Audiobook Sample
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- Title: It Ends With Us
- Author: Colleen Hoover
- Narrator: Olivia Song
- Length: 11:18:21
- Version: Abridged
- Release Date: 02/08/2016
- Publisher: Simon & Schuster Audio
- Genre: Romance, Fiction & Literature, Contemporary, Contemporary Women
- ISBN13: 9.78E+12
There’s something about the road that amplifies a good story. The hum of tires on pavement, the blur of landscapes unfolding like pages in a book—it’s a rhythm that begs for a voice to fill the silence. I stumbled upon *It Ends With Us* by Colleen Hoover, narrated by Olivia Song, during a long stretch of highway somewhere between Santa Fe and Taos last summer. The sun was dipping low, painting the desert in hues of fire, and I needed something to keep me company. Little did I know, this audiobook would dig its claws into me, as Anna Todd so aptly warned, and refuse to let go long after the final chapter faded.
I’ve always been a sucker for tales that feel lived-in, stories that unfold like a conversation with an old friend over a plate of tamales in Oaxaca or a glass of vinho tinto in Lisbon. *It Ends With Us* hit me square in the chest from the start. Lily Bloom—yes, that’s her name, and it’s as quirky and resilient as she is—carries the weight of a past she’s fought tooth and nail to rise above. She’s a small-town girl who’s clawed her way to Boston, built a business, and dared to dream bigger than the hand she was dealt. Sound familiar? It reminds me of a time when I was twenty-three, driving a beat-up Jeep through Chile’s Atacama Desert, listening to *One Hundred Years of Solitude* on audiobook. García Márquez’s words danced with the surreal salt flats outside my window, and I felt that same hunger Lily has—a hunger to make something of yourself when the world expects less.
Hoover’s novel isn’t just a romance, though it wears that label proudly. It’s a gut punch wrapped in tenderness, a story about love’s messy edges—how it can lift you up and tear you down in the same breath. Lily meets Ryle Kincaid, a neurosurgeon with a jawline that probably looks as good in scrubs as Olivia Song’s narration makes it sound. He’s all charm and stubbornness, with a soft spot for Lily that feels too good to be true. And it is. Because beneath the surface, Ryle’s got scars of his own, ones that make him push love away even as he pulls Lily closer. Then there’s Atlas Corrigan, her first love, the boy who was her shelter in a storm. When he reenters her life, the whole fragile house of cards Lily’s built with Ryle starts to tremble.
What gets me—really gets me—is how this story mirrors the human connections I’ve chased across continents. I think of those evenings in Oaxaca, sitting cross-legged on a woven rug as Abuela María spun tales of love and betrayal under a flickering lantern. Her voice had this cadence, this way of holding silence like a breath before the next revelation. Olivia Song brings that same magic to this audiobook experience. Her narration is warm, intimate, like she’s sitting beside you, peeling back Lily’s layers with every inflection. You can almost hear the creak of a porch swing in her pauses, taste the bitter coffee Lily sips as she wrestles with her choices. Song doesn’t just read—she inhabits the story, giving Ryle a gruff edge that softens when he’s vulnerable, and Atlas a quiet strength that lingers like a memory.
The audiobook clocks in at just over 11 hours, and every minute feels earned. Simon & Schuster Audio did right by this one—no abridgments, no shortcuts. The sound quality is crisp, letting Song’s voice carry the weight of Hoover’s prose without distraction. But it’s not perfect. There’s a stretch in the middle—around the time Lily’s wrestling with Ryle’s red flags—where the pacing drags a bit, like a car stuck in low gear on a steep climb. I found myself wanting Song to push the tempo, to match the urgency of Lily’s unraveling world. Still, she recovers beautifully in the final act, where the stakes soar and the tears (mine included) flow freely.
Thematically, *It Ends With Us* is a tightrope walk between romance and reckoning. It’s about choosing your struggles, as Mark Manson might say in *The Subtle Art of Not Giving a F*ck*—a book I devoured on a flight to Bogotá once. Lily’s not running from problems; she’s picking which ones she’ll face head-on. Love, for her, isn’t a fairy tale—it’s a battlefield, strewn with the wreckage of her past and the hope of something better. Hoover doesn’t shy away from the ugly bits: the cycle of abuse, the way it echoes through generations like a song you can’t unhear. It’s raw, evocative, and tender all at once, much like the oral histories I’ve collected from fishermen in Galicia or midwives in Senegal.
Compared to other contemporary romance audiobooks—say, Jen Sincero’s *You Are a Badass* with its peppy optimism or even Hoover’s own *It Starts With Us*—this one stands apart for its unflinching honesty. It’s less about the swoon and more about the scars, though the swoon is there in spades. If you’re a fan of romance that doesn’t pull punches, or if you’ve ever loved someone who broke your heart and mended it in the same breath, this listening experience will resonate.
For all its strengths, it’s not flawless. The plot leans hard on coincidence—Atlas popping back into Lily’s life feels a little too convenient, like a storyteller stretching the thread of fate. And Ryle? He’s complex, sure, but there were moments I wished Hoover had peeled back his layers further, given us more of the why behind his walls. Still, these are quibbles in a story that’s otherwise a forever keeper, as *USA TODAY* called it—a book you’d press into a friend’s hands over a campfire.
Who’s this for? Anyone who craves a romance that’s as real as it is dreamy. If you’re new to audiobooks, Olivia Song’s narration makes this a gentle entry point—accessible, immersive, and free if you snag it through certain platforms like Audiobooks.com’s trial. (Yes, a free audiobook that’s this good is a rare gem.) If you’re a road-tripper like me, pop this on during your next long haul—it’ll turn miles into moments.
Reflecting on it now, *It Ends With Us* feels like a journey I didn’t know I needed. It’s the kind of story that sticks with you, like the taste of abuela’s mole or the salt of an ocean breeze. It’s reminded me why I chase stories—because in their telling, we find pieces of ourselves. This audiobook experience didn’t just fill the silence on that New Mexico highway; it carved out a space in my heart.
Until the next tale calls us down the road, Marcus Rivera
Marcus Rivera
