It Ends With Us Literary Elements

Romance

Set in present-day Boston

The novel is written in the third-person limited point of view. The narrator follows the main character, Lily, as she navigates through life and relationships.

The tone of the novel is both emotionally charged and emotionally intense. The mood of the novel is bittersweet, as it deals with themes of love, abuse, and healing.

Protagonist: Lily Bloom Antagonist: Ryle Kincaid

The main conflict is the protagonist’s struggle to make sense of her abusive relationship with her husband Ryle. She is faced with the difficult decision of leaving him and facing her guilt or staying with him and enduring further abuse. This internal conflict is further complicated by Lily's past experiences with her father's domestic abuse of her mother and her current relationship with her new love, Atlas.

The climax occurs when Lily finally confronts Ryle and admits to herself that she doesn't love him. She breaks free from his control and reclaims her power.

The reader is made aware of the protagonist's complicated relationship with her father, which hints at the eventual heartbreaking climax. There are also moments of foreshadowing when the protagonist meets her future husband, as the reader is aware that their relationship will eventually end in disaster.

The protagonist, Lily, often uses understatement to express her feelings of sorrow, pain, and confusion. For example, when Lily's father dies, she understates how she expresses her sadness. This understatement serves to emphasize her deep grief and shows her quiet strength.

“I addressed each of my entries to Ellen DeGeneres because I began watching her show the first day it aired in 2003 when I was just a little girl. I watched it every day after school and was convinced Ellen would love me if she got to know me.”

“My eyes are drawn to the warm, neutral colors painted on the walls and the almost full-sized tree in the middle of the restaurant. It looks like it’s growing straight out of the floor, almost as if the entire restaurant was designed around the tree.”

Throughout the novel, the protagonist, Lily, experiences both the positive and negative effects of love. She realizes that love can be both a source of strength and a source of pain. This idea of love being both good and bad is a paradox that is explored throughout the novel.

Throughout the novel, Lily’s current relationship with Ryle echoes her past relationship with her abusive father. Both men are possessive and controlling, and both do not respect Lily’s boundaries and personal space. By paralleling the two relationships, the author highlights the cycle of abuse and how it can be repeated in different relationships.

Metonymy: The phrase “one-night stand” is used as a metonym for casual relationships.

Synecdoche: The phrase “Holy Grail” is used as a synecdoche for a long-term, committed relationship.

“My words knock the breath from him”