The End of Our Story Review: But Only The Start of My Love Affair With This Book

March 22, 2017 by Jenna | 4 stars, ARC Reviews, Books, Reviews

The End of Our Story Review: But Only The Start of My Love Affair With This BookThe End of Our Story by Meg Haston
Published by HarperTeen on April 4th 2017
Source: Publisher, Edelweiss
Genres: Contemporary, Romance, Young Adult
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Meg Haston's romantic and thrilling new YA novel explores a star-crossed high school relationship in a tale rife with deeply buried secrets and shocking revelations.

Bridge and Wil have been entangled in each other’s lives for years. Under the white-hot Florida sun, they went from kids daring each other to swim past the breakers to teenagers stealing kisses between classes. But when Bridge betrayed Wil during their junior year, she shattered his heart and their relationship along with it.

Then Wil’s family suffers a violent loss, and Bridge rushes back to Wil’s side. As they struggle to heal old wounds and start falling for each other all over again, Bridge and Wil discover just how much has changed in the past year. As the fierce current of tragedy threatens to pull them under, they must learn how to swim on their own—or risk drowning together.

Trigger warning: domestic violence

The End of Our Story is a book that I picked up solely because it contains my favourite romance trope of all time, second chance romance. But it ended up wowing me for so much more than just the romance. I loved the themes that were explored in this book and I thought the author handled them all very well.

This novel is told from dual perspectives and two different timelines. In the present, we follow our lead female, Bridge, as she deals with seeing her former best friend and boyfriend, Wil, now with a different girl after her betrayal a year ago. When a tragic loss in Wil’s family presents Bridge with the opportunity to reconnect with Wil and be there for him in his time of grief, Bridge jumps at the chance to earn his forgiveness. But there are dark secrets in Wil’s family that prevent them from making any progress in their relationship, and we get to find out what these secrets are from Wil’s perspective, which is written from the past. I absolutely loved the writing in this book and found it really easy to follow the dual timelines. I connected with the story from the very first page and I was so captivated by the story and the storytelling that I finished the novel in just one sitting. I did find some things to be slightly predictable but I actually didn’t mind it because I don’t think this novel was intended to be a suspenseful read in any way. I liked having little seeds planted in my mind as I read the book and I enjoyed everything as they were revealed.

This book tackles some heavy topics, just like Meg Haston’s previous YA novel, Paperweight, which dealt with eating disorders. This book deals with domestic violence and I thought it was handled well and given enough thought and page-time that the novel really did it justice. It was uncomfortable to read at times but I liked the way that the story played out and thought it was successful in shining a light on the issue. My only criticism and why I took off half a star from my rating is because I felt like the ending could have been a little bit more resolved. But I also did like it the way that it was.

“She is who she is. Whatever she’s done to piss you off doesn’t make her a bad person. People aren’t the things they do.”

I absolutely loved the characters in this book. Both of the main characters are flawed and it was so easy to relate to them. I liked the first person narration a lot and enjoyed reading about their insecurities and it allowed me to really appreciate their strength and resilience. I really loved Bridge as a main character and found her to be really likable. It was nice to see her character growth throughout the novel and I finished the book wanting to know more about her and read more about her. I loved the way she interacted with her mother and her younger brother throughout the book and the way that she tried to be a great friend to those who matter to her. I also absolutely loved Wil as well and thought he was such a sweetheart. Bridge and Wil’s relationship together was definitely one of my favourite aspects of the book because of how well the second chance romance was executed. I thought all of the anger and the tension between the two were extremely valid and I enjoyed reading about the two of them together and would be happy to read a dozen more books about the two of them.

I thought The End of Our Story was a brilliantly executed book that tackles some heavy topics with great care. I enjoyed the plot of the book and fell in love with the characters and the friendships in the novel. It’s made me extremely excited for Meg Haston’s next YA release.

Rating: 4.5 out of 5

Thank you to HarperTeen for providing a review copy.

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Jenna is an Aussie blogger and reader who loves to indulge in great books and great food. She is a doctor (of philosophy) and can usually be found fangirling about something, devouring delicious food, or taking a nap. You can find her on Twitter @readwithjenna and on Instagram @readingwithjenna.

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16 responses to “The End of Our Story Review: But Only The Start of My Love Affair With This Book

  1. Due to my current MIA status I missed a lot of recent releases. Thanks for putting this book on my radar, Jenna! This sounds like something I would enjoy. I’m intrigued by dual narration with two different timelines. Very thorough and helpful review, as always.

    • Awww don't worry, I am really out of the loop when it comes to all things bookish these days. I'm just in such a reading and blogging slump (currently replying to comments from 3 months ago…). I really loved The End of Our Story though so I hope you get the chance to check it out!

  2. I had not heard of this one, Jenna, but it sounds absolutely amazing. I'm going to need to put in a request for this one at the library. I love that it has second chance romance, first person narratives and that it explores so many good themes. I can't wait to give it a try!
    Wonderful review!

    • Woohoo! I'm glad I have managed to introduce something to you, Nick! I absolutely loved The End of Our Story. Second chance romances are just my favourite and this one was done super well. It also explored a whole bunch of themes that I wasn't expecting and that just made it even sweeter!

  3. This book sounds lovely! I've never heard of it before but it sounds heartfelt and beautiful. I'm glad that the author put enough effort into doing the domestic violence side of the story justice. Sounds like a very important read wrapped in a romance!

    • Yesss I am so happy that I have managed to put this on your radar, Joy! I know you're not really into contemporary but it was such a lovely read and explored the themes so well!

  4. I love when these tales are told from dual perspectives. I am curious at what caused the first break, and like that the author explored domestic violence. It is often a dirty secret no one talks about. Lovely review Jeann. I am with open endings, so this is one I'd like to explore.

    • I absolutely love books that are written in dual perspectives too! (Especially because it allows you an extra character to latch on to… even if you don't like the other one). I hope you've had a chance to check out this book because it was so well done!

  5. Olivia-Savannah

    It seems like the characters being so wonderful really did help to make this book really enjoyable. It sounds like the darker past of Wil's is going to be quite an emotional read as well… second chance romances are always nice. This one sounds like a really good contemporary read! I am going to check out a few more reviews on it now. Thanks for introducing it to me!

    My recent review: http://olivia-savannah.blogspot.nl/2017/02/he-wil

    • I'm so glad that I managed to bring this to your attention! It was such a great read and I hope you get the chance to pick it up too!

  6. Glad to hear you enjoyed this one Jenna! It's often a fine line to tread into domestic violence but having read Paperweight, I know the author will handle it delicately and constructively. It definitely sounds like the couple here were written really well too! I'm so glad to hear you enjoyed it 😀

    • You should definitely pick up this one, Jeann! I loved it so much more than Paperweight and I really enjoyed that book too. I just thought the themes were handled so well in The End of Our Story. Definitely one of the better DV books that I've read in recent times!

  7. Kelly

    This sounds like such a beautiful story – I love the whole second chance romance thing too, so I'm definitely interested in this one. I'm also happy to see that this book is heavy on the friendship – I love strong friendships in YA. Awesome review!

    • Agreed! Friendships in YA is something that I'm always on the look out for and I really enjoyed all of the friendships in this one. Bridge and her best friend, Leigh, just had the most supportive and wonderful relationship. And of course, the second chance romance was awesome too!

  8. Kristin

    This books sounds absolutely amazing! I'm genuinely so happy that I found this review, otherwise I don't think I would have come across it. One of my favorite tropes for romance is second chance romances, so this is perfect. I'm so glad to hear that this book also deals with deeper issues other than just its romance, which is always a huge plus for me! Lovely review! 🙂

    • Thank you so much Kristin! I absolutely loved it and I agree that the deeper issues take the romance story to a whole new level! It was a really great read so I hope you get the chance to pick it up!

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