Should Atlas' plot have been the main focus?

[Lauren]

Or even the ONLY focus and crop Ryle entirely? I'd say yes. While I'm not the best person to discuss the topic, I thought the message of Atlas' end of the story was much better handled. The assumptions the general public have over homeless people is upsetting. Like Altas, many of them don't have a choice or are fleeing something even worse.

I love the subtext around Altas trying to get his life together, to the point where he upstaged anything else the story was trying to do. Not to mention both him and Lily (even without Ryle) fit the theme of abuse the narrative was shooting for. On top of that, the better kind half of Lily's character shines through. I wouldn't say I like this story because of Ryle's end, but Colleen Hoover was onto to something with Atlas. What do you guys think?

PS- sorry if this topic was already posted by someone else

[Harmony]

I don't think so because the main point of the book was the abuse so if we crop Ryle out entirely then the whole message and the trouble Lily went through wouldn't have happened and there would barely be a plot. I think it was good to spread awareness about that issue and show what could be in the mind of someone going through that situation so I think Colleen wrote it beautifully and made it so that we had romance and we had Atlas just enough to keep the story going and exiting. I think Ryle plays such an important rile in the story no matter how bad he was it he still made the story what it is.

[Trinity]

I think the little flashbacks were good. Do we need a whole book about Atlas? Yes, yes we do. But the main focus was really about lily and ryle.

[andie]

You guys know that there's a second book in this duet that does focus on Atlas, right?

And no, the parental abuse Lily and Atlas both experience would not fit the theme of abuse the narrative was shooting for. The book is an exploration of how people (esp. women) end up in abusive relationships, even when they "know better". Lily saw her mom in a horribly abusive relationship and still ended up with Ryle. You can't just cut out the main character of a book because you like a different main character better and then claim it would work and the author would still say what they wanted to say.