It Ends With Us: Top 10 Differences Between the Book & Movie

Ryle Kincaid’s parents aren’t characters who appear very much in the novel, but they do play a role in some crucial moments. Ryle’s family is a massive part of his backstory. The story reveals that when he was only six years old, he mistakenly shot and killed his brother Emerson after finding a gun kept by his parents for self-defense. In the novel, Ryle also proposes to Lily after she first meets his parents, meaning they’re present for one of the story’s most important moments. In the film, they don’t appear at all! Notably, Colleen Hoover says the novel was influenced by the relationship between her parents.

In the novel, the very first time they meet that fateful night on the rooftop, Lily shares with Ryle that her father abused her mother. It’s a pretty heavy topic for a first date! Maybe this is why, in the film version, Lily doesn’t reveal this information to Ryle until the first time Ryle himself is abusive towards her. Following Ryle and Atlas’s row at the restaurant, Lily opens up about her past when Atlas notices her black eye and the bandages on Ryle’s fist. In the film, Lily’s father is played by “Grey’s Anatomy” actor Kevin McKidd, with some fans drawing… unsavory parallels between the character he plays in that show and this film.

One of the film’s most talked-about and disturbing scenes is the third time Ryle abuses Lily. The movie has changed this scene to center around the connection between Lily’s tattoo of a “hollow heart” and the early days of her relationship with Atlas. Lily gets the tattoo after Atlas carves her an open heart with oak wood. But once Ryle learns of the tattoo’s significance, he bites the skin where it lies so hard that it leaves deep marks. Colleen Hoover admitted that the change left her “a little jarred” at first but that it became one of her favorite scenes once the studio delivered the finished film.

In both the film and the novel versions of “It Ends with Us”, Ryle is speedy to propose, but there are some differences in how it happens. In the film, the proposal occurs after Allysa has her child. The film’s proposal happens after Ryle overhears Lily talking to Alyssa, saying she would marry him. About a decade before the film’s release, the film’s star and director, Justin Baldoni, made waves with his extravagant filmed proposal to his girlfriend, Emily.

“It Ends with Us” saves its final change for… well, the end. The story’s conclusion has been altered in the film compared to the book, with an older Emerson joining Lily when she comes across Atlas at a farmer’s market. Unlike in the novel, Lily does not appear to take Emerson for custody with Ryle. In the book, we also learn whether or not Atlas has opened a new restaurant, but he doesn’t mention this in the film. The film does leave the door open for Lily and Atlas to re-spark their relationship, with Atlas responding “not yet” when Lily asks if he’s with anyone.

If you’re a fan of the novel, we hope the script didn’t cut one of your favorite minor characters from the film! In the book, Lily’s gay best friend Devin acts like Lily’s boyfriend, which triggers Ryle's jealousy. Even though he plays a significant role in Lily and Ryle’s first night together, the character does not appear in the film. Lily’s old roommate, Lucy, who gets hired for a job at the flower shop later in the story, is another character missing in action from the movie.

Lily suffers abuse from Ryle at multiple points throughout their toxic relationship, with some of the more shocking instances including being pushed down the stairs and sexual assault—and threats of even worse. Throughout the novel, Lily recognizes Ryle’s behavior towards her, consistently giving him an ultimatum that she will exit the relationship if the abuse does not come to an end. In the film adaptation, Lily initially thinks little of Ryle’s physical abuse, refusing to believe in what it really is for longer before acknowledging the behavior in full at a later stage.

The film ages the book's main characters into their mid-30s, whereas Lily was written initially by Colleen Hoover as 23 and Ryle as 29. Justin Baldoni says he altered the character’s ages because he “wanted women of all ages to be able to see themselves” in the film while raising it outside of the Young Adult genre. He said that star Blake Lively was perfect casting as a character who could be “aspirational to young women.” Author Colleen Hoover defended the film’s change, even admitting she made an error in making the characters so young in the first place.

A crucial storytelling device in the novel comes from Lily’s old journals, written as letters to Ellen DeGeneres—yes, the one who voiced Dory in “Finding Nemo”. While Atlas was going through challenging times, he and Lily would watch DeGeneres’ talk show together and repeat Dory’s mantra of “just keep swimming” to each other. In adulthood, Atlas even gives Lily a signed copy of the comedian’s memoir as a gift! DeGeneres does not appear at all in the film. Of course, since the 2016 book was initially released, her career has been on a downward slant following allegations of a toxic work environment on her show, which ended in 2022.

Lily reunites with Atlas in the novel when she unintentionally visits the restaurant where he works with Ryle and her mother. The restaurant, called Bib’s, is an acronym for “Better in Boston,” a phrase on a fridge magnet that Atlas gave Lily when they were younger. In the film, the restaurant is called Root, which fulfills the exact purpose of calling back to Lily and Atlas’ past as high school sweethearts. According to Colleen Hoover, the filmmakers changed the name simply because they “didn’t have as much time to put in all of the things that happened in the book.” However, because the new name still reflects the teen romance, it invokes the “same feels that you got in the book.”

Are you an obsessed Booktoker who noticed a change we didn’t? Tell us in the comments!