Love Shouldn't Hurt by Brooks

Love Shouldn't Hurt by Brooks - October 2025 Scholarship Essay

It is hard to imagine loving someone who hurts you, yet for many people, that is their painful reality. Colleen Hoover’s, It Ends With Us, tells a story that feels heartbreakingly real, showing how love and pain can exist in the same relationship. Through the eyes of the main character, Lily Bloom, readers learn an unforgettable lesson about strength, self-respect, and the courage it takes to break the cycle of abuse. Lily’s story is not just one of heartbreak, but also of hope, healing, and learning when it is time to choose yourself.

Throughout the book, Lily faces incredibly painful choices as she falls in love with someone who ends up hurting her both emotionally and physically. What makes her story so impactful is that she is not portrayed as weak or naive; she is human. She struggles, she doubts herself, and she loves deeply, which makes her decision to finally walk away that much more meaningful. The lesson I learned from Lily is that leaving an abusive situation is not an act of weakness, it is an act of courage and self-preservation.

Watching Lily’s journey unfold really opened my eyes to how complicated abusive relationships can be. From the outside, people often wonder why someone doesn’t just leave, but Hoover shows how love, fear, and hope can all get tangled together. Lily sees flashes of the man she fell in love with in Ryle, and for a while she believes things might get better. Eventually, she realizes that staying would only continue the pain she has already endured and would risk passing that pain onto her daughter. The moment Lily decides that “it ends with us” is one of the most emotional parts of the book because it shows that ending a cycle of abuse is not just about escaping, it is about protecting future generations from suffering the same pain.

Reading this story made me feel an overwhelming sense of sadness and empathy. It is heartbreaking to think that what Lily experiences is something many people live through every day. No one should ever have to endure that kind of fear or emotional distress in a relationship. Abuse does not always look the same, it can be physical, verbal, or psychological, but the damage it causes is always deep. It breaks my heart to know that so many people struggle in silence because they are scared, ashamed, or convinced that things will change. This book made me realize how important it is to be compassionate and to listen without judgment because we never truly know what someone else is going through.

Another powerful thing I learned from Lily’s story is the importance of self-worth. Even though she loved Ryle, she eventually recognized that love alone is not enough when it is built on pain and control. Choosing herself and her daughter meant choosing a future that did not involve constant fear or excuses. That is something I deeply admire about her character. She shows that even when it feels impossible, you can choose to stand up for yourself and rewrite your story.

The novel also made me think about how important it is to raise awareness about abuse and to create safe spaces for people to talk about it. It is easy to ignore topics like this because they are uncomfortable, but, It Ends With Us makes it impossible to look away. It forces you to think, to feel, and to understand. After reading it, I found myself wishing that no one would ever have to experience what Lily did. It is devastating to think that so many people face those same situations in real life.

Overall, the most important lesson I learned from Lily Bloom is that strength is not about enduring pain, it is about having the courage to walk away from it. Her story reminded me that love should never hurt and that protecting yourself and your peace is never something to feel guilty about. It Ends With Us left me feeling emotional, angry, and inspired all at once. I never want to see anyone go through the kind of abuse Lily did, and it breaks my heart to think that people have to live with that kind of pain. But what gives me hope is knowing that, like Lily, people can find the strength to end it and start over with love, healing, and peace.