2024 API Month

Oh boy. The reviews are polarizing for a reason. While I initially thought I'd flat out hate this, I found myself surprised by loving the first 20%. Things went downhill soon after.

While I tire of WMAF as the predominant IR relationship I see both in books and irl, I was willing to give this one a chance due to the premise of the story. This isn't a spoiler as it's in the description, and truly the first few pages of the book, but in high school, Helen's sister jumps in front of a moving car in order to die. The car is Grant's. He is homecoming king, and overall, a popular good looking guy. Helen, while not unpopular, is none of these things. I'm not sure why this matters so much thirteen years later.

Helen is now famous for writing a series of YA books, in part based on her sister and life. These books are being turned into a TV show. Grant is one of the screenwriters. Some of the reviewers have issues with the popular boy becoming a writer, but not all writers are your stereotypical nerd. Hollywood is full of nepotism, and while Grant didn't "know anyone," looks will get you far in LA, and perhaps anywhere.

I am loathe to call this enemies to lovers, as Helen and Grant aren't truly enemies. They know each other, barely, by circumstance. However, that is what sells, even if it is misapplied to more than half of the books it supposedly labels.

There's a lot of sex here, so if you're into that, welcome. It's the other things I take issue with. The lack of communication, the strange communication, the out of nowhere communication - all of these things should've been shown and not told. I hear from writer friends that this definitely feels like a screenwriter wrote it. And to be fair, Yulin is, by trade, a screenwriter. I have less issues with the writing than the rest of the things occurring.

Helen's relationship with her parents, while fraught, isn't über concerning. It's when Grant tries to dissect what he finds strange that I really get angry. I've dated a few more white men than I care to admit to. Looking back, a thing that really gets to me, is the lack of understanding toward my parents, and what they find impersonal about them. They are not impersonal. They're just not the stereotypical white parents. And that's fine. If I can code-switch with barely a second thought, why isn't the same consideration being given to me?

I obviously had a myriad of problems with this, but not everyone will, and search different reviews before making the decision to read it. Some of my friends loved this. Quite a few more hated it. But as always, I won't tell you what to do.

📚 Buddy read with Steph

📱 Thank you to NetGalley and Avon

I’m writing this review, but I have kind of mixed feelings about the book. Did I love it? Yes. Did I also dislike it? Yes.

3.5/5 ⭐️⭐️⭐️💫

Helen and Grant went to the same high school and have been through the same tragedy in different ways. They are not friends and have not seen each other in 13 years. Helen is an author of a popular YA series that is being made into a tv show and Grant is a writer on the show. When they both end up in the writers room they have to put aside their problems for the sake of the show. They also end up getting to know each other on a deeper level.

This book is spicey but also very deep. It deals with a major topic (look up trigger warnings) and those topics come into play right away. Like sentence one. While I think the author handled the topic very well and the spice was also well written there was just something I could t get behind. I’m not sure if the relationship was believable because of the circumstance. It felt like these characters were trauma bonded and maybe that is something that could bring them together but also was it healthy? I’m not sure.

I can totally see why this book is getting a lot of hype, but I’m just not sure it was for me. It was so melancholy the whole time and I rarely had butterflies, but that doesn’t mean it wasn’t good. (Hence, my mixed emotions)

This was so fantastic!! The emotions, the writing, the CHARACTERS. I care about these characters so deeply. I will be reading anything Yulin Kuang writes in the future, and the fact that she is writing the Beach Read film script.... chills!! She is amazing.

This book, start to finish, was fantastic. The concept, tone, writing - it is all great. I can’t wait to read what is next from this debut novel (and to watch her work on screen!)

I loved this complex story of love and grief and family connection. I would have appreciated a trigger warning for suicide, but otherwise this was perfect. A nuanced story of what happens when you fall for the man who was once part of the great tragedy of your life. I look forward to more of this author’s work!

This romance does not follow the typical roller coaster, and I loved it for that reason! Thank you for writing outside our expectations, but still giving us fantastic characters (and spicy scenes)!

5/5 :star:
3/5 :hot_pepper:

Yulin Kuang absolutely knocked it out of the park. I give this book actually SIX out of five stars because it’s simply the best book I’ve ever read.

I’m sorry, this is her DEBUT??? Incredible. Her writing is so good it makes me no longer want to be an author because if I don’t make my readers feel the way Kuang made me feel I simply don’t want it.

Throughout the story, Helen Zhang (the FMC) has some side dialogue to her sister who died by suicide. The way she speaks to her sister is *absolutely hilarious* which I didn’t expect from a book about the grief process and moving forward but wow, I don’t want anything else now. I personally deal with difficult situations by using humor so this was exactly my kind of book. Kuang’s sense of humor is so good. Like the subtle hints throughout the dialogue made it even funnier — "funny funny" not "funny haha."

The character development, the way Helen works through the grieving process but also processing with Grant (the MMC). I loved all of the side characters and I felt like I was in the writing room with them. They each had their own personality that added to the MCs' story.

Grant Shepard is the absolutely king of dirty talk. I was BLUSHING during some of the spicy scenes and I had butterflies from some of the dialogue. WOW.

Overall, I'm screaming about this book from the rooftops and can't wait to see what Kuang comes up with next (aside from the screenplays I am WAY too pumped about!). And if she never publishes a book again (please don't let this be true) this book will have made it's mark.

I really enjoyed this book! I thought it could’ve been shortened in places, but I kept turning the page to see how Grant and Helen’s story progressed.

Thank you to Avon and Harper Voyager for the ARC. Lovely cover. Was really interested to see how Emily Henry's screenwriter would write. It was similar to Emily Henry's style but the content left a lot to be desired. Not for me.

4.5 stars!

I loved "How to End a Love Story" by Yulin Kuang! What a fabulous debut novel. Talk about a beautiful, romantic gut punch. This is a simply beautiful, tragic, terrific story that I will be thinking about for months and possibly years to come. It really affected me on a deep level. I was taken through the gamut of emotions while reading this one. My HEART! It's not the typical kind of love story readers have come to expect. It's layered, full of big emotions like grief and reckoning, full of second chances (not in the way you'd assume). It is bitingly funny, shockingly relatable. Helen and Grant are fully fleshed-out characters with terrific backstories. I was immediately overcome with emotions by their stories. I wanted so badly for things to work out for them! I loved them both for different reasons. They are each trying to work through their traumas and discover who they are apart from them. I felt for them and understood their journeys. I understand why Helen is the way she is. I did not find her unrelatable or unkind at all. She's just trying to pick up the pieces of her broken life and move on the best she can. And Grant... ugh, what a guy. Loved them so much! The pull to one another is divine. The spicy scenes are soooooo good, and well-earned, too! My one tiny complaint is that it feels like the book ends too quickly. It's almost as if Kuang ran out of steam a little towards the end. I found everything up until the last 10-ish% to be well-paced, but it's a teensy bit rushed. Apart from this, this is a tremendous novel full of excellent dialogue and fantastic chemistry. I urge you to read it as soon as possible!

Thank you to NetGalley, Yulin Kuang, Avon, and Harper Voyager for the complimentary ARC of this book. All opinions are my own. I was not compensated for this review.

I really did not like this one as much as many people did. It did not live up to any of the hype for me. I didn't like either of the two main characters and found the sister subplot to be emotionally manipulative and ultimately did nothing to forward the plot in a meaningful way but to add angst to a relationship. I also never felt any connection between the two main characters at all, but especially one that would allow them to come together so fast despite their past and current job status.

I just loved this so much! As a sometimes socially awkward introvert, I very much related to the FMC, Helen. And obviously am so in love with Grant, the MMC. <3

Felt myself laughing, crying, and kicking my feet throughout the entirety of the book, which doesn’t always happen for me. It’s cute! It’s sad! And it’s… complicated. With a hefty serving of spice: 3-3.5/5 🌶️🌶️🌶️

(Thank you, Avon and Harper Voyager and NetGalley, for the ARC in exchange for my honest review.)

What a wonderful, wonderful novel. A powerful, emotional, heart tugging, sexy story that had me reading and reading and has left me with such a book hangover. The set up is painful but Helen and Grant find their way to each other with a supporting cast that is so endearing. I'll be telling everyone to read this one - Yulin Kuang's talent is in every line on every page. Bravo. I just hope she can write really fast because I need her next book asap.

Really liked this one! Felt like it dragged at some points, but the immigrant and sibling trauma was well done. The chemistry between grant and Helen was amazing and I loved their scenes together. Excited for what Yulin does next!!

https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/6086177955

At the beginning, you're like how can Grant and Helen get over this traumatic past? I admit it freely, I was skeptical. But How to End a Love Story is a story about confronting our past. About seeing the baggage, the issues, the thoughts we can never discount, and having to decide what we do. It very much is a story about grief and love, but also about chemistry and secret feelings.

I really enjoyed this book. It was a great mix of heavy and fun (and spicy). I also appreciated the author's use of dual POV. It was so nice to get almost simultaneously, both characters' perspectives throughout the shared scenes. I could definitely feel the author's experience in screenwriting. The story felt very cinematic.

Helen Zhang lost her little sister in a tragic suicide that changed her and her relationship with her parents. She does all she can to never show them weakness or make them doubt she can do it all. This drive gets her not only a very popular YA series but a spot in the writing room for the TV adaptation of it. It's all going great until she learns that one of the leads in the writing room is Grant Shephard, the popular kid from high school whose car her little sister jumped in front of. Meanwhile, Grant has done all he can to get over the tragic accident, panic attacks notwithstanding, and he knows that he shouldn't take the job because it will hurt Helen. But it's an opportunity to further his career and he can't deny wanting to spend more time with the beautiful and brilliant woman. Can the feelings they find have room to grow when a tragic shared past and Helen's instinct to suppress all emotion get in the way?

I confess that I get mad when a book that's as hyped as this one proves to be worthy of it because it gives me hope and very rarely is a book as good as the hype makes it out to be. But if there ever was a book that deserves all the love and attention, it's this one. Not only is it a great romance, but you also get a story about dealing with sudden loss and the shock of it, and about the generational/cultural disconnect that many children of immigrants have to navigate. There is so much of being human and living held within its pages that you can't help but dive feet-first into all the emotions it engenders.

There are so many things to analyze and obsess over in their individual stories and as a couple that just focusing on that makes a page-turning romance, but Kuan went the extra mile and included Helen's experience with her parents and their shared grief. All the different elements combine to into a story that pulls you in and makes you feel. It's fantastic.

Delighted thanks to NetGalley and Avon for the wonderful read!

This debut was really funny and heartfelt. Helen and Grant are high school classmates linked by a singular tragedy who are thrown together in a writers room after her best-selling novels are adapted into a prestige TV series, which is among the senior writers of. But after butting heads, the ice begins to thaw and they find themselves drawn together. It did a great job exploring how tragedy shapes us and informs the baggage people carry within a sexy, glamorous love story set in Hollywood. A quick read, it has me looking forward to what Yulin Kuang has in store as she adapts Emily Henry's novels.

4.5 stars! This was soooo good! I was so excited to read Yulin's debut knowing that she is adapting one of my very favs Beach Read to screen!

This was balanced with levity and depth touching on serious topics of ⚠️ TW: suicide, grief, and death of a family member. Helen and Grant were truly swoon worthy! The audiobook really brought their relationship to life for me. Enemies-to-lovers can be tricky to successfully execute, and Yulin nails it to a tee.

She brought banter, steam, complex family dynamics, complicated relationships, and truly delivers on an emotional and heartfelt love story.

Angsty, emotional, and complex this is one to add to your TBR!

The big draw for me to this book is that she's adapting an Emily Henry book for a movie, but this one didn't really do it for me. I wasn't drawn in by the main characters and the tragedy the brought them together was just too intense.