I loved everything about this book and was genuinely so sad to finish it and have it be over 😭 Helen loses her younger sister to a tragic car accident as a teenager - she runs on to the road in an apparent suicide and is killed by one of Helen’s classmates, Grant. It was not his fault, but her family can’t help but see him as responsible. Years later, Helen is a successful YA writing and her book series is being adapted for TV. She’s one of the screenwriters but in a horrible twist of fate, so is Grant. In trying to deal with all the horrible things his presence evokes for her, she can’t deny that there is something between them.

This is achingly sad but lovely. It’s dry, dark humour hits just right - what are the chances, you fall for someone so wholly inconvenient? For Helen, the man who technically killed her sister and for Grant - the one woman who will always remind him of the worst thing that happened to him. Dealing with this is such an emotional journey for them, and the moments that make up their love story are just so precious and tender but grim at the same time. Their meant to be entertaining just radiates off the page, but against a constant backdrop of pain from the past. Could not put this down, especially as dual POV present tense narrative is just so immediate making the heightened emotion and tension even more visceral.

What to expect:

- forbidden romance
- slow burn
- he falls first
- overcoming grief
- quite spicy

After hearing that Yulin Kuang was working on one of Emily Henry's screenplays, I was really excited to read this. But sadly it was a let down for me.
It has an interesting premise but it felt overly long and I really didn't connect with any of the characters either.
I particularly struggled with Helen, who I should have been rooting for.
And while the spicy/steamy scenes were well written, it didn't feel like there was enough lead up to them or connection for me to be fully on board.
Thank you to Netgalley for providing me with a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

This was a simple, fun, easy and quick read. The perfect type of book for your holiday, beach, pool kind of read. This is a first for me by the author and one I enjoyed and I would read more of their work.

This is a first for me by the author and one I enjoyed and I would read more of their work. The book cover is eye-catching and appealing and would spark my interest if in a bookshop. Thank you to the author, publisher and Netgalley for this ARC.

The book cover is eye-catching and appealing and would spark my interest if in a bookshop. Thank you very much to the author, publisher and Netgalley for this ARC.

3.5/5.

How to end a love story is humorous yet heart wrenching story with a fairly unique plot.

I enjoyed the characters and the inclusion of Helen’s Chinese heritage gave an interesting slant on the story. Helen is looking to turn her book series into a TV show but encounters the man who killed her sister in the writing room.

What follows is largely inevitable but I enjoyed the ride there.

Quirky and very steamy in parts. A solid 3.5 rounded up to 4 stars.

This could have been great but ended up being sort of average.

I loved the chemistry between the two main characters, loved the asian family rep and what it's like growing up in that culture, loved that we got a glimpse into the screenwriting industry, BUT the book was unecessarily long. There is so much fluff in here it's ridiculous. It made the whole thing drag to a point where you just don't care about the story as much as you should.

This for me was one of those books that doesn't live up to the hype. It was a decent enjoyed story but for a rom-com I think I got one chuckle and didn't feel any chemistry between Helen and Grant. So lacking both the rom and the com.

I loved this a lot! Going in, I was not expecting to like Grant as a character but I really grew to love him by the end and I was rooting for his relationship with Helen throughout! The characters were all really interesting, even the background characters, and I liked how varied and in depth their personalities were. This is a really fun story about a writer working to develop her books for screen, but it has mentions of grief and mental health which was really refreshing to see written perfectly. I would definitely recommend this book!

This complicated love story was tough to get behind. While the novel was undeniably well written, I could never get passed the fact that Helen and Grant knew each other because Grant was involved in Helen’s sister’s death – she jumped in front of the car he was driving. Due to this, the novel possessed a strange tone that made me feel uncomfortable. The romance was convincing and I was sympathetic towards the characters’ trauma, but the way that these two elements of the story linked was jarring.

Helen and Grant were well developed characters. They each harboured their own vulnerabilities and insecurities which made them feel genuine and grounded. I easily preferred Helen. If it wasn’t for the addition of his own perspective, I would have really disliked Grant. Luckily, getting a glimpse into his psyche helped explain why he often acted brash and insensitive at the start of the novel. I wished his reason for joining Helen’s writer’s room was made to be higher stakes than it was because, as it was, their dreaded reunion was easily avoidable. If Grant showed any compassion for Helen, he would have quit immediately. Alas, he stayed on her team and the two developed a somewhat “enemies to lovers” dynamic. Their dialogue sparked with palpable tension and excitement, but the ever-present knowledge that Grant was involved in Helen sister’s death tempered how much I could enjoy their budding romance. I couldn’t shake this feeling throughout the novel. This meant that every romantic and emotional scene was marred by their tragic shared history. I was rooting for Helen and Grant to heal, but in truth, not with each other.

OVERALL: Despite the characters possessing palpable chemistry, I couldn’t reconcile with their shared tragic backstory. This set an uncomfortable tone that made me feel removed from the story.

Thank you NetGalley and Little, Brown Book Group and the author for this copy for my honest review.
I really wanted to read this book because the author is the screenwriter of Emily Henry, so of course I wanted to know something about this woman...
It wasn't my favourite book, I feel like I got bored, I had a hard time reading it and connecting with the story.
I didn't feel much connection between the characters, sometimes I even felt like I was reading two people who were just there for the sake of being there.
The climax at the end didn't make sense to me, it was all super dramatic and I could see it coming.
I'm really sad because this book was one of the most anticipated and I want to erase it from my mind.
I'm really sorry for giving such a low score.

Really disappointed. I had high hopes but I really didn’t enjoy the story or the characters. Too much of everything and at the same time not enough of stuff. DNF at 80%

✔️forced proximity
✔️workplace romance
✔️ enemies to lovers
✔️ family drama

3.75

This is not your typical rom-com. I was sort of expecting a fluffy, cute romcom but found this heart-clenching, emotional, and even sad at times but sweet love story.

Helen and Grant got my attention rather quickly. Their story seemed so intriguing that I was excited to see where it would lead. I loved reading how they fell in love and opened up to each other. Also, it was so fun to read about screenwriting and book adaptations!

There was beautiful character growth, and the love was so raw and honest that it made my heart clench more times than I can count. Helen's emotional journey was one that, as a reader, you not only witnessed but also experienced. I truly felt her anger, grief, loneliness, happiness and love. The ending brought me to tears, and I didn't expect that at all!

The second half of the book got a bit repetitive, and the story dragged on because of that. As much as I liked Helen, she exasperated me a lot at times, especially in the second half of the book. Also, I loved the fact that she made true friends, but I feel like those friendships lacked depth. I didn't feel how close she had become with Nicole and Saskia as it was described.

Despite that, it was a beautiful and poignant story about love, not only romantic love but sisterly. Those letters to her sister made me ugly cry. I know many people will love this book. After reading Yulin I'm even more excited to watch Emily Henry's adaptations.

Thank you so much to NetGalley and Hodder & Stoughton for the ARC in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.

The way this book had me giggling and swooning one minute and holding back tears the next.. I don’t even know what to say, but I devoured this one!
I hold so much love for both Helen and Grant and I just wanted to hug them both.
I felt the chemistry between them from page one! Their relationship though not perfect really made me feel all the feels, and the way these two poor souls helped heal each other - absolutely stunning!

How to End a Love Story is definitely the kind of book you take to the beach/holiday as your read. It has excellent pacing and twist and turns as the female lead navigates the stages of grief through the loss of her sister and the slow burn of nemesis's to forbidden love between the female and male lead. Messy and complex (like real life) this book is a love story of two people who are inexplicitly broken, by the death of the female leads sister (blaming themselves for a death that isn't either to blame) and see themselves incapable and unworthy of love they both desperately crave. Kuang in my opinion does a excellent job of highlighting that life is about living for yourself and that happiness rarely comes for those who place pressure on overbearing expectations.

Thank you Netgalley & Hodder & Stoughton for the ARC, it's definitely a book I plan to revisit and buy my own copy in the near future :)

Helen, a writer with imposter syndrome rekindles with Grant, a screenwriter, that she has a sordid history with.

This book is an absolute rollercoaster of emotion and there's just so much representation of mental health that its just such a raw narrative. The characters are incredibly relatable and the chemistry between them is just insane.

This is exactly what you want from a romcom.

Thank you to NetGalley for the arc

I have mixed feelings about this book. The plot is good, but the story dragged in the middle for me. I liked the last part of the book however.

Helen Zhang is a writer whose YA book is being turned into a TV series. The head writer is Grant Shepard, and he and Helen have a difficult history. When they were teenagers, Helen’s sister deliberately ran into traffic to take her own life, and it was Grant’s car that hit her. Helen’s parents call him a murderer and have never forgiven him.

To complicate matters, Helen and Grant are attracted to each other. They both know that the relationship can’t be anything long term, but continue on with it in spite of everything.

The backstory is so heavy, I’m not sure the characters could get past it especially when Helen’s parents are so triggered by the mere mention of Grant’s name. However, the writing is good and I’ll definitely read her next book. 3.5 stars.

Thanks to Hodder & Staughton and NetGalley, I received a complimentary copy of this book. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my

I really wanted to like this, but I’m just not sure it was for me. I think how they knew each other, and the barrier they had to overcome was just too deep, and I didn’t love her characterisation.

Helen is a successful young adult author whose trilogy is about to be turned into a TV series. She’s negotiated herself a place in the writers room, but it turns out that also in the room is Grant. Grant went to high school with Helen and they are bound together by a “tragic accident” - that’s the blurb’s choice of words, not mine. But as they work together, sparks start to fly between them and maybe they might be the key to each others future?

I wasn’t sure if Helen and Grant’s shared past was some thing that they would - or should- be able to get past, and I absolutely stand by that. If the event in their past was almost anything else, I think it would be ok, but this specific issue felt unfixable. Now that aside, it’s a great read - Grant is a charismatic leading man who stays charming without veering into insufferable. It’s also fun watching Helen find her feet in Los Angeles and build a life for herself. They are a good couple in every way, except for that one thing. And other people’s views on that may vary.

This is Yulin Kuang’s debut and there is lots about it that I did like, so I will be looking out for whatever she writes next, as well as those Emily Henry adaptations that she is working on.

Having not heard of this author before, I was intrigued and lucky to be given the opportunity to read this. Must admit, I was pleasantly surprised, so well written, enjoyed everything about it - the characters, the setting, I thoroughly enjoyed reading it.

This is not a bad book, but I honestly did not enjoy it. It made me tense and anxious, and not in a good way.

I loved the side characters and everything to do with their job, the writer's room interactions, the witty humour.

The initial sexual tension was weird, awkward and made me think the characters were much younger than their actual ages. I just didn't belive they had any emotional connection, it was purely physical. That aspect was hot though, top notch spice.

Bonding through their trauma made sense, but honestly Helen was so cruel so many times, to multiple people. There were multiple mentions of both Helen and Grant having seen a therapist or going to therapy, but it didn't seem like either of them got anything useful out of it.

I just wanted to tell Helen to grow up and never think about her again. I felt so sorry for Grant.

Idk, this just didn't work for me for some reason.

I think i was expecting a straight forward fluffy romantic story with this one and that is so not what I got. it's heartbreaking, heartwarming, funny, sad and just.....wow. I haven't been able to stop think Helen and Grant and their amazing story!