How long does it take to read It Starts With Us?
Colleen Hoover
At an average reading speed of 250 words a minute, It Starts With Us takes 5 hours 29 minutes to read. The unabridged audiobook runs 8h 51m at 1x, or 5h 54m at 1.5x.
Colleen Hoover's sequel picks up where It Ends With Us left off, switching between Lily and Atlas. It's the shorter of the two: about five and a half hours at an average pace against seven.
Average is about 250 WPM. Measure yours in two minutes and every time on this page recalculates.
How much to read a day
At 250 words a minute, to finish the book:
Have a deadline in mind? The pages-per-day calculator works it out for any date.
How we measured it
Method: audiobook estimate. Estimated from the unabridged audiobook narrated by Olivia Song and Colin Donnell (8:51, as the publisher, Libro.fm and OverDrive all list it) at 155 words a minute. One Audible listing gave 8:41; we've gone with the three that agree.
Part of our study of the 100 most popular books, last checked November 2026. Reading times assume steady reading; editions, translations and your own pace all move them.
See how long it really takes you
Log it in Parch as you read. It tracks your pages, sessions and streak, so you'll know your real pace, and how long the next one will take.
Frequently asked questions
How long does it take to read It Starts With Us?
About 5h 29m at an average reading speed of 250 words a minute: 6h 52m at 200 and 4h 34m at 300.
How many words are in It Starts With Us?
About 82,305 words. That's estimated from the unabridged audiobook at a narration pace of 155 words a minute, so treat it as close, not exact.
How long is the audiobook?
8 hours 51 minutes unabridged at 1x: 5h 54m at 1.5x and 4h 26m at 2x.
How many pages a day to finish It Starts With Us in a month?
About 10 pages a day, or 11m of reading a day at an average pace. That assumes about 299 pages at 275 words a page; real page counts vary by edition.
Is It Starts With Us shorter than It Ends With Us?
Yes: about 82,000 words against 104,000 by the same audiobook estimate, roughly an hour and a half less reading.
Can you read It Starts With Us in a day?
Yes. It's about 5 hours 29 minutes at 250 words a minute, and about 4 and a half hours at 300.