It Starts with Us
by Colleen Hoover
The follow-up to It Ends with Us, continuing the characters' story with a second chance and new complications. Emotional and adult in themes. Read the full description
Best for: Readers continuing It Ends with Us
It Starts with Us is #68 on BookWard's Top 100 books for September 2026, with a BookWard Score of 59 out of 100.
It Starts with Us: reading interest over the past 12 months
Sources: Open Library’s public reading-log and ratings data (dump of 2026-08-31), Wikipedia page views and Wikidata. Monthly counts are exact; they show relative interest among readers of these public sources, not total readership.
Ranked against the other books on this list, It Starts with Us’s reading interest has run from #71 to #96 over these 12 months. Interest rank blends shelf adds, Wikipedia page views and rating activity, each compared with the other 99 books that month.
Shelf adds by month
It Starts with Us was added to Open Library readers’ shelves 493 times in the past 12 months, peaking in September 2025 with 95 (131% above its monthly average of 41). Over the latest three months (Jun 2026 to Aug 2026) shelf adds were down 31% on the three months before. 90% of the adds were “want to read”, 6% “currently reading” and 4% “already read”.
Want to read Currently reading Already read
Wikipedia page views
Its Wikipedia article was viewed 190,126 times in the past 12 months, peaking in May 2026 with 21,145 views. The latest three months were down 24% on the three before.
Source: Wikimedia monthly page views for the article It Starts with Us.
What the data says about It Starts with Us
- Uneven demand. Monthly shelf adds swung widely around an average of 41, so interest arrives in bursts and not as a steady stream.
- Busiest and quietest months. September 2025 was its busiest month (95 adds), about 7.9 times its quietest, August 2026 (12).
- Against its genre. It had 49% fewer shelf adds than the average Romance book on this list.
- Share of the list. It accounts for 0.5% of all shelf adds recorded for the Top 100 over these 12 months, #74 of 100.
- Its age. First published in 2022 (4 years ago), it is older than 4% of the books on the list.
Each finding is computed from the public data above and shown only when the numbers support it.
It Starts with Us on the Top 100: rank history
First charted in September 2026. The chart gains a point with every monthly update, so its peak, climbs and falls will show here as they happen.
| Month | Rank | Score |
|---|---|---|
| September 2026 | #68 | 59 |
Is It Starts with Us rising or falling?
Cooling It ranks lower this week than over the past year, so interest is softening from its recent level.
On Open Library, It Starts with Us ranks #122 this week, #155 this month, and #125 over the past year. A longer bar means a higher position. Comparing the three windows shows whether readers are arriving faster than the book's long-term pace. Readings as of 2026-09-30.
Why It Starts with Us made the Top 100
It Starts with Us made the list mainly on being read right now (+22.7 points) and momentum (+17.9 points). Its smallest contribution is rising (+0). The BookWard Score blends five public signals, each scored from 0 to 100 and weighted as shown.
The reading-now, rating and rank signals come from Open Library’s public data, not from BookWard’s own readers. The score measures reading interest, not quality or sales. How the score works.
Open Library reader stats for It Starts with Us
Source: Open Library public reading logs, as of 2026-09-30. BookWard’s own monthly snapshots are added to the picture, and anonymous BookWard reader data will be layered in as the community grows.
More readers have It Starts with Us open right now than 87% of the other books on this list. These counts come from one public source, so they show relative interest rather than total readership.
Where it sits among Romance books
It is #8 of the 11 Romance books on this month’s list.
About It Starts with Us
The follow-up to It Ends with Us, continuing the characters' story with a second chance and new complications. Emotional and adult in themes.
Why it’s here: Readers finishing the first book head straight here.
Best for: Readers continuing It Ends with Us
At a glance
- First published
- 2022-10-18
- Genre
- Romance
- Length
- about 352 pages (the median across its editions)
- Languages
- editions in 4 languages listed on Open Library
- Editions
- 26 on Open Library
- Setting
- Boston
- Characters listed
- Lily, Ryle, Atlas
From Open Library and Wikidata public records. Missing rows mean the records do not list that fact.
Themes
- Second chances
- Co-parenting
- Healing
What reading it is like
Emotional, romance-forward continuation of a story already told.
At about 352 pages it is a longer read: roughly 7 hours at an average reading pace (about 250 words a minute, 300 words a page). Audiobook and edition lengths vary.
Good to know
A sequel. Read It Ends with Us first.
The premise
Continuing after the events of the first book, Lily is starting again while Atlas, her first love, is back in her life. The story asks what it takes to build a healthy relationship.
What you’ll get
- A continuation of a popular story
- Emotional and hopeful
- Easy to read quickly
You might skip it if you have not read It Ends with Us first.
More by Colleen Hoover on the Top 100: It Ends with Us
Pairs well with: It Ends with Us
Keep exploring the chart
Also on the chart at #67 and #69
Questions about It Starts with Us
What rank is It Starts with Us on the Top 100 books?
It Starts with Us is #68 on BookWard's Top 100 books for September 2026, with a BookWard Score of 59 out of 100.
Is It Starts with Us rising or falling?
Cooling. It ranks lower this week than over the past year, so interest is softening from its recent level. On Open Library, It Starts with Us ranks #122 this week, #155 this month, and #125 over the past year.
Why is It Starts with Us on the Top 100?
It Starts with Us made the list mainly on being read right now (+22.7 points) and momentum (+17.9 points). Its smallest contribution is rising (+0).
How many people are reading It Starts with Us right now?
Open Library's reading logs show 860 readers currently reading It Starts with Us, 18,166 who want to read it and 511 who have logged it as read (as of 2026-09-30). These are counts from one public source, not all readers.
How much interest has It Starts with Us had over the past year?
493 Open Library shelf adds in the past 12 months (peak September 2025, 95); latest three months down 31% on the prior three; 190,126 Wikipedia views in the past 12 months (down 24% over the latest three months). Figures come from Open Library and Wikipedia public data.
Who is It Starts with Us best for?
Readers continuing It Ends with Us.
Ask a question about It Starts with Us
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How we know
This page is built from public data: Open Library’s dated reading-log and ratings dumps, Wikipedia page views, Wikidata, and BookWard’s own monthly Top 100 snapshots. The interest rank blends shelf adds (45%), Wikipedia page views (30%), rating activity (10%) and, for months where a snapshot exists, BookWard’s own score (15%), each as a percentile among the Top 100 books. Every month shown is real data; nothing is estimated. Rankings reflect reading interest, not quality or sales, and can be affected by data gaps. Last updated September 2026. Read the full methodology.
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