When my friends at Avon Books reached out and asked if I was interested in an early copy of How to End a Love Story by Yulin Kuang I couldn’t reply YES fast enough! While this is Kuang’s debut novel she’s the screenwriter for Emily Henry’s People We Meet On Vacation, as well as the director for the upcoming Beach Read feature Film. Yes please, and thank you!!

This is the story of Helen and Grant, two young professionals in LA. Helen has worked hard to get the opportunity to have her book made into a series, while Grant is at a standstill in is career but can’t go backwards so agrees to sign on as a writer on the series. Sounds fine? Notsofast. They are tied by a seismic event in their teens.

Don’t let this breezy romcom setup fool you into thinking this is a lighthearted summer read. Much like Beach Read, Kuang balances heavier elements with modern romance. There’s joy among grief, attraction lives beside pain. Khang serves up a smart, nuanced look at how trauma both propels us forward and anchors us in time. How do we forgive imperfect people who are no longer here, and moreso ourselves?

I think this is an outstanding choice for fans of Emily Henry, Abby Jimenez, and Katherine Center. Read if you love romance that also touches on deeper themes. I’ll be watching to see what Yulin Kuang does next, and can’t wait for the other projects she’s working on!

How do you reconcile a past teenage tragedy with grown-up attraction? TW: anxiety, suicide. Grant unfortunately was the driver that killed Helen's suicidal little sister; they haven't met in 13 years, until now, when Grant is a screenwriter for author Helen's novels. Kuang treats both Helen and Grant with compassion as they slowly take baby steps towards a relationship-- yes, there's attraction, but they grow to like each other as people too, but both have to reckon with the accident and the complicated nature of Helen's immigrant family expectations.

4.25/5⭐️
2/5🌶️

This was cute!! It was light, funny, a little spicy and the characters were relatable! I love a good forbidden love story!! This was so original and I haven’t read anything like it yet. Helen was so easy to connect to and you could feel her pain through the words. The whole time I was rooting for Grant! I wanted them together so bad because I knew they would heal together through their shared horrible accident. For a debut novel this is absolutely amazing!!!

Thank you netgalley for the eARC in exchange for my honest review!

2.5 stars rounded up since it's a debut. I was really very interested in this title after reading a review of it in a library journal, it sounded great, and since this was E. Henry's screenwriter, I thought it would be similar. Alas, that was not to be. My biggest complaint was the inclusion of way, way too much spice and smut in this one. I just don't need that in my reads & if I want to read porn, I certainly know where to find it. There was so much of it, that it was hard to just skip or skim those parts. Other readers might very well enjoy that, but between that and some other triggers (suicide) this one was just not for me (sigh). Anyway, my sincere thanks to the publisher and Net Galley for the approved ARC.

Helen Zhang's younger sister was killed in a car accident in high school. Grant Shepard was the person driving the car that killed her.

13 years later, Grant, now a screenwriter, is sitting in the same room as Helen, helping turn her popular YA book series into a TV show.

How is this even going to work? That is the question that Helen and Grant need to figure out as they get to know each other in this new setting, years after a traumatic incident that changed both of their lives.

Though Helen has spent this time harboring hate toward Grant, and Grant has spent that time trying to leave the accident in the past, new emotions start to form as they are forced to spend time together.

How to End a Love Story is about in two people recovering from trauma and learning to feel worthy of love - as they can't help but fall in love with each other. Steamy and dramatic with many light-hearted moments in between, this is a book I'd recommend to romance readers who love complexity.

Thanks to NetGalley and Avon for early access to this book in exchange for an honest review.

5! How to End a Love Story follows the story of Helen and Grant, which is Yulin Kuang’s debut book. This is such a well-rounded and written story. Kuang’s storytelling truly captivated me and was able to keep my attention from beginning to end. To be honest, in the beginning, I was a bit confused about how these two characters were going to grow to love each other. However, when the tension and angst began to rise, I NEEDED them to get together. Helen and Grant worked so well because they understood one another and knew how to forgive and move on from the past. The last third of the book was so emotional that I was caught off guard. The heartache was insane. This is not only a love story between the two characters but a story that explores grief, family dynamics, and happiness. What an amazing debut and I can't wait for more books from this author.

Thank you to Netgalley, Avon, and Harper Voyager for an eARC of this book. How to End a Love Story releases on April 9th!

How to End a Love Story by Yulin Kuang was a pleasure to devour!
One of the best contemporary romances I’ve read!
I was completely hooked on the first page and could not put it down.
I absolutely loved the writing style, the characters were so charming, and the chemistry was PERFECT!
This book was perfectly paced and kept me interested.
This debut is immediately captivating, blending warmth and romance with meaningful insight.

Thank You NetGalley and Avon for your generosity and gifting me a copy of this amazing eARC!

Overall this is a really solid contemporary romance debut by Yulin Kuang. Her two main characters, Grant and Helen, are connected by a tragedy at the end of their senior year that forever alters both their lives. Years later, they find themselves working together, and slowly realizing they may have more in common than they thought.

The storytelling as a whole in this book was beautiful, and it explored challenging family dynamics, grief, trauma, and forgiveness in upfront ways. There were moments when the romantic progression felt a little haphazard and also when the jumping from once perspective to the other was too quick and the author's background as a screenwriter was showing through, but in general I think this is definitely a story worth reading.

Super cute and fun! I have been following Kuang's career for a long time and their multi-faceted talents extend to novel writing. Delightful!

This was absolutely utterly perfect. I could not ask for more - a well balanced story, a moving plot, and a whole lot of heart and emotional triumph. I cannot recommend this enough. Kuang carves out a unique spot for herself that is simultaneously in the same stratosphere as Emily Henry, Taylor Jenkins Reid, and Katie Cotugno. Absolutely wonderful.

I have a lot to say about this book so let's dive in. First off, holy cow, I did NOT expect a book with this cute of a cover to make my heart ache as much as it did. THE ANGST. THE HUMOR. THE HEART ACHE. Everything about this book was just so wonderful. I was very nervous going into this but I was pleasantly surprised with how good it was. Amazing banter, it had me laughing out loud throughout the entire thing. I LOVED the aspect of Helen noticing different versions of Grant, reminded me a lot of january/gus in beach read. When I wasn't reading it, I found myself wishing I was and missing the characters like they were real people. When I tell you they were living in my mind RENT FREE.

This book is such a breathtakingly beautiful and vulnerable portrayal about grief, love, forgiveness and life. Yulin writes with such emotional intelligence and I think that's one of the best things about this book. If you're an EmHen fan, you will absolutely love this book. I laughed, I cried, I yelled at Helen's frustrating parents and I swooned over Grant. Reading this will have you fully understanding why Yulin is the one adapting EmHen's books and I couldn't be happier after reading this beautifully heartbreaking and adorably hilarious book. Thank you Netgalley for an ARC of this in exchange for an honest review.

Favorite quotes: "I'd rather have a fraction of you than all of someone else"
"He looks up just then, and it's like the sun comes out only to highlight Grant Shephard's smile."
"This is what it would feel like to love Grant Shephard, she thinks, and it aches."

One of the joys of being on Bookstagram is reading a book, loving it, and then seeing other readers gush about the book. That’s been my experience with How to End a Love Story.

This is author Yulin Kuang’s debut novel, but she clearly knows her way around story and romance—fun fact: Kuang is adapting and directing the movie version of Emily Henry’s Beach Read.

If you love romance books or are curious about the genre, How to End a Love Story should absolutely be on your April TBR.

***

In How to End a Love Story, Helen Zhang has temporarily relocated from New York City to Los Angeles, where she’ll work in the writers’ room of the show adapting her popular series of YA books for television.

Helen quickly faces an unwelcome surprise: Grant Shephard, the golden boy from her hometown with whom Helen shares a fraught history, has been chosen by Suraya, the showrunner, as Suraya’s “number two” in the writers’ room.

Reluctant to disrupt the show’s progress, Helen decides to stay quiet about her past with Grant, hoping they maintain a professional rapport in the writers’ room and keep their distance outside of it. Alas, life rarely follows the scripts we outline…

This book is SO, SO, SO good. Not only is the chemistry between Helen and Grant palpable, but they are also nuanced characters imbued with depth. Alongside the romantic narrative, Kuang includes observations on adult friendship, professional ambition and frustration, grief, and complex family dynamics.

While the book is funny and tender, it also grapples with tragedy and trauma. The somber portions of the book are handled with sensitivity and never felt gratuitous. One detail I really appreciated is that both main characters have been in therapy. The therapy sessions aren’t depicted on the page, but it is nice to see characters who are doing their best to evolve, heal, and grapple with their humanity.

How to End a Love Story is among my favorite romances I’ve read. A big thank you to @avonbooks and @netgalley for sharing a digital ARC with me.

This is a wonderful book I positively drank down. It has such a high degree of difficulty, pairing a woman with the person who accidentally killed her sister. It is NOT a romcom; it is very emotional and angsty, and precisely what I wanted. I loved all the inside baseball about writing for television, and while medical calamities usually strike me as a lazy way to create drama, I thought it worked here. I am already anxiously awaiting what this author has in store next.

This was one of my most anticipated releases of 2024, so it pains me to say I didn’t love it as much as I wanted to. I’m still so thankful to have been approved for an arc for this one!

I truly think it was just me who didn’t vibe with the characters or some plot points, so I do think people are going to love this one. And I will definitely be reading more of Yulin Kuang’s work – I did enjoy her writing style, just not so much this particular story.

Don’t let my opinion dissuade you though – I still had a good time, and if you like any of these tropes + plenty of tension and yearning, you might enjoy this one!
- forbidden love
- forced proximity
- enemies to lovers
- office romance

Thank you Avon and Harper Voyager and NetGalley for the e-arc!

CW: suicide

Grant Shepard killed Helen Zhang's sister. She should hate him, she should avoid him, she should definitely not spend the next several months in the writer's room with him- turning her novel series into a tv series adaptation.

It's been more than a decade since Helen's sister, Michelle took her own life by jumping in front of a car at age 16. It could have been anyone's car, and logically Helen knows that-- but when she finds herself working in close proximity with Grant Shepard, the someone whose car *did* kill Michelle, she is forced to reevaluate long-held feelings of anger and grief.

According to her " about the author" section, Yulin Kuang is an award-winning screenwriter and director, which lends so much authenticity and passion into this wonderful novel that relies on the writer's room for a major plot point. Fans of Emily Henry will be delighted to hear that this section also included the exciting news (news to me, anyway!) that she is currently set to direct a screen adaptation of Henry's novel Beach Read!
I could not believe, as I read this novel, how many plot points came together seamlessly- without ever feeling rushed or forced. Kuang's writing is immersive, and gives you glimpses of family dynamic and generational trauma, healing through therapy and dealing with mental health issues, the Chinese-American experience, dealing with uncertainty and imposter syndrome as an author, and a love story that offers healing and redemption, Truly wonderful read, that I will be insufferable about for weeks, and recommending to everyone!

Thank you NetGalley and HarperCollins Publishers for a digital ARC!

Artfully crafted and poignant, How to End a Love Story is a brilliant debut from author Yulin Kuang.

The overarching conflict in this book sets out a seemingly impossible path to an HEA, and the ways in which Kuang explores all of the nuances of said conflict is thoroughly compelling. I will say that I felt that there were moments when Helen in particular felt overly harsh, but that trait also made her achingly human.

The prose is beautiful and the narrative arc is ultimately satisfying, but readers should be ready to be put through the wringer before seeing the light at the end of the tunnel. And be aware that this book does deal with some topics that might be triggering to some readers.

Thanks to Avon and NetGalley for the ARC. All opinions are my own.

How many words does it take for an author and a screenwriter to fall in love? Find out in this encapsulating novel about a harrowing past turning into a beautiful future.

Grant and Helen know each other from their past. Unlike most high schoolers, they are connected over a traumatic and life changing event. When they meet again years later through work, how will it go? Will they be able to deny the sparks and pull between them, or will they continue entangling themselves?

This book had me hooked. The writing is impeccable, with the reader being able to jump in and out of the heads of both Grant and Helen. You fall in love with both of them instantly and immeasurably, hoping they will be able to take the same jump together. Truly un-put-down able, this book put me through every emotion and feeling, just to help me better understand how to perfectly end a love story.

Swoony and spicy and everywhere in between. “How to End a Love Story” is heartfelt and heartbreaking, more melancholy than I expected but what could I expect from the writer/director adapting two Emily Henry novels?

I'm OBSESSED with this enemies to lovers, dual POV, Hollywood romance between two writers who find themselves forced to work together on a tv series adaptation of a bestselling YA series one of them wrote.

Full of emotional depth, great banter and chemistry and a killer epilogue. I couldn't get enough of this story that was also great on audio narrated by Katharine Chin and Andrew Eiden. HIGHLY recommended for fans of authors like Ava Wilder, Christina Lauren or Elissa Sussman.

Many thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for an early digital copy and @libro.fm for an ALC in exchange for my honest review. I'm excited to see Yulin in person later this month with Tessa Bailey and can't wait to read what she writes next!

Steam level: open door (mild details)

4 Stars How to End a Love Story is the debut novel from Yulin Kuang, screenwriter of Emily Henry's People We Meet on Vacation and screenwriter/director of Beach Read, and it explores grief, healing, and how trauma inexplicably binds us together.

Thirteen years after the tragic accident that took the life of her sister and bound their lives together, Helen Zhang is shocked to see Grant Shepard again--and in the writer's room that is adapting her bestselling YA series. Hoping to conquer her imposter syndrome and solve her writer's block, Helen is determined to succeed in the writer's room. The only thing she hadn't planned on was Grant. Grant Shepard has done everything to move on from that fateful night, including moving across the country, but the past still haunts him. Helen and Grant are each exactly as they remember each other from high school; Grant is funny, charming, and the life of every room, while Helen is brilliant, talented, and closed off. There is so much unresolved between the two, but that doesn't stop their feelings from growing the more time they spend together, both in the writer's room and outside of it. Could falling in love in the present finally help them make peace with the past and move on?

I feel at a loss for words to describe this story. Yes, there's grief and loss, hurt and pain, but there's also joy and love, healing and growth. Kuang touches on many subjects, including suicide, loss of a sibling, guilt, mental health, assimilation, familial expectations, and loss of connection to one's family's culture. The author handled all of these subjects with loving care and sensitivity. Despite the heaviness of the topics, I never felt like the story was that heavy or angsty. There were times were it was surprisingly light, much like I guess it is surprising to feel light after grieving for so long. Helen and Grant were fascinating characters and I truly feel like I haven't read a love story like there's before. Overall the story kept a good pace and I loved the time jumps at the end so we got to see more of their HEA. A beautiful love story ❤️