How to End a Love Story

Somehow sad, bruising and glorious at the same time. The book really flows us through the pain and loss that a death of a sister, loved one and daughter can bring, juxtaposed with the guilt and weight that crashing into someone can bring. As romance, filtered through cross words and sarcasm, takes hold, the impact this has on the wider family is explored - those not in the dream who remain bereft and hurt. This is a clever juggle of everyone’s emotions thundering along, all whilst a script needs writing.

"How to End a Love Story" is a romance written by Yulin Kuang.

Helen Zhang is a bestselling author focused on her career. Famous for her series of young adult novels, she managed to get a coveted position in the writing room of their TV adaptation. On the surface, it's a golden moment for her! Too bad no one knows about the imposter syndrome she cleverly hides, or the writer's block that prevents her from writing anything else. Moving to Los Angeles for the task may be the fresh start she needs to get back on her feet. Or at least that's what she hopes, until she meets Grant Shepard. That same Grant Shepard originally from her hometown, who she has not seen in thirteen years, since the car accident that killed her sister. An accident in which he was driving the car that hit her. Helen has never forgiven him for what happened, even though her sister threw herself under the car, even though he could not avoid the impact. The idea of working alongside him is disconcerting, as well as painful. Grant, for his part, has done everything in his power to move on from the past, including building a life across the country. And although his panic attacks have never gone away, he is well liked around town as a screenwriter. Grant knows he shouldn't take the job on Helen's show, but it will open doors for developing his personal projects and he can't pass up the opportunity. And so they find themselves at the same table, in the same room, working on Helen's show, with Grant as second in command. The beginning is not the best, with Helen and Grant disagreeing on everything, but slowly, bit by bit, the two begin to grow closer and the sparks of attraction ignite.

This book was a roller coaster of emotions! At times light and funny, at others intense and touching, it made me laugh and cry repeatedly (when I didn't laugh and cry together)! It is a novel that speaks of grief, sorrow, and despair, showing the effects that the death of a loved person leaves on their family, friends, acquaintances and those around them. It is a story that speaks of suicide, of trying to understand, of the need to search for a why to this gesture. It is a story about remorse, recrimination and guilt. It is a story of two broken people who try to make their way through a sea of pain without drowning. But at the same time it is also a hilarious story, made up of joking and funny moments, that speaks of hope, forgiveness and self-acceptance. I was impressed by the author's ability to move from decidedly funny situations to truly sad ones, maintaining an overall lightness, a bubbly rhythm, that does not weigh down the text. And then do we want to talk about the spicy?! Seriously, I didn't expect that! Or rather, yes, I was expecting something, but not some steamy swooning scenes! My hormones did somersaults geed whiz!

I admit that the element I liked least, for my personal taste, was the narrative choice. In fact, the book is written in the third person, and I am not a fan of romance written in the third person. I do not know why, but only in romance, the use of the third person causes me a sort of detached feeling, making it difficult for me to bond with the story and the characters. However, in the case of "How to End a Love Story," I found everything else so interesting that I was able to overcome, at least in part, my difficulties and get involved in the events.

Helen and Grant, protagonists with their respective third person povs, won me over. They are two troubled, complex and fragile people who hide their pain behind raised walls or easy smiles. They both feel themselves inadequate and worthless, unworthy of receiving any comfort or support. And so they prefer to be alone, persuading themselves that it is better that way. Little by little this view, over the course of the book, changes and they begin to open up to each other and to others, following a truly wonderful healing path. The development of their relationship is fantastic, with funny and emotional interactions, full of moments when I giggled and others when I ached and sobbed. Helen and Grant have a complicated situation, with Helen initially loathe Grant and then struggling to let go, to totally open up to him. In addition, I loved their sizzling chemistry and the tasty, well-described, and swoon-worthy spicy!

All in all, it is a fun and intense romance that I deeply adored!

Thank you to the Publisher and NetGalley for giving me an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.

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.

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.

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.

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 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.

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 (:

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.

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

Well well! This is definitely a ‘marmite’ book, I actually loved it. Not quite the story you would expect from the cover and title, but nonetheless it’s worth reading for sure.
Unfortunately, my copy had a technical glitch, meaning that a few words at the beginning of each chapter were missing and also the letters fi and fl at the beginning of the word- had to concentrate more than usual!