This was such a unique and heartbreaking romance that has such an intense backstory that really made the plot of this book so interesting and engaging.

Read this for:
- Workplace
- Forbidden love
- Forced proximity
- Just a hookup
- He's gone for her
- Mental health rep

Helen and Grant are tied together through a tragic past. Helen's siter commits suicide when they are all in high school by jumping out in front of a car and Grant is the one that hits her and kills her. Fast forward years later, and Helen's hit book has now become a tv show and she ends up being staffed on the show with Grant as the second in charge in the writers room.

The two are forced together and at first it's so sticky and prickly between them. When a truce forms and they start to get to know one another, the chemistry between them starts to build. They both start to heal through the relationship with one another because they feel like they can be their true authentic selves. The problem is their relationship can only be temporary because Grant will always be the one who killed Helen's sister, and Helen's parents will never be able to see past that.

This reads a lot like a screenplay and the characters move through the scenes beat by beat. You got to see the effects the tragedy had on Helen and Grant. Each of them continued to deal with the trauma years later. This book has layers, and is complex, and you couldn't imagine how this could work out but it does. Your heart aches for these two to be able to find their way to one another. It's hard to even imagine how these two are destined to be together but through their traumatic path Helen and Grant do come together and help one another find what they have been missing in their lives.

I listened to the audio and thought the narrators did a fantastic job. I will be looking forward to other books from Yulin Kuang.

Thank you to Book Club Girl, Avon and NetGalley for this ARC in exchange for my honest review.

Check out Yulin Kuang's debut novel, "How to End a Love Story"! Helen and Grant have a complex history and find themselves working together on a TV show years later. As they confront their past and gain new insights during a camping trip, their undeniable chemistry sparks. But with their history, can they ever be together? This story delves into themes of love, forgiveness, and second chances. Great debut!

Thank you to NetGalley, Avon and Harper Voyager for the eARC in exchange for my honest review!

Helen and Grant are forever connected by a tragic accident, but they have no reason to ever interact again — until they wind up as writers on the same TV show, which just so happens to be an adaptation of Helen's YA book series. With the past constantly nagging at both of them, they try to steer clear of each other, but the universe has other plans. Can these two people with a painful history write themselves a happier ending? And can they forgive each other...and themselves?

If you told me this was Yulin's third or fourth book, I'd believe you — that's how well written it was. She took a heavy story idea and spun it into this messy, complicated, heat-filled love story that had me gasping, laughing, and crying the entire time. And I genuinely, audibly gasped several times. Yulin is far too good at this.

The sensitive subject matter was handled with such care and consideration, and I appreciated the content warning ahead of the book. Any author who includes a warning deeply cares about their readers and I respect them all the more for it. There was an element of pain and sadness, yes, but Yulin also explored the themes of guilt and anger that loved ones grapple with when someone decides to take their own life — and that just made the characters feel more real, more human. It felt raw and my heart ached for them as a result.

I also appreciated that there was no true resolution between Helen and her parents because often times...there isn't. Their relationship may always be strained as a result of past generations not being warm and open with each other about their feelings, and that's a reality many people who come from immigrant families deal with. I thought Yulin handled this super well and while it made me sad to see there wasn't a warm moment between them, I understood and respected the decision to go that route because it's extremely common. But you get a sense that the relationship between Helen and her parents is improving because they do attend her wedding, despite having misguided (but understandable) anger toward Grant.

On a lighter note, the SPICE and BANTER were FANTASTIC. I always find the banter to be especially hot when it's an enemies to lovers story, and Yulin delivered. Again, it's so obvious that she knows how to write that you'd never know this was her debut novel. She just GETS it.

I did feel like the ending was perhaps a little rushed with the engagement and the wedding, but aside from that, I absolutely loved this book and will be recommending it to ALL of my friends. I can't wait to read everything and anything Yulin writes in the future!

Amazing debut novel! There’s not enough love to go around for how much I LOVED and connected to this book. This was different from all the other rom/coms with how refreshing it felt. I wish I could read this for the first time over and over again!

As a major fan of Emily Henry and Abby Jimenez’s storytelling, I was greatly anticipating this novel and it lived up to all expectations.

This is the story of Helen, a woman shouldering the burden of losing her sister abruptly without any closure and Grant, a man living with the guilt for being involved with that loss. It’s the unlikely love story between two damaged individuals who yearn for love but also don’t believe Bette deserving of it.

At first I was a little skeptical of how insta-lovey the relationship seemed, but as the plot progressed I became more and more satisfied with how organic and endearing their dynamic felt. Yes, they have a palpable physical chemistry. this book was HOT. But they also developed a genuine friendship over shared trauma. The discussions of grief, guilt, and regret was nuanced and real. There was no immediate reconciliation but rather a slow mending over time.

It was also cool to learn more about the process that goes into a book to screen adaptation. It’s obvious that Yulin Kuang is good at her craft and I'm even more excited now to see her bring Beach Read to life.

Thanks to NetGalley and Avon Books for the ARC!

This one is getting RAVE reviews and I’ve seen more comments than I can count labeling it an “all-time favorite romance.” I'm sad that I didn't feel the same. While there is a lot to like in the details of this one, overall I really disliked back half to the point that it left me with a bad taste overall.

First half: 4 ⭐️. I really liked the characters, loved the Hollywood writer’s room setting, and somehow even really liked the unconventional backstory. I never would have thought a plot like this could have worked as the setting for a romance novel, yet it somehow did. Helen and Grant have great chemistry but they also have their own issues and I enjoyed the mental health rep and that the book wasn’t only about their romance.

Second half: 2 ⭐️. The romance became the sole focus of the story with most other details falling away and the characters became *obsessed* with each other in a way that gave me the biggest ick. I don’t know if this is a trope or what, but I saw it in Happy Place and recently Old Flames and New Fortunes and just NO. I am so turned off by this. When the writing becomes short sentences just above feeling deep love. This trope already makes me a big ragey, but then to top it off the pacing fell off a cliff and it dragged SO HARD that it took me literally two weeks to finish this book. The entire end was so repetitive and slow that by the time it ended I had decided I hated it overall, even though I did like a lot in the first half.

We’ll give it a blended “meh,” I guess… I'm clearly in the minority so check out other reviews, you’ll probably like it.

WOW. This book was amazing. It covered incredibly difficult topics in a delicate way. I loved the story and couldn’t put this book down. A wonderful debut novel. Looking forward to reading more from this author!

I really enjoyed the beginning of this book SO much. It felt like I was laughing every other page. The plot/tropes had such solid potential to be something really messy and complicated. However, I got lost about 40% in when the two MC’s randomly started having chemistry and flirting seemingly out of no where? It just felt super insta love and like they really hadn’t talked about anything at all. I didn’t feel a connection to Helen or Grant on any deep level, and found myself being bored and annoyed by their actions. I think it’s a solid debut and was really funny, but I was just a bit taken out of the story because of several factors. Thank you NetGalley and Avon for an ARC in exchange for an honest review!

In high school, Helen’s sister stepped in front of a car and died. Helen hasn’t seen Grant, her former classmate and the driver of the car since then. Now, Helen’s book is being adapted for TV and Grant happens to be one of the screenwriters on the show. The two must learn to work together and in the process they both confront the past and open up in ways they never have before. As they work together and grow closer, feelings start to develop, but how can they have a real future with such complicated and intertwined pasts?

What an impressive debut! This book was raw and emotional and both characters had such beautiful journeys of healing and growth. The way their relationship slowly developed into a romance was so well-written - I had no idea how it would work when first reading, but it was so well done. This book was surprisingly spicy as well and I was here for it. I am so excited to see what Yulin Kuang comes up with next!

Thank you to Avon Books and NetGalley for the advance copy.

A deput?! Yulin Kuang will be an auto buy author for me. Her writing is absolutely phenomenal and her storytelling made me laugh, sob crying, & feel absolute contentment. I could live forever in the words written on her book. The ending came too soon.

Grant Shepard?! Where do I find one of him? Helen & Grants chemistry was palpable on paper and I felt everything that Yulin meant for her readers to feel. She brought them to life SO WELL.

This was a top romance read for me this year and I’m so grateful to have been given an advanced copy! Thank you Avon & Harper Collin’s Publishing so much for the advanced copy!

My official review on my social media platform will be posted the week of 17th of April when I receive my physical copy. I will attach link when it’s posted. I posted on my social media story on publication day.

This book packs an emotional punch along with the romance. It’s a darker kind of angst and there is so much that has to be overcome in this book to get to the HEA. I liked it, it gutted me at times, enraged me at others, but overall felt very gratifying at the end.

How to End a Love Story by Yulin Kuang immediately caught my attention because Yulin is the writer for an Emily Henry screenplay, so I knew I had to check out her debut novel!

How To End a Love Story is a deep story about a Chinese American writer whose sister who was killed after getting hit by a car in high school. Now years later, she reconnects, in the writers room of her first tv show, with Grant Shepard, the boy who was driving the car that struck her sister.

I was struck by how great of a writer Yulin is. She took heavy topics: grief, suicide, ect and intertwined them in to a romance. The romance was beautiful, deep and real.

While this isn’t a light and fluffy romantic comedy, I highly recommend How to End a Love Story by Yulin Kuang. I can’t wait to read whatever she writes next!

Thank you to NetGalley and Avon and Harper Voyager for an advanced copy in exchange for my honest opinion.

Thank you to NetGalley, author Yulin Kuang, and Avon for providing me with a free ARC in exchange for my honest opinion!

As excited as I was for the EmHen movies already, I cannot WAIT now to see them knowing they are in Kuang's care!! I will be fully transparent in admitting that knowing Kuang was directing/writing the movie(s) was what made me pick up this book, but I'm glad that it brought me to this gem! You can tell that she has lots of experience as a writer because this did not read like a debut. I felt like the characters were well fleshed out, and I truly felt the enemies to lovers connection between Helen and Grant. I was surprised (in a good way) by how spicy it was, and I felt all scenes were truly sexy and written well. I loved the depth brought to the story by their high school connection, and if anything, I would have loved to see that explored a bit more. My biggest detraction from this novel was that it was mostly centered around the romance, so parts that I found more interesting (like Michelle, Grant's anxiety, Helen's friendship with the writers, etc) could have used a bit more spotlight to make this truly shine for me. However, I loved Kuang's writing, and I am so excited for her to write more novels in the future!

One of my writer friends said once that grief is love with nowhere to go, that love also lies in the waiting. I think there’s no better embodiment of that than HOW TO END A LOVE STORY—it’s earnest and hot and melancholy, a combination with a premise that sounds impossible on paper but needs Yulin Kuang to come to life. This is a book for the literary fiction girlies who crave solid writing on top of great character development, and for the eldest daughters who need a forehead kiss. Reading had me both kicking my feet giggling and in the deepest of feelings as I was reminded that there are no coincidences in life, that it doesn’t happen on a cookie cutter timeline, that families are…really complicated.⁣
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But, most of all, LOVE STORY found the soft spot I have for pining and slow burns and cozied right into the ranks of my favorite romances. Reading conjured that gut instinct that someone important has just entered your life—you don’t know why or how, but you’re excited, and your best friend is equally as invested as you are to see how this pans out. And still, despite the heaviness of grief or the nervousness you feel, the redemptive nature of loving someone deeply, intimately, and truly propels you forward, toward them, toward healing. It’s hard to believe that this is a debut, but Kuang’s background in screenwriting took LOVE STORY to the next level. She’s an expert in setting a scene and knows how long to linger before the moment becomes cheesy or trite. ⁣
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Long story short, this book got me so good and I’ll probably end up re-reading it in the next month. And I’ll happily snatch up whatever Kuang writes next. Thank you @avonbooks @harpervoyagerus for the #gifted copy! LOVE STORY is out 4/9 💗

Real life screenwriter/director, Yulin Kuang, takes us into her work world in her debut novel, How to End a Love Story.
Helen's a YA writer who's able to get a position in the writers room when her best selling novel is going to be turned into a TV series. She goes into the experience very naively, hoping for some inspiration to break her writer's block. Instead, she gets an immediate shock when she comes face-to-face with someone she hasn't seen in 13 years. I liked the behind the scenes experience of writing and producing the TV series and life in Hollywood. Helen's and Grant's characters were complex (although also muddled at times) and their relationship was equally complex. Be prepared for some steamy scenes (as the author warned her parents in the acknowledgements)!
How to End a Love Story tackles the difficult subjects of suicide, mental health and complicated family relationships. The focus on the impact of suicide on a surviving family member was especially interesting and well-handled. And...as a New Jerseyian, I'm somewhat intrigued by the setting in Dunallie!
Thanks to Netgalley and Avon/HarperCollins for the opportunity to read How to End a Love Story in exchange for an honest review.

4.5 stars. Thanks to Netgalley and Avon and Harper Voyager. ahhhh this book had me in a chokehold the whole entire time. The hurt of Helen the hurt of Grant Shepard. I loved everything about this book all the feelings that it made me feel they were just so raw

4 stars. How to End a Love Story is such a hard book for me to rate. The concept behind this one is super bold and audacious and I truly applaud Kuang for wring a love story where the characters are so linked by tragedy. If you're a fan of broken characters, this book is for you. Because Helen and Grant aren't just broken, they're BROKEN. But because of their shared tragedy, they're also the only people in the world that can truly understand one another.

I know that Kuang is writing the book to movie adaptation for one of Emily Henry's books, but if I had to compare How to End a Love Story to another book, it wouldn't be one of Henry's. It would be Ugly Love by Colleen Hoover. I didn't enjoy Ugly Love, but I appreciated what Hoover did. And in some ways, How to End a Love Story is a bit of an ugly love romance. That said, even though parts of this were difficult to read, I did ultimately end up enjoying this. My favorite parts of the book were when Grant, Helen, and her parents had honest conversations with one another. I also really liked the depiction of Chinese/American family and those parts of the book felt like some of the realest to me. However, the reason this was 4 and not 5 stars for me was because the pacing was a bit off in the middle for my preference, and I think its because that part of the book felt like the romance between Helen and Grant progressed a little too fast. That said, I also think there's something to be said about finding understanding in another human being that transcends conversation, and they did ultimately end up having those candid conversations I was looking for. All in all, I definitely enjoyed How to End a Love Story. I think Kuang is going to be a romance author to watch for and I'm truly excited to see what she pens next!

Thank you so much to Kuang, Avon, and netgalley for sending me an early copy of this one in exchange for an honest review

I loved this book! I feel like it combines many of my favorite elements of romance into one package. First, Kuang is such a fantastic writer. Her background in writing for the screen is evident, but how incredibly visual this novel was. I could picture many scenes, and the characters felt like they could walk off the pages. I also love that both Helen and Grant worked in the world of writing and Hollywood. I found learning more about the screenwriting and adaptation process interesting as a background plot to the book.

This book reminded me of Emily Henry's Beach Read (two writer main characters) and Nora Ephron's classic rom-coms (30-something, comfortably settled in their creative careers main characters). And I loved that! Plus, Helen and Grant had great chemistry, and I couldn't help but root for them the entire time I read.

This one was a little spicier than I prefer, but I thought Kuang handled these scenes well. If you don't love open-door romance, those chapters would be easy to skip over. Her open-door scenes reminded me a lot of Rachel Lynn Solomon, another rom-com author I love.

Overall, I loved everything about this book. It's been added to my list of favorite rom-coms, and I'll be looking out for what Kuang does next.

This romance read like a mix between a rom com and a literary fiction. The way the characters were connected to each other in the past and found each other in the future brought a really special connection to their love story. I really loved this characters and was rooting for both of them the whole time. I did find it a little bit weird during the middle of the book where it felt like their relationship halted and they just became friends with benefits because they didn't want to get into a relationship. They turning into more one dimensional characters who existed only to do the dirty with each other and leave. It got a bit better closer to the end but I wish we focused more on their emotional connection growing rather than physical. I will continue to think about these characters for a long time. As a debut, I loved everything that Yulin Kuang brought to the table on this one and will be looking forward to what she puts out next.

I will be pushing this book on everything this summer. The hype is well deserved and I cannot wait to read more of Yulin Kuang's work!!