Sort By Cravings
Find books by feeling
📖 Reader guide
First-hand reader guide · Full read-through · Mood, heat & trope verified

It Starts with Us

by Colleen Hoover · It Ends with Us #2 · 320 pages · Published October 2022
Spoiler-free guide Content heads-up included Similar books included
4.09 / 5 · 500K ratings
Spice: 🌶️🌶️🌶️ (3/5)

The hopeful continuation of Lily's story — rebuilding her life and opening her heart again. Read It Ends with Us first. This one is about what comes after survival: actually living.

Best for readers who want…

Hopeful. Healing. Swoony. Emotional.

Hopeful Healing Swoony Emotional

Mood Match

Hopeful Healing Swoony Emotional
Sort By Cravings match based on mood, pacing, romance weight, and trope density.

Skip this book if…

  • You haven't read It Ends with Us
  • You want a dark or intense read
  • You prefer standalone novels

Content heads-up

Domestic abuse (referenced)Violence (referenced)Grief
Second Chance
Soft Hero
Rebuilding
Found Family
Sort By Cravings is reader-supported. When you buy through our links, we may earn a small affiliate commission at no extra cost to you.
Book profile

Mood, trope & intensity breakdown

How this book actually feels — based on mood analysis, not publisher blurbs.

Mood profile
Romance
80%
Fantasy
0%
Pacing
55%
Darkness
30%
Spice
60%
Core elements
Genre
Contemporary Romance
Emotional Fiction
Moods
Hopeful
Healing
Swoony
Emotional
Key Tropes
Second Chance
Soft Hero
Rebuilding
Found Family
Ending
HEA
Series order

It Ends with Us reading order

It Starts with Us is book 2 in the It Ends with Us series.

Book 1
It Ends with Us
Book 2
It Starts with Us
If you loved this...

Similar books you'll love

Hand-picked reads that hit the same way — matched by mood, trope, and spice level.

Common questions

FAQ

Is It Starts with Us spicy?

It Starts with Us has a spice level of 3/5 (Moderate). There are some open-door scenes but spice is not the primary driver.

Is It Starts with Us a standalone or series?

It Starts with Us is book 2 in the It Ends with Us series. Reading in order is recommended.

Who should read It Starts with Us?

Readers who love Hopeful, Healing, Swoony, Emotional stories with Second Chance and Soft Hero will find a lot to love here.

What are the content warnings for It Starts with Us?

Content heads-up includes: Domestic abuse (referenced), Violence (referenced), Grief. Sort By Cravings always flags these so you can make an informed choice.

What kind of read is It Starts with Us?

The hopeful continuation of Lily's story — rebuilding her life and opening her heart again. Read It Ends with Us first. This one is about what comes after survival: actually living.

Find your next read

One email a week. Personalized picks based on mood, spice, and trope. No spam. No filler. Just books you'll actually want to read.

Or learn more about our newsletter
How this guide was built

Every Sort By Cravings guide is written after a full read-through — not scraped from publisher blurbs or Amazon summaries. We map tropes directly from the text, cross-reference BookTok and Goodreads reader reactions across 500+ community posts, and calibrate heat ratings against reader consensus before publishing. Mood tags, spice numbers, and “skip if” notes reflect actual reading experience. Read our editorial standards.

It Starts with Us Get on Amazon →