AL Chem

I would like to ask a question about Nature of Bonding Force in Ionic Bond


My reference book write a few sentences as follow:

" The decrease in overall energy is the net outcome the electrostatic attraction
of every cation for every anion in the solid, less the electrostatic repulsions that
each cation has for the other cations and each anion has for the other anions."


Is this means that the reaction is exothermics since there is an net attraction
between the cations and anions and
the NET attraction energy = the lattice enthalpy?