Looking for an unforgettable collection of books you’ll devour if you liked It Ends with Us by Colleen Hoover? As an award-winning author and veteran blogger, I’ve spent over a decade analyzing and recommending the most impactful novels about tough topics like relationship violence and star-crossed love.
You’ll find detailed reviews of many favorites below in the roundup below. These must-read books can be helpful for someone struggling to understand what an abusive relationship looks like or to help someone else who needs help coming to terms with an escalating and dangerous love relationship. Many of these novels portray characters whose romantic relationships escalate with extreme possessiveness, jealousy, manipulation, emotional and psychological abuse, and even physical assault. Others simply involve a doomed love that’s not meant to be. I’m confident you’ll find several new titles to love here.
Junior Missing by Khristina Chess
why it’s like It Ends With Us
Relationship violence, dark & twisted romance
What it’s about
A seductive and chilling thriller about a runaway teen, drawn into an intoxicating relationship with an older man who takes her in—and won’t let her go!
Why I Love It - Book Review
“He kissed me again and again, and I began bargaining once more with the wind. I vowed to do better and try harder to keep this Quentin who loved me and kept me safe. The Quentin who I loved. Who loved me. Who didn’t treat me badly. Sex was the one place where he was always himself. His very best self. “― Khristina Chess from Junior Missing
Wow! Readers who love the intense chemistry and unsettling seduction of a dark romance like It Ends with Us won’t be able to put Junior Missing down. What makes Junior Missing so special is the slow-boil depiction of how Grace’s forbidden attraction turns into a trap set by an older man who takes her in—and won’t let her go!
The story starts as sixteen-year-old Grace Keegan, darling of the child pageant world with a bright future, is missing. At first, police assume she ran away. But when they find her abandoned phone along the highway, the truth becomes far more terrifying.
No one knows about Quentin Brock—the musician she met online. He’s charming, funny, and perfect.
Until he isn’t. Until she’s trapped in another state with no way out.
She doesn’t even have shoes.
If you devoured It Ends with Us by Colleen Hoover, I recommend this mesmerizing, authentic novel that depicts how someone can so easily be manipulated and hurt in a toxic relationship. Junior Missing will stay with you after the final page. Worth the read!
In fact, Khristina Chess is on my list of Best YA Authors to Binge on Kindle Unlimited because she has so many suspenseful novels.
The Great Alone by Kristin Hannah
why it’s like It Ends With Us
Domestic violence, doomed love
What it’s about
An epic story about a young girl growing up in a remote homestead in Alaska in the 1970s.
Why I Love It - Book Review
“Love and fear. The most destructive forces on earth. Fear had turned her inside out, love had made her stupid.” ― Kristin Hannah from The Great Alone
Leni is 13 when her parents decide to relocate to Alaska. She’s used to moving around a lot and not fitting in, so her expectations about this place aren’t very high, either. Children of all ages share the same schoolhouse, and there is one other kid her age. A boy, Matthew Walker. They become fast friends—and eventually, much more.
Alaska is beautiful and beautiful. Although the new homestead is wonderful at first, the descent of winter and darkness brings out her father’s abuse. A former POW from the Vietnam war, he is now a violent, alcoholic, and paranoid man whose rage targets his fragile wife.
So many good and terrible things happen in this sweeping novel. Leni is a compelling character, and in fact, there is a whole cast of interesting people in Alaska who care for one another. Survival depends on community in this wilderness place.
Fans of It Ends with Us by Colleen Hoover will find The Great Alone to be binge-worthy.
Dreamland by Sarah Dessen
why it’s like It Ends With Us
Abusive romantic relationship
What it’s about
A powerful story about a teen girl who falls for possessive and physically violent boyfriend.
Why I Love It - Book Review
“Sometimes, it was just a little rough: a blocking bruise. Other times, a hard foul. And if things were really bad—full contact.” ― Sarah Dessen from Dreamland
I've read a couple Sarah Dessen books that were "okay," but wow, this one really, really grabbed me!
It starts when Caitlin's sister, Cass, runs away. I knew the story was about relationship abuse, and I was expecting the runaway sister Cass to be with a bad guy, but no. After she disappears, Caitlin falls for a guy named Rogerson who ends up being the abusive one. Caitlin's downward spiral is emotional, realistic, and heartbreaking. From the first time Rogerson hits her, I kept waiting for someone to intervene or for her to wake up, but it went on and on until the climactic moment when something had to shatter.
I felt really bad for Caitlin. She seemed invisible to everyone who supposedly loved her. She was hiding her pain in front of everyone. And people she loved kept leaving her: first her sister Cass and then her new friend Corinna.
I don’t want to give too much away. If you liked It Ends with Us, just read it.
Criminal by Terra Elan McVoy
why it’s like It Ends With Us
Relationship violence
What it’s about
A sad story about a girl from a bad home who falls in love for the worst kind of guy, and she is pulled into a crime with him.
Why I Love It - Book Review
“But in remembering, and in telling them what they needed to know, that golden feeling I’d had with Dee came back over me—the feeling of being a kind of temple for him. I was someone who worshipped him and understood him, in all the ways he needed and deserved. I could feel them hating me, thinking I was wrong, but they’d never had Dee’s hands on them, never felt him as completely as I had.” ― Terra Elan McVoy from Criminal
This book was so absorbing I read the whole thing on a Saturday afternoon. I couldn't put it down.
It's a sad story about a girl from a bad home who falls in love for the worst kind of guy, and she is pulled into a crime with him. How far will she go to protect him? Why?
I loved Nikki's character. I loved how blind she is by her obsession with Dee. She’s honest, not particularly likeable, but real. Her mother was terrible, and Nikki found friendship and safety for herself with Bird. It was no wonder that she found herself in this bad relationship with Dee. Her world is tragic, but she is strong and makes good choices, even if they're really, really late.
Criminal is not a YA book about abuse and relationship violence in the sense that Dee physically harms Nikki. Rather, it is the escalating nature of the psychological manipulation in the relationship which creates the harm.
Pick this one up. Fans of Colleen Hoover’s It Ends with Us won’t be disappointed.
The Girl Who Fell by S. M. Parker
why it’s like It Ends With Us
Abusive romantic relationships
What it’s about
A hypnotic novel that shows how a girl can lose herself in a dating relationship that she believes is love.
Why I Love It - Book Review
“Still, there’s a rumbling in the pit of my stomach telling me I’m missing out on something. Something I wouldn’t have missed for all the world before Alec.” ― S.M. Parker from The Girl Who Fell
In this hypnotic story, Zephyr Doyle falls in love with the wrong boy. Only, he seems like the perfect boy. A boy she's willing to give up everything for: friends, her hockey team, even her future. He's saccharine sweet, but a bit jealous. Creepy. But she can't see his emotional abuse for what it is until it's too late.
I really enjoyed this one and read it quickly. Although I guessed the relationship was doomed (surely?!), I couldn't tell how it would fall apart and was surprised by the twists at the end. Creepy behavior just escalated into more and more aggressive awfulness. It shows how a person can lose herself in a dating relationship that she believes is love.
This is an important YA novel about abuse and relationship violence. If you loved It Ends with Us, you will enjoy this one too!
The Sun Is Also A Star by Nicola Yoon
why it’s like It Ends With Us
Doomed love
What it’s about
A boy and a girl fall in love in a single day—the day when the girl is being deported with her family.
Why I Love It - Book Review
“The trouble with getting your hopes too far up is: it's a long way down.” ― Nicola Yoon, quote from The Sun Is Also a Star
I loved Nicola Yoon’s Everything Everything, so when The Sun Is Also A Star released, I couldn’t wait to read it. This novel is a star-crossed love story between two teens of different backgrounds: Daniel Jae Ho Bae (a middle-class US citizen of South Korean descent) and Natasha Kingsley (a Jamaican girl who is being deported at the end of the day).
The timeline of the novel is 12 hours, and in that time, the characters fall in love. With every page, I kept hoping that something would change and something would stop the inevitable from happening. Because it wasn’t fair. Daniel and Natasha just found each other.
If you enjoyed the “doomed love” aspect of It Ends with Us, give this one a look.
Hello, Goodbye, and Everything in Between by Jennifer E. Smith
why it’s like It Ends With Us
Doomed love
What it’s about
A boy and a girl prepare to separate their lives and head off to college in a night for star-crossed lovers.
Why I Love It - Book Review
"We keep thinking there are only these two choices: We either grow apart or grow together. But maybe we can just kind of each grow on our own, and see how it goes. And then later, if it's right, we'll come back to each other and start again." ― Jennifer E. Smith, quote from Hello, Goodbye, and Everything in Between
In another “novel in one night” book, Hello, Goodbye, and Everything in Between explores the relationship of Clare and Aiden as they prepare to separate before heading off to college. Along the way, they spend time with a cast of friends and visit places where they enjoyed some of their most memorable moments. I didn’t love-love the story and characters the same way that I did some of the other novels here, but there were sweet and romantic moments that kept me invested.
Eleanor and Park by Rainbow Rowell
why it’s like It Ends With Us
Star-crossed lovers
What it’s about
A sweet and heartbreaking story of first love that won’t disappoint.
Why I Love It - Book Review
“I just can’t believe that life would give us to each other,” he said, “and then take it back.”
“I can,” she said. “Life’s a bastard.” ― Rainbow Rowell from Eleanor and Park
It's been a long time since I've encountered a novel that I literally couldn't put down. Eleanor & Park was one of those books. I loved every minute. I sat on the porch, on the couch, on the floor by the window... and devoured this book. It was a wonderful reading experience about first love. Sweet and heartbreaking and everything I wanted. I highly recommend this book to anyone who likes a good, romantic young love story.
The story unfolds from alternating points of view, both Eleanor and Park, as they fall in love over the course of one year. The dialog is witty, snappy, and fun.
As a super-dreamy YA book about star-crossed lovers, it will give you all the feels about falling in love.
The Fault in Our Stars by John Green
why it’s like It Ends With Us
Doomed love
What it’s about
A boy and a girl with terminal illnesses fall in love.
Why I Love It - Book Review
“But it is the nature of stars to cross, and never was Shakespeare more wrong than when he has Cassius note, ‘The fault, dear Brutus, is not in our stars / But in ourselves.” ― John Green from The Fault in Our Stars
The Fault in Our Stars is the ultimate YA book about doomed lovers. Augustus Waters and Hazel Grace are two teens with cancer, and they fall in love during a sweet time of remission. They talk about literature and philosophy, and they go on a wonderful journey to meet the author of Hazel’s favorite novel. This person is not at all what she expected—a huge disappointment, as a matter of fact—but then, life happens that way.
When the inevitable plot turn comes and twists the knife in your heart, it doesn’t matter that you’re expecting it. Augustus and Hazel are supposed to be together, so every bittersweet moment of their parting is a gasp. Every breath counts. Every syllable.
If you’re looking for the sweetest and most heart-wrenching star-crossed love story like It Ends with Us, pick up this classic. If you read it a long time ago, it’s just as good the second time around. Trust me.
All the Bright Places by Jennifer Niven
why it’s like It Ends With Us
Doomed love
What it’s about
A boy and a girl form an unlikely relationship that ends badly.
Why I Love It - Book Review
“What a terrible feeling to love someone and not be able to help them.” ― Jennifer Niven from All the Bright Places
Theodore Finch has more than a touch of the blues.
Violet Markey wants to escape the grief that lives in her hometown where her sister recently died.
Violet and Theodore are an unlikely couple, paired together on a school project to explore the natural wonders of their state. At first, Theodore seems to be the one helping Violet with her sadness, but Violet doesn’t have any understanding about the depth of Theodore’s despair. Along their journey, they make several unexpected discoveries about one another.
After re-reading this book a second time, I enjoyed it every bit as much as the the first. I liked the writing, the dual character viewpoints, the story, the language, and the symbolism.
Blue is a primary color.
This is a tragic YA book about star-crossed lovers that stayed with me for a long time. All the Bright Places is one of my all-time favorites. In fact, Jennifer Niven is such a great author that she’s on my list of Best YA Authors to Binge on Kindle Unlimited because she’s all-around amazing!
Five Feet Apart by Rachael Lippencort
why it’s like It Ends With Us
Doomed love
What it’s about
A boy and a girl with terminal illnesses fall in love.
Why I Love It - Book Review
“If I’m going to die, I’d like to actually live first.” ― Rachael Lippincott from Five Feet Apart
Stella and Will are two kids with cystic fibrosis who literally have to stay away from one another to survive. Infections are bad, possibly deadly, and Will is like kryptonite to Stella, who doesn’t want to lose her place on the transplant list.
But the heart wants what the heart wants—even when the lungs are failing.
Stella and Will disobey all kinds of orders in their love pursuits and put their lives at risk. They have so much positive energy that you want them to beat the odds. Tragedy won’t touch them.
Don’t miss this popular and romantic YA book about star-crossed lovers. You will love Stella and Will’s story. The movie was pretty great, too!
Other Books You’ll Devour If You Liked It Ends with Us by Colleen Hoover
If you are looking for other books like It Ends with Us by Colleen Hoover, Goodreads also offers a great book list: Readers Who Enjoyed It Ends with Us. You might also be interested in my post, Other Good Reads, which has a comprehensive list of book reviews.
Khristina Chess is an award-winning author of a dozen young adult novels, including The Cutting Edge of Friendship, The Delinquent Hero, and Junior Missing. Hollow Beauty, her book about eating disorders, was named a finalist in the Next Generation India Book Awards. She tackles tough teen topics and writes binge-worthy books across multiple genres, including contemporary, thriller, mystery, and adventure.