel free to use them, online or off, with attribution. Thanks.)

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