“He keeps drawing a slow circle around her ankle bone, unwilling to break contact completely—he feels like he’s just started a new favorite book and he can’t put it down or he’ll lose his place.”

The pining, the romance, the angst, the tortured trauma, Grant Shepard…be still my heart. That man. He’s top tier and the amount of lines I highlighted alone from him. Your honor, I’m in love with him.

You can tell Yulin has talent in storytelling right off the bat, her writing style is gorgeous and flows so well. The story starts with tragedy and a true contemporary enemies to lovers, but the longing from it with Helen and Grant is ADMIRABLE and when those sparks fly, they flyyyyyy.

I’ve never seen steam written off the pages so well that you can feel it. There’s also NO miscommunication in this but straight, direct, forward communication for what they want. Except of course- denying of feelings, deep rooted trauma that stops you from getting what you want and deserve, and the occasional frustrating characters in a love story! Trauma bonding, perhaps? Yes. I loved Helen and Grant and the realistic flaws of their characters, as well as their development. “You feel a lot of responsibility for other people’s feelings” - moments where I felt like Helen.

Ugh I know I’m back with this but I just loved Grant so much???????? Be still, my heart. I’ll come back with a coherent thought to my review maybe later when I can stop thinking about him. But he’s literally the reason why woman fall in love with fictional men and can’t find them off the page.

Trigger warnings: death, suicide, death of family/sibling, grief.

“She’s terrified of it. She’s terrified that she’s incapable of wanting something and getting it, of real life obliterating perfect weather and happy endings if she goes on for an extra chapter, or even an extra sentence. That just means you really want it, she reminds herself, as her heart hammers in agreement.”

“I don’t want to be healthy,” Grant says, and his chest is heaving as if he’s just run a marathon. “I just want you.”

Helen and Grant were irreversibly linked to each other during their senior year of high school, when Helen's 16 year old sister, Michelle, committed suicide by throwing herself in front of Grant's car. They didn't know each other well before, and they certainly didn't become friends in the aftermath, but they both thought of the other often over the years as they tried to navigate life after trauma and loss. The story takes place 13 years later, when they end up in a writer's room together adapting Helen's bestselling YA fantasy series into a TV show.

Now, despite an obviously angsty premise, the drama in this is not over the top, in my opinion. It is angsty and sad and full of grief and forgiveness, but to an appropriate, realistic degree. Helen and Grant's relationship grows very believably from shock and trepidation, to begrudging mutual admiration, to lusty but still genuine friendship, to head over heels in love.

In the first few chapters, I struggled with the dual POV third-person style. It was sometimes confusing, especially when Helen and Grant were in dialogue with each other, to try and remember whose POV I was reading. It made me feel emotionally detached when all I wanted was to dive into the emotions headfirst. However — and I fully acknowledge I might just be emulating my junior year AP Lit teacher here with this "the curtains are blue as a metaphor for the character's suffering" bullshit — as I got to know Helen and Grant better, it made a weird kind of sense. I feel like they often witness themselves in the third person in a way, like they're experiencing their own lives and interactions almost voyeuristically. And there are a small handful of emotionally charged moments where Kuang suddenly switches to second person — not first — forcing the reader into the role of Helen, which, at the risk of sounding unbelievably pretentious, I just think is absolutely brilliant, singular, inspired.

And Kuang has that rare talent to unexpectedly catapult your heart into your throat by randomly putting into words feelings or sensations that you've experienced, which you've never even thought to try and put into words yourself, but that you would've expected if you did that no one else would understand what you meant.

I found a new favorite and a new auto-buy author. Getting this book early for free was barely even an advantage, because I already know I'm going to buy two physical copies so I can mark up one of them. Fans of Emily Henry, Hannah Bonam Young, and Ashley Poston are going to absolutely eat this story up.

I don't read much romance these days but chose this as a possible addition to my list of books with Celebrity Romance. My mistake; these main characters are not really celebs, more celebrity-adjacent.

PROS:
+ HTEALS had the same writers' room camaraderie I LOVED in Romantic Comedy by Curtis Sittenfeld.
+ Interesting premise, though hard to pull off. Not a spoiler: the main character has believed that the love interest killed her sister for years. Seriously, that's dark. Maybe this should have been a thriller, not a romance.

CONS:
- There was something in the writing/dialogue that felt distancing to me. Maybe it was the third person. I didn't get that immersive romance reading feel that I always hope for.
- This kind of intense and very dark hate-to-love plot is HARD to pull off. Like really hard. Respect to the author for tackling such a tough premise but I don't think it quite got there for me.

While I don't think there was anything amazingly new and different with How to End a Love Story, it sure was steamy!! It was a breeze to read, and I loved getting a sneak peek at what happens behind the scenes of the adaptation of a book to a TV series! I thought it was interesting to have such a serious plot line at the heart of what was otherwise a fairly predictable romance, and it made it somehow more realistic and less realistic at the same time. As you would expect from a novel written by a screenwriter, I can totally see this turned into a great movie! I look forward to seeing what Kuang comes out with next!

This was easily my favorite book I've read so far this year! I have so many emotions and love for it!
Thank you to NetGalley and the publishers for the advanced copy of this book.
The book centers on Helen, an YA book author who is temporarily moves to LA to help write the scripts for the TV adaptation of her book series. She discovers that one of the other writers is Grant, who was tragically the person who hit and killed her sister thirteen years prior when they were teenagers. Even though it was an accident and not Grant's fault, there is obviously so much heavy tension and emotions from the trauma they've both endured in different ways.
Their relationship slowly builds from cold colleagues to friends, and then to so much more.
The book is extremely deep and complex. The author talks about death in such a brutally honest and refreshing way. It goes back and forth between funny and devastating. How there can be anger along with grief.
There were so many amazing, thought-provoking, and powerful lines that made me feel every emotion.
The characters are complex, flawed, and wonderful. I absolutely loved this book! It reminds me of a Emily Henry romance with another level of complexity, sadness, and love.
I can't recommend this book enough! It is every feeling. One of those books you will feel sad when you finish it because it's over and you know it will be hard to beat and compare to. I can't wait to read more by this author. Thank you again for the chance to read it!

4.5 stars!

While I've never heard of Yulin Kuang before, there's a big chance that I've seen her work on the screen. She's a seasoned Hollywood writer, and now has her debut novel How to End a Love Story under her belt. And I'm so thankful netgalley exchanged it with me for an honest review.

What an amazing book this is! While it's a romance, it's a story like none other and it's so well done.

It starts out at the funeral of Helen's sister Michelle, who commits suicide by jumping in front of Grant Shepard's car. Tragic to say the least.

About ten years later, a million in one chance, and Helen and Grant are reunited across the country in L.A. in a writers room. Helen is having her popular books turned into a series, and Grant just happens to be one of the showrunners. Both are talented in their own right, though both struggle with their insecurities of what happened in the past.

While initially I deemed Grant as a jerk, I quickly root for this couple. It takes place from both of their points of view, quickly if you don't pay attention, and it works out well. The connection between the two is strong, as they attempt to fight off both the attraction and the demons that have faced their past.

Yes, it's a romance, and a steamy one - so look out for those scenes!, but it's also about loving one self after tragedy, learning to accept their professional lifestyles, friendships, and family. As a fellow Chinese American, I can relate to Helen's struggles with her parents. They have never truly got over the loss of their daughter, and don't know how to love Helen the way she needs to be loved.

"I heal and move on, I’m worried I’ll finally lose you for good. But I want to be healthy. And I want to be happy, though I’ve never trusted happiness. To me, happiness is a fleeting, heartbeat-to-heartbeat experience that comes and goes and hopefully comes back. I worry happily-ever-afters don’t exist for people like us."

While we know what's going to happen, and the way Kuang has the characters develop and mold is a thing to behold. Her writing is impeccable. She has a keen ability to create characters we root for, knowing their flaws and issues. It's never cheesy, like many romance novels can be, instead the characters are all believable, and there's a lot of heart to be heard. They learn to fix each other, and their love is unmatched.

“I don’t want to be healthy,” Grant says, and his chest is heaving as if he’s just run a marathon. “I just want you.”

"The kind of woman who deserves Grant would have known what she had when she had it, and wouldn’t have waited until weeks later to weep and wallow over the loss of him in a bathtub for so long, she now knows what her toes would look like if she drowned. The kind of woman who deserves Grant would be capable of the kind of love that keeps little sisters alive."

Can't wait for whatever Kuang does next! (Emily Henry books into series!)

Thanks to Avon and Harper Voyager and NetGalley for a copy in exchange of an honest review .
What a debut! This love story was born in a difficult context, after a traumatic and sad event that occurred years earlier,
but despite this the dynamic between Helen and Grant is explosive, at times funny, and a little hot. Truly Recommended!

I heard about this book from instagram, i found out that Yulin Kuang and Emily Henry are working together on the movie adaptations of one of Emily's book.
So, I'm big fan of EH and and I applied for this book as soon as I saw it was available on Netgalley, but what I didn't expect was the emotional journey that was there to ambush me.
Brava to Yulin! I didn't expect a roller coaster of emotions. I cried a LOT, Grant and Helen are so sweet, and their story is heart-warming, truly!
This is definitely not a "light" story, yes like i said, it is a love story, but not an easy one.
13 years ago during high school, Helen’s younger sister, Michelle, committed suicide by running in front of Grant Shepard’s car.
My heart sank. What a sad start. The characterization of the characters is well developed, even if at the beginning I didn't really sympathize with Helen, little by little I started to grow fond of her, understand her, cheer for her and hope for an happy ending.
Helen and Grant met, or re-met, after some years, he is a screenwriter, and he is selected to work on the television series adaptation
of Helen's book.
Although their past is not easy, and it is intertwined with a sad event, their chemistry is very strong and undeniable, the dialogues
are flowing and funny.
The fireworks are inevitable. I'm very happy to have had the chance to read this author as a preview, and above all I hope there will be other novels, because this is truly a promising debut!

Thanks to the author, Avon and Harper Voyager, and Net Galley for a copy in exchange of an honest review .

How to End a Love Story is about Helen, a writer who moves to LA to work on the screen adaptation of her book. She reconnects with Grant, the former homecoming king of her high school. Grant was also driving the vehicle Helen’s sister jumped in front of 14 years earlier when taking her own life.

Understandably, this book was full of all the content warnings. Some parts were difficult for me to read, and I had difficulty connecting with the characters. The last fifth of the book was my favorite, and I felt that it wasn’t until then that I truly understood Helen’s difficult family dynamic with her parents.

A sincere thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for the electronic arc of How to End a Love Story in exchange for an unbiased review. All thoughts are my own.

This book was amazing! The romance was spicy, the tension was incredible, the characters were engaging, and the story was emotional. I laughed and cried throughout the story, and I am now obsessed with the main characters! The romance was so cute and I loved to see them grow together! This had everything I love from an Emily Henry novel, and I can see Yulin Kuang becoming an auto-buy author! I can't wait to read whatever she writes next!

Thank you to Netgalley and Avon for this ARC in exchange for my honest review.

Sad, sexy, sweeping. This book made me swoon, laugh, and ache in quick succession. I loved how big and cinematic the story ended up feeling, and the writers room details that Kuang infused felt real and reverent.

[arc review]
Thank you to HarperCollins Canada for providing an arc in exchange for an honest review.
How to End a Love Story releases April 2, 2024

4.5

13 years ago during high school, Helen’s younger sister committed suicide by running in front of Grant Shepard’s SUV.
Now, Helen and Grant’s lives cross paths when Grant is optioned to be a screenwriter for Helen’s young adult books, which are being turned into a tv series.

These were two characters that were very obviously hurting and were greatly impacted by Michelle’s death in their own ways, which ended up snowballing into neither of them being able to commit to friendships or romantic relationships.
What’s special is that breakthrough moment in the book where all of that animosity starts to dissolve.

At first, Helen’s personality doesn’t exactly shine through and you’re teetering on the edge wondering if she’ll be a buzzkill the entire time, but their writers retreat offered the necessary comical relief, and I really started to enjoy this after the icebreaker of taking edibles while hiking.

The amount of tension and angst was scorching and had me in a complete vise grip!
I really liked the parts where the characters struggled with the concept of loving people but being unable to vocalize it because of it not being a common occurrence growing up — it’s raw, real, and relatable.
Was their relationship trauma bonding? Yeah, I suppose… but it worked, and it was equally wholesome and painful which seems to be a favourite for me.

cw: grief, multiple on-page panic attacks, trauma, suicide, car accident

<i>You're so easy to love, Helen.</i>

Helen Zhang, a bestselling YA novelist, is thirteen years removed from the suicide of her sister - a tragedy that will forever link her to Grant Shepard. She's succeeded at building a fortress around her heart, but when her and Grant are thrust back into each other's worlds in the writer's room for the adaptation of Helen's novels, her carefully constructed walls begin to show cracks.

Helen is truly a character study in resilience and depth. She goes on a powerful and poignant journey through grief and self-discovery. Grant is layered and compelling - exactly the way that I like my love interests. The dynamic between Helen and Grant is filled with so much tension that you can't help but root for them, despite their painful past.

This isn't just a book - it's a masterclass in blending the complex, the tragic, and the beautiful into a contemporary romance that grips you by the heart and will not let go. It's clear that Kuang has brought her screenwriting past into her literary debut - the dialogue here is sharp, the scenes she paints are vivid, and the journey each of the characters take is both sensitive and nuanced. Not to mention... this is STEAMY. No closed doors here! The ending is also incredibly satisfying and feels totally earned and true to the characters she has created.

This is a beautifully written and deeply affecting story that will stay with me for a long time - an easy 5 stars.

This book is out 4/2. Thank you to Yulin Kuang, Avon Books, and NetGalley for the ARC in exchange for my honest review.

I loved watching both Grant and Helen discover themselves and their relationship from their past high school lives. Very character driven. The ending felt a bit rushed but was still a great read and would recommend!!

Thank you to NetGalley and Avon for the ARC in exchange for an honest review

I would recommend if you're looking for (SPOILERS)

-m/f contemporary romance
-enemies to lovers
-forbidden romance
-this is just a hookup
-workplace romance
-angst

Some books truly have me wondering how these two people ever can get together. How To End a Love Story is a layered story with just one of my favorite romances I've ever read at it's beating center. A story of grief, of trauma bonding and also allowing yourself to be happy after deep, deep heartache.

Helen is a successful author after the death of her sister, yet walks into the writers room of her show to see the last person she ever expected to, Grant. Helen and Grant's story is so intertwined. About figuring out your path, the weight your parents and your past put on your shoulder. Just what being an adult is like, making friends, what its like to come home. This book is such a specific moment in time that so many can relate to. This book is messy, angsty, and just grabs you by the heart in the best way to put you back together because sometimes love really does win.

But gosh Helen and Grant. Their love story was so beautiful, how these two slowly broke down each other's walls, and gosh the chemistry. The steam in this book, is incredible, and hot and just so intertwined as these two battle theri feelings and try to figure out how they can make it work with so much built against them. Read this book, reread this book, and then just sit with me as we wait to read whatever brilliance Yulin writes next. Truly a talent.

Stories that are for me: ones about people who think they are fundamentally unloveable finding out that they are not.

I really loved this story. It was one of my anticipated reads for 2024, but once I started reading it I had this thought of, *This is already the most dramatic premise to start the story on, where can we even go from here?* But boy was I wrong, there was a lot of ground to explore. Instead of going for drama on top of drama, Kuang dove deeper into her characters and the mundanity of their relationship, despite its rocky origins. They were still just two people who needed to practice how to love and be loved. In some ways it’s a workplace romance, even though that’s not the first descriptor I’d use for obvious reasons. It’s about leaving home, it’s about making friends who see you.

I feel like Kuang cracked open my head like a coconut and wrote about the feelings that I and (I hope!) the rest of the world have but would never admit to. The petty thoughts, and the inappropriate horniness, and the anger, and the patheticness that sometimes we want to hide but is more real than anything else.

This is a book for people who are not their best friends’ best friend and it’s hope that that’s okay, you’ll figure it out.

Can’t wait to read what’s next from Yulin Kuang and I’m very happy knowing that Beach Read and People We Meet on Vacation are in her wonderful, safe, capable hands.

If there was one little thing about the writing that I think could’ve been improved it’s that a few things needed more screentime. I wonder if this is related to Kuang’s background in writing for the screen but I think we needed just 1 more scene or montage showing Helen and Grant warming up to each other before things are wheels up in their relationship. I also think they could’ve talked about their pasts just a tad more while in the middle part of their relationship.

That said, I love how Kuang gave us mentions of conversations and close moments that were presumably happening off-page because it was such an effective way to add depth to their relationship without bogging us down in too many scenes (maybe also a screenwriter thing? I don’t know enough about screenwriting to say but sounds plausible!)

I really enjoyed How to End a Love Story. It was heartwarming and captivated me from the start. I think that the book started to drag at the last 15%, but I still very much enjoyed it. I can’t wait to see read what Yulin Kuang writes next.

Despite its genre, the book transcends mere love story tropes, delving into the complexities of trauma and familial relationships with a refreshing depth. As Helen and Grant navigate their pasts and possible future, the narrative explores (dramatically at times) the challenges of forging new connections amidst this connected past.

What sets this book apart for me is its rich cultural component, offering insight into Helen's complex relationship with her family. The humor woven throughout the story adds levity to the ups and downs of their journey, making the reader feel intimately connected to Helen's experiences. While the book occasionally feels a bit lengthy and overly detailed, the overall narrative maintains a captivating momentum. I do wish we had more of Grant's POV and personality shine through at times. As the reader, I enjoyed immersing myself in the intricacies of Helen and Grant's dynamic. I look forward to more books from Yulin Kuang beyond her forthcoming book to film adaptations. .

Thank you to Book Club Girl Early Read program for an advanced ebook copy!

I was really looking forward to reading this, firstly because of the description and secondly, the amazing reviews I’ve read about it. In some ways, it lived up to my expectations, and in others it didn’t.

The premise essentially was of the protagonists knowing of each other years ago in high school, and truly crossing paths due to an unfortunate incident that is the cause of both of their largest pain in the present moment. They meet in a professional capacity and start out mutually avoiding each other with just niceties, which very quickly morphs into attraction and friendship, and the rest is history. This had all the makings of a really poignant, meaningful relationship, and yet … it sort of fell short for me. It just didn’t capture me in the ways I thought it would.

Helen and Grant’s long and deep-rooted trauma featured each other as the main characters, although the pain wasn’t directly caused by the other. There is a sense of hurt, avoidance, and guilt on both fronts. While there was importance given to the healing process and finding their way through it, I thought it could’ve been fleshed out a lot more. I felt like they didn’t have as many conversations as they should’ve about their past, and there wasn’t as much depth in their dynamic as I expected. Once they’d established they liked each other, it seemed like it became mostly about mutual attraction — a little too surface level for me, when there was so much background that could’ve been given more importance.

However, looking past that aspect of their relationship, I loved both Helen and Grant, and it was simply enjoyable to read about their journey. I went through this book so fast because it was just so easy to read (in a good way). The spice was unexpected and very well-written, and Grant’s unwavering support for Helen really sealed the deal. When she was going through tensions with her family towards the end, while I thought those chapters seemed a bit rushed, it was ultimately her and Grant’s bond that made up for everything. Just so so cute.

So while there were definitely some things about the pace and depth of How To End A Love Story that didn’t live up to the mark, I thoroughly enjoyed the story, as well as all the characters involved. This was a really adorable romance!

This is a solid 4 star book, when all things are taken into consideration. Review contains spoilers.

I had high hopes for this book and I think when given the plot - MMC was behind the wheel during a fateful accident that ended the life of the FMC's sister - it delivers. I didn't know how it could not be entirely tragic or cliche, and Kuang manages it to make it only mildly tragic and barely cliche.

While I wasn't overly invested in Grant or Helen as individuals, their journey and relationship is what kept me reading. Kuang has a distinct style that's more screenwirter than flowery-prose and it works for the story. Some reviews point out that the writing tends to be a little stilted and the switches in character focus can lend a disjointed air to it, I find that it helps tell the story more as a whole.

I wouldn't necessarily promote this entirely as a romance, as it does lend itself to processing grief and growth more prominently. Overall, a wonderful debut and I look forward to what Kuang puts out next, including their screenplays.

Thank you to the author, Harper Voyager, Avon and Net Galley for a copy for review.