This novel was everything. Emotionally devastating, tumultuous, revelatory, inspiring, therapeutic. Everything. The way the author was able to make me care for these characters so deeply is truly inspiring. She even made me applaud a third-act breakup which I normally hate.

I truly cannot say enough about this novel. This was engaging and exciting and made me want to yell and scream at these characters while I also wanted to give them a hug for everything they were going through. The author’s experience with writing for Hollywood was clear and evident but it was the relationship between Helen and Michelle and Helen working through her trauma and emotions and unpacking everything that left me emotionally wrought.

I loved this so so so much. The audiobook is exceptional as well.

How to End a Love Story has everything I want in a contemporary romance and I'm so thrilled that Yulin Kuang is adapting some of Emily Henry's books to screen (including my favorite, Beach Read). It strikes the right balance between fun rom-com elements, tension, angst, grief, complicated family dynamics, and self-discovery. Helen and Grant were easy characters to connect to and I loved seeing how their story played out (even if they occasionally got on my nerves at times - for reasons that were understandable and realistic).

I also really enjoyed the dual third-person present POV which made the story feel quite cinematic (and really worked for a story that involves screenwriting). This, combined with the story's setup (the accident that caused Helen and Grant to have a shared traumatic past) made this book feel unique and I know it's one that is going to stick with me - a rare occurrence for me since, aside from a few exceptions, contemporary romance is not really my genre.

I always associate contemporary romance novels with Taylor Swift songs and this one is a combination of The Archer, I Can See You, This is Me Trying, Out of the Woods, Say Don't Go, The Great War, False God, and Daylight.

SYNOPSIS:
As a teenager, Helen’s sister jumps in front of a car to commit suicide. The driver of the car is another teenager named Grant. Years later, the two are thrown together to work on a television show and can’t seem to stay away from each other despite of their shared trauma.

MY THOUGHTS:
Sad girl romances are my favorite so I’m here for a book that starts so tragically. This book is filled with loss, longing and love and it hurt and filled my heart in equal measures.

Honestly this is my favorite type of book. It was a romance, but so much more. The grief and trauma both of our main characters face was so real and raw. And I loved how they were so open about it. It was quite beautiful. But also the romance was definitely prevalent. The longing. Omg the longing was so dang good.

However, I was not expecting this book to be so steamy. It was a bit much for me (but I know this is probably a selling point for most of you 🙃).

What You’ll Find
🫠 Longing
❤️‍🩹 Sad romances
❤️‍🔥 Enemies to lovers
🍾 Hollywood romances
💋 He falls first

I was excited to read Yulin Kuang’s debut novel after seeing that she will be writing the screen adaptation for one of Emily Henry’s novels, and I found her writing to have the same heart and depth I find in one of Henry’s books.

Helen Zhang is a novelist who will be working in the writer’s room on her first TV adaptation. When she meets the other writers in the room, she is shocked to find Grant Shepard in the group. Helen and Grant have a deep, painful history - Grant was driving the car that Helen’s sister Michelle jumped in front of in high school, committing suicide. She is initially determined to dislike Grant, but the pair slowly build a bond over the course of their time in the writer’s room.

Kuang doesn’t shy away from deep topics. Grief, anxiety, depression, suicide, complex family dynamics, parental expectations and disappointments…they are all here, and written in a heartfelt and beautiful way. The characters feel relatable and like real people, with all their messy and sometimes conflicting emotions, their decisions good and bad, and their fears about their futures. The secondary characters are great at adding a touch of levity to the darker moments of the book.

The romance here is a slow burn, but once it ignites it gets spicy pretty fast and pretty often! Multiple open door scenes show the burning chemistry between our love interests. Helen frustrated me several times as their relationship slowly built, but I suppose her choices did make sense in light of her background.

I always tend to struggle connecting to the characters when written in third person, and I found that to be true here as well. If it had been a dual first person POV, this one may have ended up a five star read, as it had so many great elements to it!

Thank you to NetGalley and Avon and Harper Voyager for the ARC. All opinions are my own.

Thank you to NetGalley and Avon and Harper Voyager for the ARC. Thoroughly enjoyed Yulin Kuang's debut novel. Hopefully this book will also be transformed into a screen adaptation that will be written by her. It was funny, witty, romantic, tragic, and just had all the feels. Looking forward to seeing the screen adaptations of other books that Yulin Kuang has been involved with. Loved that on the author's profile on Goodreads is said that she was once fired from a Hallmark movie for being "too hip for Hallmark," I hope this won't be the last novel that we see from her!

I loved this book. Somewhat Rivals to Lovers with a shared traumatic past. Forgiveness, love, and complicated family dynamics. The conflict felt real. The want and yearning was palpable. *Chef's kiss*

Thank you to NetGalley and Harper Collins Publishing. I have been a big fan of Yulin since her YouTube days. I had high hopes for her debut novel and she delivered. I feel very honored to have received an ARC.

HOW TO END A LOVE STORY – Yulin Kuang
Avon
ISBN: 978-0063310681
April 9, 2024
Contemporary Romance

Los Angeles – Present Day

Thirteen years ago the lives of Helen Zhang and Grant Shepard were forever changed and linked after he accidentally ran over and killed her only sister, Michelle. It was Michelle’s doing as she ran out in front of traffic on a highway late at night. While Grant was exonerated, Helen and her parents were left grieving and angry—toward him. In the intervening years, Helen has gone on to become a successful Young Adult author and now they are turning her books into a television series. She gets to help them write the screenplay to adapt her books to television. Unfortunately, she learns on the first day that Grant is one of the members of the writing team. Helen will have to work and see him every day. How can she when he is responsible for why her family is so sad?

Grant wonders how things will work out between him and Helen in HOW TO END A LOVE STORY. He is so sorry for what happened even though he wasn’t responsible for a suicidal teenager running into the path of his car in the middle of the night. He even tried to show up at the funeral but was asked to leave. Now Grant must work with Helen. She isn’t friendly at first and barely acknowledges him, but since they are all part of a team, they can’t ignore one another forever. The writing team goes on a weekend retreat meant to bond and it turns out, Helen and Grant begin to thaw out and start talking. It is the start of a friendship which soon leads to more. But Michelle’s death hangs over them. Her parents would be truly mad if they found out she was not only working with Grant but seeing him romantically. How long can they keep it a secret from her parents? Their future as a couple doesn’t look bright.

The romance in HOW TO END A LOVE STORY is slow to build as one might expect. Helen has to get past what happened that night and Grant wishes things could have been different. Then there is the fact that Helen has been searching for clues among her sister’s things for a reason why she did what she did. Did the family miss the clues of Michelle’s depression and suicidal thoughts? When someone dies like this, it affects a lot of people. To the world, the family might have grieved and then moved on, but for the Zhang family, the death still hovers over them. It has caused them to become a dysfunctional family. Or has it always been this way and Michelle responded in the only way she could? Does Helen find the answers she is looking for?

While HOW TO END A LOVE STORY is told from both Helen and Grant’s points of view, the underlying story is about Helen getting over her grief and her burgeoning relationship with Grant. Their coming together is complicated even as they work together each day to bring her books to the screen. This tale is filled with mixed emotions. There is sadness. There is building new careers and lives. Then there is finding love. Will Helen and Grant get a chance to have a life together forever? Discover the answer for yourself by grabbing a copy of HOW TO END A LOVE STORY.

Patti Fischer
Romance Reviews Today

4.5/5 stars ⭐️

How to End a Love Story was a fantastic rom/com debut that gave me everything that I didn't know I needed. I found it to be a very FRESH take on a contemporary romance. Nowadays, there are a handful of common tropes we seem to see grouped together in a lot of books (not that there’s anything wrong with that!), and not being able pinpoint that in this one felt very novel.

With that being said, there is forced proximity due to the fact that Helen's YA series was picked up by a studio to turn into a TV show and Grant is one of the writers working on the show. Unbeknownst to anyone else, 13 years prior, Helen's sister, Michelle throws herself in front of Grant's car in the middle of the night and is killed. So, we have a grief stricken past, and clear sexual tension (in the present). Kuang depicted grief SO well. Sometimes, grief can mean you feel nothing at all. Sometimes, it means you still have panic attacks and need an ex to get you through it. Kuang's depiction of angst and tension was perfect. The subtle touches between the two had me swooning and the banter between the two was unmatched.

I also really, REALLY loved the relatability to Helen. I was hooked from the second I read Kuang's dedication to the "eldest daughters of immigrant parents." A big part that made Helen so relatable was her struggle to interject herself in conversations and how everyone else seemed to know what to say, but she didn't. Another would be the dynamic with her immigrant parents that I'm sure many children of immigrants can relate to. My ONLY issue was that I felt that one of the plot points that occurs later in the story wasn't necessary due to the hurdles that were already in place at the start of Helen and Grant's relationship. I considered them to be both flawed enough that I didn't think another added issue was necessary. Overall, I highly suggest picking this up. It had been a while since I had read a contemporary romance and this definitely got me out of the rut I was in!

Thank you to NetGalley & Avon/Harper Voyager for the e-ARC!

Thank you to Netgalley, Avon and Harper Voyager for the advanced copy!

Wow. I’m so amazed by this story and the way Yulin Kuang wrote this love story.
This book has such an interesting premise with different parts to it but the way Kuang was able to weave this story together was masterful.
We follow Grant and Helen, who briefly knew each other in high school but are connected through a tragedy that happened during high school. Flash forward thirteen years, Helen has written a book series that is now being turned into a tv show. Where one of the writer’s for the show is no other than Grant. We watch as the two are dealing with being back in each other’s lives following this tragedy that affected both their lives over the past thirteen years.
Grant and Helen are both such complex characters and they were written which such rawness and depth. It felt as if they were talking to you and explaining their reasons behind decisions and thoughts on situations. They were so relatable and felt like real people with real issues and struggles.
This relationship was heart breaking to watch as it was filled with angst and this longing for each other but fear because of the past and other aspects of their lives.
I felt so absorbed in this book, memorized by the way the writing flowed and the words on the page. I would go back and re read passages or lines just to try and soak it all in.
I laughed, I cried, I smiled, I felt all the emotions while reading this. Truly a spectacular debut book. I will definitely read anything Yulin Kuang writes going forward.

Thank you again to Netgalley, Avon and Harper Voyager for the advanced copy.

This was delightful (and spicier than I expected!). Full review coming to Instagram soon on my weekly 30 second book reviews.

This had a lot of potential but sort of fell flat for me. Both characters just didn't feel fully developed. I feel like we got more background on some of the side characters than we did the MMC and FMC.

This book was absolutely beautifully written and devastatingly frustrating!!

How To End a Love Story, is heavy and includes some difficult family and relationship dynamics, but I found that even when I was frustrated with the characters, I still felt deeply for the pain these characters have suffered with. Helen and Grant were characters with frustratingly human emotions and feelings, and though I had qualms with some of the story, the writing was amazing. The way their struggles are written, albeit frustrating was so realistic.

I was a bit disappointed that I didn’t feel more attached to this book and this relationship but the stress I had outweighed my connection to the relationship between Grant and Helen. The banter between them grew to be one of my favorite parts of the book, and Yulin did an amazing job of making the sarcasm and humor balance with the romance and attraction between them.

The pacing throughout the book was one of the major issues I had with the story, it was slow to start and the tension in the middle dragged on, but the end was rushed.

However, I am excited to see what Yulin writes next because her writing was an instant draw, and her ability to write these characters, makes me excited to read more from her!

Thank you Avon and Netgalley for the arc.

This book does yearning so well. Watching these two characters orbit around each other, collide, and then bounce back apart only to start all over again was painful in the best, angsty way.

I also related to Helen so. Much. The imposter syndrome? The awkwardness that happens sometimes when you're in a room with people who are all having a Great Time and whenever you try to jump in it just Does Not Work? It was so painful to read about but so accurate, and I was rooting so hard for Helen as she came out of her shell.

My one gripe is the writing style. Third-person present-tense is an interesting point of view to take, and combined with the brisk, almost choppy writing was sometimes a bit too much and took me out of the story.

The portrayal of grief in this book was so powerful and visceral. I think the author did a great of describing the stages (and even lack of stages) of grief. I would have preferred to read this from Helen's perspective, in the first person POV, but it was really well done.

This one had many bumpy ups & downs like a wooden rollercoaster! At times it was a little slow but all in all it was a very cute story. I wish Grant would have had a heart to heart conversation with Helen’s parents. I think that’s the only thing this story was missing imo. I would have really enjoyed that bridge being mended. The will they won’t they really frustrated me but I think that’s why I really loved this story of them falling in love. There were some triggers and it’s mentioned before reading it so please take note before reading this book.


Thank you, NetGalley & Avon and Harper Voyager for the opportunity to dive into one of the cutest love stories I’ve read in a long time.

FIVE STARS. I loved this so much. I have been looking forward to reading Yulin Kuang's debut novel How to End a Love Story for a while now, and I was absolutely ecstatic to receive an e-arc.

Yulin Kuang is incredibly talented. This is truly one of those books that will stick with you for a lifetime.

Thank you netgalley and Avon and Harper for this free e-arc in exchange for my honest review.

I had love-hate feelings about How to End a Love Story. On one side, I loved the plot, the idea of two main characters divided by such a tragedy and the triumph of love between them. The dynamics and cultural differences were other highlights. However, I couldn't feel a true connection due to the writing style. The present tense used for third-person narrations just isn't my cup of tea.

I appreciated a lot more than I hated though, and the use of past tense is a personal preference. Hence, four stars.

Thank you Yulin Kuang, Avon and Harper Voyager, and Netgalley for access to an early copy.

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Ughhhh where to begin! This book was so good! The love between Grant and Helen was beautiful. The way they would support each other. The push and pull. The circumstances that brought them together in the first place had me worried there for a minute lol. This was a brilliant Rom-com that had great banter,good spice, dealt with lots of heavy themes very well and was so easy to visualize that it felt like watching a movie in my head. (Would actually love for that to happen actually!)

Just a beautiful book that deals with love (in it’s many forms) grief, resentment, dealing with immigrant parents and the generational trauma that comes with that. Helen’s social anxiety at times. Elder daughter things and just so many things, and so well too.

She was frustrating at times but I was still rooting for her all the way! Grant and Helen’s love story has placed itself high in my book couples list. My eyes watered multiple times whether due to them or the beautiful/heart breaking moments Helen had with Michelle. As an older sister, those moments were so difficult but beautiful to read. I never wanted it to end and wanted to see even more of Helen and Grant! (That’s how much I loved them!)

And I cannot go on a simp rant for Grant cause it will go on forever (love him dearly)

I can go on and on but consensus is (!) I loved this story and already have a physical that I had to purchase on its way to me to add to my shelf. Yulin Kuang wrote an amazing,sweet,heartbreaking,romantic, spicy,heartfelt story and I can’t wait to see what else she does in the book world and for the screen! She has definitely become an author I would auto-buy from. ☺️


thank you avon | harper voyager and netgalley for gifting me this e-ARC in exchange of my honest review

Wow. Wow. Wow.

This book kept me enraptured, had my emotions up and down, and felt like watching an impending train crash at times. But I couldn’t look away and I couldn’t stop reading.

The premise had me intrigued from the moment the book’s release was announced and I just kept thinking— “there’s no way this is gonna work. how will this possibly work?” lol And for the first 30% of the novel, I was still like how can this end well for anyone? But Kuang made it work and by 41% I was rooting for Helen and Grant.

These characters felt so so real. And I love how the POV’s flowed between the main characters multiple times in every chapter instead of bouncing between each one chapter to chapter. Helen drove me up a wall at the beginning with her insecurities but it made her feel so human because like I know her, I’ve been her. It felt so good to watch her grow and establish boundaries kind of with her parents. And see her make friends. It was nice to see Grant fight for something/someone and to not let things happen to him. They deserved a happy ending with one another because they really saw one another and pushed the other to be better.

I wish there had been more moments of watching Helen and Grant settle into their relationship after getting over their big hurdle. Only having like one or two chapters of their HEA, felt like a letdown given how much they overcame but I had a good time nonetheless.

There were moments while reading, where I was floored by the way Kuang wrote not only dialogue but prose, and I find myself reassured that us, Emily Henry fans, are in good hands with her at the helm of the PWMOV and Beach Read adaptations.

"How to End a Love Story" by Yulin Kuang is a captivating and emotionally resonant journey through the complexities of love and loss. As someone who appreciates stories that delve into the intricacies of human relationships, I found this novel to be a compelling exploration of the highs and lows of romance.

Kuang's writing is both poignant and relatable, effortlessly capturing the essence of the human experience. Through the lens of her characters, she navigates themes of heartbreak, forgiveness, and the enduring power of love with grace and sensitivity.

What sets "How to End a Love Story" apart is its authentic portrayal of the messiness of love. Kuang doesn't shy away from depicting the raw emotions and difficult choices that accompany matters of the heart, resulting in a narrative that feels both honest and deeply affecting.

In conclusion, "How to End a Love Story" is a beautifully written novel that will resonate with anyone who has ever experienced the complexities of love. With its compelling characters, evocative prose, and powerful themes, it's a book that lingers in the heart and mind long after the final page is turned.