It Ends With Us, Book 1

All characters read as cisgender, heteronormative, able bodied, neurotypical, and White. One minor character is gay.

Witnessing physical abuse throughout childhood is a strong theme. The narrator describes her father slapping, choking, attempting to rape, and knocking her mother to the floor. She also hears him beating a friend with a baseball bat and the sound of bones breaking. In the present the narrator is pushed down stairs, head butted, bitten, nearly raped, hit, and knocked down by her husband. Blood, pain, and fear are described without being gory. Mention of past suicidal thoughts and holding a razor to a wrist. A character reveals scars on the arms from receiving cigarette burns. Past instances of children accidentally shooting and killing a sibling. Sex is used to intimidate when a man arouses a woman by penetrating her with his fingers and while doing so pulling hard on her hair, squeezing her throat, and asking her questions out of jealousy.

Detailed, erotic descriptions of adults having sex mention genital and manual penetration, manual stimulation, thrusting, tremors, entering, pulling out, moaning, biting, tremors, jerking with release, a tongue on a breast, and detailed descriptions of kissing with tongue and caressing. Teen sex in the past is described vaguely with kissing and breathing. Characters talk and think a lot about romance and having sex. Condom use is mentioned once. Sex is used to intimidate when a man arouses a woman by penetrating her with his fingers and while doing so pulling hard on her hair, squeezing her throat, and asking her questions out of jealousy.

"F--k," "s--t," "d--k," "c--k," "dammit," "bitch," "whore," "asshole," "boobs," "crap," "Jesus," "Jesus Christ," and "holy hell."

Adults occasionally drink wine and beer, not to excess but mild drunken behavior is shown. A few times drinking hard liquor or drinking to excess happen and result in violence. A character smokes marijuana once.