Fans of It Ends With Us, the Colleen Hoover novel that came out in 2016 and went viral during lockdown, are not ready for the movie adaptation. Starring actress Blake Lively (who also owns Betty Buzz and just launched her own haircare line), Justin Baldoni and Brandon Sklenar as Lily, Ryle and Atlas respectively, the story follows a florist in Boston, who falls in love with a complicated neurosurgeon. But when her childhood sweetheart shows up, and her relationship begins to fall apart, her true feelings are questioned.
The novel was a Sunday Times bestseller, with multi-millions of copies sold worldwide. So, how does the movie adaptation compare? Will fans of Lily in the book recognise her on screen? Have changes been made to Ryle's actions? Here are 15 differences we spotted between the It Ends With Us book and movie adaptation.
*This list contains spoilers, obviously*
It Ends With Us book v movie differences
1.Lily has a roommate named Lucy in the book. They live together in Boston until Lucy gets engaged to her boyfriend Alex, and moves out while there's still six months on the lease. Lily is thrilled about it, as it means she can see Ryle at her flat whenever she likes. However in the adaptation, we actually don't really see where Lily lives before Ryle, and instead only see the luxury apar
2. Lily Bloom is much older in the movie adaptation. In the book, Lily is 23 years old, but it's clear from the adaptation that the character is much older. Showrunners have said this was a purposeful move, to help explain how Lily had the means to buy her own flower shop, and also the fact she was played by Blake Lively, who is 36.
3. Ryle goes into Lily's florist because Lily rolled her ankle in the book, not because she needs help putting up a floral installation. The fact Ryle's sister works for Lily, and they're all wearing onesies, remains the same.
4. The name of Atlas's restaurant is different. In the book, it's called Bib's, which stands for Better in Boston (a phrase that Atlas told Lily when they were teenagers, which she has as a fridge magnet.) In the movie, it's called Roots, which relates to a story Lily told him about the roots of an oak tree, which inspired the heart tattoo Lily has on her collarbone.
5. Lily and Atlas witness Lily's dad hitting her mum in the book. In the adaptation, we only see flashbacks of Lily seeing what her mum went through, but telling Atlas about it afterwards.
6. Lily's journal plays a big role in the book. It's a clever tool used to detail her relationship with Atlas. She's a huge fan of Ellen DeGeneres, so is addressing each journal entry to the host, and it's when Ryle reads the journal that he attacks her for the third time. When Ryle and Lily break up, she starts writing in them again.
7. In the book, Lily phones Atlas after Ryle attacks her, and he comes to pick her up. In the adaptation, after the final fight between the pair, which results in a trip to the hospital for Lily, she turns up in the kitchen where Atlas works, and he takes her to the hospital from there.
8. Lily remembers the violence after the casserole incident differently in the book. In the film, when Ryle hits her after the casserole dish falls to the ground, there's a small question mark over whether he actually meant to hurt her, or if his arm lashing out was somehow a natural reaction. However, in the book, it's clear that he is reacting to Lily laughing at the situation by hitting her. As Lily narrates:
"I'm still laughing when I lean over to get a look at Ryle's hand. I hope he didn't cut it too bad... In a matter of one second, Ryle's arm came out of nowhere and slammed against me, knocking me backward. There was enough force behind it to knock me off balance. When I lost my footing, I hit my face on one of the cabinet door handles as I came down."
9. Lily meets Ryle's parents in the book. It's only briefly, and they go straight to bed because they're jet-lagged, but the adaptation tends to keep things focussed solely on Lily and Ryle, and Allysa and husband Marshall.
10. Ryle proposes to Lily before Marshall and Allysa give birth in the book. In the adaptation, Ryle proposes to Lily at the hospital after his sister Alyssa has given birth to her first child, and his first niece. In the book, Alyssa still has 10 weeks of pregnancy to go, when Ryle tells Lily he would "marry the hell out of you."
11. Ryle tells Lily the boy in his "naked truth" story was him in the book. In the adaptation, Allysa tells her. In the book, Ryle tells Lily he was the one who accidentally shot his brother when they were children, after he pushes her down the stairs. He insists he's not using the story as an excuse, but adds, "Since that happened, there are things I can't control. I get angry. I black out. I've been in therapy since I was six years old. But it is not my excuse. It is my reality."
In the adaptation, Ryle's sister tells Lily, after Lily explains Ryle had bitten her and she had left him.
12. Lily meets two of Atlas's friends in the book. They come over for a poker night while she's staying with him, and she joins in. They also reveal Cassie - the girlfriend Atlas alluded to when he and Lily bumped into each other in the restaurant - was actually made up.
13. In the book, Lily employs two other women - Serena and Lucy - while Allysa takes maternity leave. We don't meet any of Lily's other acquaintances in the adaptation, and instead Allysa appears to go straight back to work.
14. In the book, Atlas has a spare bedroom, which Lily stays in. In the adaptation, she takes his bed while he takes the sofa.
15. Ryle goes to England in the book for three months, after attacking Lily. It's for a three-month specialised course in Cambridge which he applied for, after turning down a job in Minnesota. He tells her he's paid for the rent at their apartment, and wants her to move back in. In the adaptation, we see Lily move into her own apartment, and invite Ryle over at arms length to build the cot for their child.
16. Lily and Atlas reconnect at the Farmer's Market when Emerson is a toddler in the movie. In the book, it's almost immediately after she leaves Ryle, when Emerson is a baby. She chases Atlas down the street after recognising the back of his head - not years later.
Dusty Baxter-Wright is an award-winning journalist and the Entertainment and Lifestyle Director at Cosmopolitan, having previously worked at Sugarscape. She was named one of PPA’s 30 Under 30 for her work covering pop culture, careers, interiors and travel, and oversees the site’s Entertainment and Lifestyle strategy across print, digital and video. As a journalist for the best part of a decade, she has interviewed everyone from Louis Theroux and Channing Tatum to Margot Robbie and Ncuti Gatwa, while she has also spoken on Times Radio and BBC Radio. You can find her on Twitter and Instagram here.
