How to End a Love Story is an original emotional love tale of two star crossed lovers connected and separated by their history.

Helen and Grant are complicated characters. Their trauma is handled well in the writing but they regularly get in their own way, which some might find frustrating to read. Not me, I loved the complexity involved in their dynamic and in the relationships they have with their families.

It was also fascinating to learn about adapting books from an author who has written the screenplays to two Emily Henry books.

I do feel at times like jumps between different aspects of the plot was jarring, and the pacing could have been smoothed out a little more. The spice was inserted directly next to trauma, which was a bit of a leap emotionally as a reader, but perhaps that was intentional to match the minds of the characters.

Overall, I am really excited to read anything else Kuang writes and this book was a triumph of a debut.
Content Warnings

Wow wow wow!! Complex main characters with a trauma bond and an invisible string theory type romance. It captured modern women navigating growing up in a traditional culture whilst handling grief and love- emotions suppressed. I love a romance book where no one changes to fit their partner and they just fit together instead and that’s what this was. An enjoyable and powerful read.

This book took me a bit by surprise and I absolutely loved it. This is a heart breaking and romantic story that follows Helen as she moves to L.A to work on the screen adaption of her very successful book series. One of the screen writers is Grant who she went to school with and was involved in the tragic death of Helen's sister as a teenager. Ultimately they must learn to move past their tragic history and work together to make this series. I felt the process of them becoming friends and developing feelings was done in a really clever and sensitive ways that approached their background and personal issues really well. There was lots of conflicted feelings, emotions and angst and I was swept up in their relationship. Despite the heavier background to the relationshio the characters also had great humour and chemistry. I also really enjoyed seeing the behind the scenes process of adapting a book into a tv series.
Overall a really emotional and moving story that I could not put down.

Wow. I honestly wasn't expecting this book to be so absolutely fantastic!

Helen is an author who's book series is to be made into a series. Moving to LA to join the screenwriter group for her show, she meets Grant, although she knows him from her past - he killed her sister.

Heartbreaking and heartwarming in equal measure, their chemistry, history and relationship had me hooked straight away. The characters were written in such a beautiful way that I couldn't help but be invested in them and hoping for their happy ending together.

"I love the parts of you I haven't even met yet." *swoon*

One of the best romances I've read in a while, I'll definitely be recommending this.

To say this was a bumpy road, would be the understatement of the year. Helen and Grant have a very uncommon and mostly complicated history, but when they have to work together on what might be the biggest project of Helen's life so far, things get interesting. The first half of the book was so easy to read while the topics were definitely not so light. I think Yulin Kuang managed to create a perfect balance between the light and the dark, but somehow I couldn't entirely attach to the characters. It got a bit repetitive and I lost focus. Luckily, in the last part, that all came back and the story came to a beautiful conclusion. I would have loved to read a bit more about the situation in the end, but the letters to Helen's sister were definitely a great addition to the book and the story in itself.

From the start I was blown away by the writing in this book - it was just so well written, both heartbreaking and hilarious in all the right places.

I loved the background insight into book to TV adaptation, and the whole setting was so enjoyable and provided some fantastic side characters.

Grant is the ultimate book boyfriend - his obsession with Helen is just *chefs kiss*. That is a man in love and his patience for her is incredible.

Explaining the plot of this to a friend made me realise just how crazy the premise is, but Kuang makes it work in the most beautiful way.

Big thanks to NetGalley and Hodder and Stoughton for the ARC.

Helen Zhang had a troubled childhood after her younger sister Michelle committed suicide by jumping in front of a moving car driven by one of the students at their school. Now a successful novelist, she has written a YA angsty series set in a boarding school. Now her series is being made into a TV series and she has been flown from New York to California to sit in with the screenwriters as they adapt her novels. Helen has always been a nerd and an over-achiever, she had very few friends at school and even now, thirteen years later, she only has a couple of close friends, although she worries that her recent success may have alienated even them. To add to her woes, Helen is struggling to find new ideas for her YA series and can't seem to start anything new.

Grant Shephard is a Hollywood screenwriter with movie star looks whose life was drastically altered when his car hit and killed Michelle Zhang when he was just a teenager. While everyone agrees it wasn't his fault, ever since then he has suffered from crippling anxiety attacks.

It was inevitable that Grant should be the second screenwriter for Helen's TV series, despite her attempts to get rid of him Grant insists on staying. Right from the start they butt heads on everything, Grant is the team member that everyone likes, he's charming and thoughtful whereas Helen finds it difficult to express her opinions without sounding rude, as a solitary writer she finds the collective hive mind of the writer's room alien.

Yet despite the antagonism sparks start to fly ... but what hope is there for Helen and Grant when her parents still haven't forgiven him for Michelle's death?

I liked this but I didn't love it and I found the effusive reviews from other authors to be a bit puzzling TBH.

I received an ARC from the publisher via NetGalley for an honest review.

As soon as I saw that the author was involved in the adaptations of Beach Read and People We Meet on Vacation, I knew that her debut novel was going to be a must-read for me! And if that wasn't enough, it came with recommendations from both Emily Henry and Beth O'Leary <3

OMG!!! This story has been so intense, a total roller coaster of emotions. Helen and Grant are two complex but amazing characters. I loved both of them and the development of their relationship... simply perfect. It's not your typical romance novel where you can predict everything from the beginning, and I think that has been a very important factor in why I enjoyed reading it so much. It pleasantly surprised me, and I will definitely be reading Yulin's future works.

☆ Thanks to Yulin Kuang, Hodder & Stoughton, and NetGalley for the ARC ☆

I had such high hopes for a romance novel from the screenwriter and director of Emily Henry's books, and maybe that ruined the experience for me, because I couldn't help but compare. And this fell really flat in comparison. I don't think it was actually bad, but it was just not landing for me, and I felt bored. This is why I decided to DNF.

I really enjoyed this story- I thought the premise with Helen’s sister was so clever. It made the untangling of Helen’s approaches to relationships clever and less straightforward than a girl meets old high school crush story. I really liked both Helen and Grant as individual people so was definitely gunning for them to get together. Having it all set against the screenwriting was also really interesting as I’ve not read much about that before. Lots of good steamy bits too! Thoroughly enjoyed

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for giving me an opportunity to read this ARC.

I loved this book. The two main characters were absolutely perfect. I felt that their relationship was developed at an excellent pace, and the YEARNING was impeccable.

If you like books from Kennedy Ryan, Helen Hoang and Abbey Jimenez, you will probably really enjoy this book. How to End a Love Story will break your heart and put it back together again, better than it was before.

On the one hand, I enjoyed this book. It was dark, twisty, emotional, and devastating but still held light. There is love in these pages in many different facets. Helen and Grant's relationship was difficult, painful and gripping. there was so much love and affection wrapped up in past pain and trauma. It felt real.

On the other hand, I didn't enjoy the third-person point of view. I found it challenging to engage with the characters and feel what they were feeling, everything I felt was from an outside perspective, and I only experienced a small percentage of the emotions that should have been pouring from these pages.

One thing that bugged me, but I could also understand, was how much the characters kept talking and thinking about high school. i wished they had been more present in the first 1/3 of the book, but the rest of the story does make up for it. Overall, it is a deeply emotional and challenging read, not for the faint of heart but rewarding when you make it to the end.

How to End a Love Story by Yulia Kuang is a truly enjoyable read. You'll soon be swept away by the characters and their deep connections. It was so much fun to watch them fall in love, despite their troubles.

As soon as I started reading, I could not stop. I particularly loved the underlying theme revolving around grief over the loss of a loved one. Helen's pain and struggle with grief over her sister's death, combined the sometimes complicated nature of sibling relationships, was so realistic and heartbreaking to read and it brought me to tears more than once.

Helen's relationship with her parents really resonated with me and the casual mentions of Chinese culture and upbringing was a delight to read. Seeing these touches that are so close to my heart and so familiar to me in a book (especially how Chinese families express love to one another) made me feel so seen.

The romance between Helen and Grant was interesting to see unfold and captured my attention from the start. However, if I had one qualm about it, it would be perhaps the leads went from enemies to lovers just a tad bit too quickly for my taste, but their chemistry and the difficult situation they're in due to their tragic past was intriguing and had me hooked.

How to End a Love Story made me laugh, it made me cry (a lot, and in a good way!!), it made me kick my feet like a giddy kid, and overall it was an incredibly enjoyable read.

Yulin Kuang is a GENIUS! I was hooked from the very beginning all the way through the end. The slow burn, (not quite enemies) enemies to lovers, forbidden love had me on the edge of my seat, gripping at my heart. Easily my new favorite romance. This love story with the subplot of two broken people who view themselves unworthy of the love they both crave. Yulin Kuang does a beautiful job of portraying that living for yourself & separating from the overbearing expectations and views of those around you can you have the life you want.

How To End A Love Story
by Yulin Kuang

This is the debut novel of writer/director Yulin Kuang whose work I have been following since “Kissing In The Rain” was released onto YouTube.
I was very lucky to gain access to an advance readers copy through NetGalley.
This is a very enjoyable romance with lead characters who are simultaneously both likeable and a little messed up.
The plot has Helen – a successful YA author – turning up in LA to take part in the writer’s room on the adaptation of her hit book series.
She discovers that one of the lead writers in the room is Grant. He was behind the wheel when Helen’s sister threw herself in front of car, leading to her death.
That tragic event informs every part of their interactions as they eventually move from being frosty colleagues to besotted lovers.
When the book ended I had that rare feeling of wanting to spend more time with the characters and I don’t think there’s a higher recommendation than that.

Rating: A-

The plot of this book sounded unique and enticing but when reading it, it fell all over the place. The hatred and romance between the two main characters was good at the beginning and then suddenly they're all over one another?

The spicy scenes are incredibly rushed and not thought out, majority of their hand and mouth positions, even simple ones, were kind of confusing to figure out what exactly they were doing. And they'd start doing something and then one would just disappear? Or the conversation would suddenly change into something else and it just didn't flow or fit right.

I didn't like the fact this book was also written in present tense because the way it was wrote felt so badly that it needed to be in past tense and that the present tense was forced and overall it actually made the book harder to read. It probably would've helped to add more details if it was is past tense.

I think with some changes I could've really enjoyed this book but as it currently stands it wasn't the best I've read but it also wasn't the worst.

Please read the trigger warnings before reading to as the book is also based around suicide, sibling death, car accidents, panic attacks and minor drug use.

It took a couple of days for this one to settle with me but I came out feeling really positively about it. An emotional love story, it follows Helen and Grant who have a tragic past together. Today they find themselves working in the same writer's room and gradually warming up to one another. The characterisation was great, I properly got to know these two.

I wasn't convinced about the backstory but thought it was handled pretty well. Some elements of the getting together felt a little rushed, there wasn't much tension here. But that's ok, it's not always needed. It was joyful to watch these two people be there for one another and help each other heal.

There was also plenty of wit and humour. It's not actually as heavy as it sounds! Overall a super enjoyable romance with depth.

The story unfolds as our two protagonists, tied by tragedy, unexpectedly reunite in a writers' room after 13 years. Compelling perspectives on shared trauma and authentically written characters you want to champion until the end.

Felt like a slow start - adjusting to what seemed like a screenplay, which was charming considering it's set within the backdrop of a TV writers' room workplace, making me want to see this developed for TV/film. I really enjoyed the relatable 'human' dialogue and was intrigued by the overall premise of the story. Glad I stuck around to the end for this delightful and healing romcom that promises an experience that is both entertaining and meaningful.

This book was also a great teaser to what can be expected for Yulin Kuang's film adaptation and direction for Emily Henry's Beach Read. I think fans of Emily Henry will be excited and pleasantly surprised by this pairing.

Thanks to NetGalley, Hodder & Stoughton and the author for this ARC. Already pre-ordered a physical copy (:

2 stars
TW; sibling death through suicide, two car accidents (one talked about a lot, the other on page), long-term grief and trauma, hateful treatment of main character from the other, toxic relationship with parents, panic attacks, general mental health struggles, use of drugs (minor)

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for an e-ARC to review. All thoughts are my own.

I dislike writing reviews that are too personal and purely negative, but this is one I cannot avoid writing because this book affected me in a way I wasn't expecting. If any of the trigger warnings above are things you feel uncomfortable with, please do not endure this book. I felt the obligation from applying for this arc via NetGalley to read it through despite becoming uncomfortable within the first portion of the book, and in hindsight, wish I had just DNF'd it instead of trying to find any positives to review about.

How to End a Love Story follows Helen and Grant. As teens, they went to the same high school but weren't in each other's circles, and after Grant plays a significant - albeit without choice - role in Helen's sister Michelle's suicide, Helen and her family treat him as the murderer, not the victim of Michelle's choices. Immediately, because this involved a car accident, in which I lost my beloved father in one thanks to the careless choice of another person, I felt uncomfortable. This continued to echo for me as Helen in the present time - now 13 years later - finds herself in Grant's company during the process of screenwriting her book series into a show. Helen is initially downright cruel and unwavering in her reaction to Grant, and whilst I tried to understand how the grief and loss of her sister was behind her actions, she isn't likeable at all. Grant, to his credit, does try to make amends, and the author chose to write him as someone who tries too hard to make others feel comfortable whilst he himself suffers.

Trying to remove my personal loss from the situation, I attempted to like the plot even though it felt very far-fetched from what the synopsis vaguely entailed, but I just couldn't get behind the romance. Helen goes from hating Grant's very presence to taking an edible and admitting he's not half bad whilst under the influence. They then become somewhat friendlier with each other, and at this point, I thought it might build slowly and healthily. Instead, it falls right into the romance, with too many sexual scenes with frequent sides of "this is so bad, I shouldn't be sleeping with the man who ruined my family" and this toxic minefield of playing with feelings and passion is built. I didn't feel like either character was truly in love despite it being shared on page, and quite often they were very dramatic towards one another. Helen's issues with her parents (there is a side story of Helen being the child of Chinese immigrants, and the level of struggle she has faced in a country with different traditions than those her family uphold) get interjected whenever things seem to be running smoothly for her and Grant, and of course, because he is the cause of Michelle's death in their eyes, the last thing they'll accept is their remaining daughter being with him. The whole plot around these two unlikely people falling for the other after the trauma both inflicted from various sources, as well as each other, just never became right or worked out for me. By the time the third act breakup happened, the accident that occurred afterwards, and then the subsequent getting back together, I was beyond exasperated with this story.

Writing style-wise: you can tell Kuang is a screenwriter. The story is told in present tense, yet it reads very pretentious in how the author expresses the emotions or thoughts of Helen especially. I found it frustrating that there were so many time jumps, the gaps were filled in poorly, and the overwritten structure of feelings made them feel unrealistic and robotic at times. I could see this level of drama working in a soap opera television show, where the shock factor is constantly used to engage viewers, but as a reader, I didn't relate to the style of writing choice at all. The romance felt weak and sex was overused to show intimacy between the couple.

Overall, I can't decide if this story was simply not good, or that from my personal experience with loss via a car accident, I was too sensitive to adapt to the way it was showcased. The author does put a content warning in at the start of the book but leaves out some elements that I would think are worthy of being listed. Equally, there is no content warning on the author's website if you want to check it out before purchasing, and none added to the listing on NetGalley, in which had there been one, I wouldn't have applied at all. This isn't entirely the author's fault, but down to the marketing of the book. I despise this vague way of presenting the story through a synopsis that doesn't truly give you a sense of what is to come.