I read this ARC in exchange for an honest review. All thoughts and opinions are my own.
I think this might be the best romance I've read that's been written in third person. Maybe because I'm part Asian, I know exactly what Helen's parents are like. Luckily my own family is not like that.
To fight for love after their tragic back story, it really is love in my eyes. The author does a great job of making every interaction they have believable. Work, home, it's all written really well.
At times you want to scream at Helen for being so emotionally constipated, but it pushes Grant to show her how much he loves her, so it makes sense.

This is original in its own right and didn't try to be any other romance book. It's relatable in the sense it comments on friends groups growing apart overtime and the many intricacies of early adulthood. The story is told in third person perspective through both Helen and Grant's eyes without taking away from your ability to connect with the characters.

Helen is a relatable FMC and I felt represented in her character. She struggles with social anxiety, giving and accepting love and has a complicated relationship with her family. She struggles to find the natural pause to interject in group conversations and never quite says the right thing, which I'm sure many can relate to. I loved the Asian culture representation and I found Helen's experiences with cultural assimilation insightful. I think she's a fairly misunderstood character and many might be frustrated by her but I loved her realistic complexities.

Grant is adorable, friendly and warm personality that knows how to work a room. He falls first and he falls harder. I loved his vulnerability and his ability to show his emotions in contrast to Helen's closed off nature. He consistently wore his heart on his sleeve and understood Helen more than she did herself. Where Helen may feel like she's not enough, Grant feels he is too much. He suffers from panic attacks and I loved the representation.

Grant and Helen's chemistry is undeniable and I was squealing and kicking my feet during their moments. The romance matured to perfection, it didn't feel too rushed or slow. Grant might be the golden retriever type but don't let this fool you, he was dominant but also empowered Helen. There is a third act event, however, I did see this coming, it felt like a natural occurrence in the story served a purpose.

I loved the found family aspect of the writers room. There wasn't a single unlikeable character and enough development was put into these characters that their personality shone through the page and I was invested in every aspect of this story. Yulin possesses Emily Henry's witty humour and her characters feel like the friends you have in real life and had me laughing out loud.

I'm always looking for some emotional depth to the plot and this did not disappoint. This book touches on some uncomfortable subjects such as grief and **suicide** (in the past). I don't want to give much away but I will say that I thought the 'letters you'll never read' were beautiful and moving. I think most people can find a piece of themselves represented in this book.

It was magical delving into Yulin's brilliant screenwriter mind and getting a greater understanding on how this process works. This is the perfect book for 90's/ early 2000's rom/com movies lovers and I thoroughly recommend you read this when it is published on 9 April 2024.

Thank you Hachette Australia & New Zealand & Netgalley for providing me with an advanced reader copy in exchange for an honest review.

When Helen Zhang sees Grant Shepard, she is the newly famous author of a series of YA novels. Grant has been hired to be the screenwriter for the TV adaptation of her books. Yet, when they meet again, they are thrown back to their teenage years, reliving the tragic accident that changed their lives forever.
This would be one of the most compelling love stories that I have read in quite some time. At times, I wondered if their past history would define them, ruining any chance of love between them. The pain felt by Helen at times, was overwhelming that there was little that Grant could do to convince her to take a chance. Yet to say that this is simply a romance would be to undersell this story, as it is so much more. Helen’s struggles with her parents, particularly her mother and her guilt were so heartfelt and quite believable. Helen struggles with her responsibility, and it is clearly evident on the impact that it has on her relationship with Grant. Since finishing this book, I find myself thinking about Helen and Grant, and wanting to reread their story. A beautiful and captivating story! Five plus stars!
I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book from NetGalley. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

"you don't have to be completely healed to be everything i want"❤️‍🩹

HOW TO END A LOVE STORY - 3.5⭐️

I first want to thank netgalley and Hatchette for the arc of this beautiful book! Releasing April 9th

This book follows Helen and Grant who knew each other in high school, and an incident connected them forever. Since highschool they were apart, but then the TV adaptation of Helen's novel brought her back to Grant as they then had to work together. The rest, you'll have to read 🤭

I really appreciate any books that can bring real life problems but still give a light fluffy vibe, which Yulin did amazingly. As much as this does look like a silly little romance, PLEASE read the trigger warnings before diving right in. This is something I didn't do and I felt as though it may have taken away from my experience of reading the book.

This book navigates the world of loss,grief, and healing , as well as finding yourself. We saw the main characters Helen and Grant both navigate this in their own way while also finding their way to each other.

Their love story gives a "forbidden love" and he falls first.... and let me tell ya how Grant Shepherd falls for Helen will make you giddy!!!

Overall I really enjoyed How To End A Love Story, but I wasn't dying to pick it up like some other books I read, but when I was in it I was in it?? It's a great read and would recommend!

I have been forcing myself to read but at 57% I give up. It does have a great premise and some really interesting issues for the two main characters. The trouble is I couldn't warm to them. I couldn't feel any emotional pull. The writer's room - really that's what goes on? I am a fan of the podcast Happier in Hollywood, those two women do not make the writer's room sound like this book does. Obviously the author does know how the writer's room operates because evidently she is successful in her work.

I wish her well in whatever writing she undertakes, but I realise I am not her audience, this has no "gotcha" pull for me. It seems to work for many readers here and that's great, she has found her audience.

Oh this book!

I thought I knew where the storyline was going from the opening chapter and I was wrong. It was even better than I had plotted in my mind! Reading it felt like a meander through a park on a sunny spring afternoon. It washes over you like sunshine and lingers long after you’ve finished reading.

The push and pull and timing of it all. Exquisite. The pacing was essential and therefore so credible for these characters and their path toward one another. It’s also third person narration - which I know can bother some readers - but believe me, it works. I loved these characters and their nuances.

I truly felt this book while reading it and will gush about it for weeks to come. I am craving more from this author!

A heartfelt thanks to Netgalley, Hachette Australia, and Yulin Kuang for the advanced copy.

This book was truly written for my soul. This was no black and white love story about forgiveness and grief - it was about the multitude of emotions we feel and how this is always ever changing, but to remember it’s important to channel these emotions in a safe space and to look after ourselves. Perhaps most of all, this story mirrored the impact of generational family love languages; of learning and accepting different kinds of love than what we were brought up with.

Helen & Grant were flawed yet so real - their story was heart breaking and frustrating at times, knowing their history and thinking how could their love story end in happiness? I recommend you read to find out!

Rating: 4.5 stars

This gorgeous novel is beautifully written and so so so sad. For a debut novel it’s remarkable and I’m looking forward to the next one already.

Screenwriter Grant and author Helen are wonderful together but they have so much history. They’re both working hard and are accomplished in their careers, but both have mental health issues and unresolved grief and guilt.

The insight into the screenwriting process and life in LA is just extraordinary, and very funny at times, but this isn’t a romcom. It’s a serious look at the complications of unresolved grief, and both Grant and Helen are drowning in it. We see them in all their rawness - panic attacks, meltdowns, putdowns, and so much frustration, and we also see their goodness, and kindness to everyone but themselves. Their attraction is so potent, (and steamy and delicious) but I still worried for them, can they be there for each other in the long term?

Yulin shows the gap between how we appear to others and what’s really going on inside our heads. She contrasts what Helen sees as Grant’s self-possession with what he’s actually thinking and feeling. It’s third person dual POV and this works because the narrator pulls all the pieces together. If you loved Ava Wilder’s How to Fake it in Hollywood or Helen Hoang’s The Heart Principle, you’ll adore this!

Thank you thank you to NetGalley, the publisher and the author for the ARC. Opinions are my own.

I enjoyed this, but…it read like a movie script. I know that’s what this author is good at and I love a good movie, I just wasn’t expecting this. It would skip over descriptions and enter the next scene and felt choppy, but I do think if this was a movie it would probably flow better with transitional music.

Unfortunately, I am not a bit fan of dual POV in third person. I think first person POV would have worked better for this.

Overall, I enjoyed it and would love to see the movie. I wish it had been fleshed out more and edited to take away that script feeling.

Then again, maybe I missed the point and that was intentional because of it revolving around them writing a TV series.

Thank you Netgalley for an advanced copy of this book on exchange for an honest review.

4 ⭐️ I guess?

Helen Zhang and Grant Shepard have a…complicated past. They don’t match. Yet even after thirteen years of not seeing each other, the two are still tied together over a tragic accident—the invisible string stretching until the day Helen finds out that Grant is a scriptwriter for the long-awaited TV adaptation of her novel.

And just like that—the two are forced to co-exist while the past lingers between them, a constant reminder.

Perhaps my absolute favourite thing about this book is the way Yulin Kuang writes about grief. Her descriptions are gut-wrenchingly beautiful, and this was shown clearly through Helen and Grant’s actions—especially how they behaved with different people. While the two have clearly grown since the accident, its aftermath was still as prominent as ever. The way that Helen, for instance, can have a wonderful day until she accidentally looks at a certain photograph for a little too long. The act of wanting to remember someone's voice, habits, etc. These pages, while heartbreaking, are so raw, and I definitely shed a few tears as I read on. I think the author does a wonderful job at depicting the way grief manifests itself onto our daily lives even years after an event has occurred. This is definitely one of the strongest points in this book.

Family dynamics is another thing this novel does a brilliant job of, especially with Helen and her parents, portraying a very stereotypical (yet authentic for a lot of families) Asian households. Helen plays the role of the overachieving daughter who feels the need to negotiate aspects of her life to be deemed 'worthy'. I liked that there was a big focus on this! As someone with a Southeast Asian background, there were a lot of moments that hit a little too close to home. The need to prove herself made Helen's feelings toward Grant unexpected and jarring, and I thought it worked very well in establishing her as a resilient individual. Plus, the whole trope of 'girl who thinks she's hard to love vs. boy who loves her like breathing' is literally this entire book. I was obsessed!!!!

However, whilst I enjoyed the awkwardness between Helen and Grant (given their history, but also, since they're both very different people from the start), I wished it was expanded a bit more before they got together. I originally gave this book a 3.5 stars, but rounded it up for Netgalley, and my reasoning for this is that the chemistry lacked as the story went on. At the start, we clearly see the tension. The angst. The attempt to forget, but unable to due to holding grudges. But, as the story went on, this faded. I felt like I didn't know the two characters and their intentions well enough to feel the chemistry during the intimate scenes (in comparison to the start). Though I do love the mundane scenes (like Helen and Grant running errands), some bits felt repetitive and a bit too much like 'filler chapters'. I felt like, because of this, the spice didn't work as well toward the end, and I was more invested in the family aspect of this than the romance.

Nonetheless, I did love how each main character had their own thing that they were actively working on. And whilst I still have some unanswered questions, this was a very enjoyable and heartbreaking (at times) read, and a wonderful debut from the author!

Thank you to Netgalley and Hachette Au for providing me with a digital ARC of this title for my honest review.

This book is an outstanding debut & really has it all! It was tragic, heavy with grief & family trauma, yet full of forbidden desire, humour & steamy romance all set against an interesting story line of what it takes for writers to come together & convert a book into a TV series (I love a book that can give me an insight into things I know nothing about.!) The characters are diverse, likable & relatable which is not often the case in romance fiction & the story unfolds at a good pace. If you like Emily Henry you will love this!

While I am not a fan of the title of the book, I am however a fan of the book and the story and Yulin Kuangs writing. Main reason to read this book was of course the fact hat Yulin is working with Emily Henry and I was not dissapointed.
I liked the darker tones of this book, the fact that not every romance book has to be all happy and sunshine but life can be tough and shit and difficult. There were of course a few points in the book where I was like "did we need this" however I do think everything was tied together nicely and the characters had an interesting story to tell.
I liked that this did not feel like just another romance novel but much more. A lot of heavy topics get mentioned and create a more complex story, characters that feel real, misunderstood, honest. I would have liked a different ending but this is a categorised as a romance novel and that is the ending we got.
Will recommend. will look out for Yulings next book and her work with Emily Henry.

Helen and Grants lives are intertwined in the most heartbreaking way. After a traumatic event which happened in their pasts.
This is a duel point of view story told between both Helen and Grant. It’s a story full of tension, grief and heartbreak but also romance and happiness.

I must admit though I struggled a bit with Helen’s refusal to admit her feelings and holding back of emotions at the start. Although it seems this could have a bit to do with her upbringing and relationship with her parents, which feels strained.
But, as the story progresses I began to really like her. Both her and Grant seemed very real, with real life issues and traumas they are trying to work through. The story touching on how peoples past and upbringings can influence their future relationships.

If you are a fan of Emily Henry like myself I know you will love this one.
I very much enjoyed this book and can’t wait to see more from Yulin Kuang.


This review will be posted on Instagram on the 24/03/2024

Wonderfully paced and sprinkled with just the right amount of spice and tension - How To End A Love Story is an easy recommendation from me, especially for fans of Emily Henry (the fact that Kuang is set to direct the film adaption for Beach Read and is the screenwriter for the film adaption of People We Meet On Vacation should make you want to pick this up!).

How To End A Love Story is an endearing romance with a focus on acceptance, grieving, and personal growth. Kuang writes the leads in a way that makes them feel real, which is showcased through their complex past, shared trauma, and the evident tension between the two.

This debut was exceptional, kept me thoroughly engaged, and I truely cannot wait to see what Kuang brings out next!

I’m speechless and consumed by heartache. Thank you to both Netgalley and the publisher for the complimentary e-arc in exchange for an honest review. All opinions in this review are my own.

TW: contains on-the-page discussions of complicated grief, anxiety, family conflict, suicide loss, and the death of a sibling.

Full disclosure before I begin my review — I probably would not have picked this one up if not for the fact that Kuang will be directing the upcoming Beach Read film, so while this book may not be for me, I did want to peruse her writing style before the movie comes out.

Honestly, I’m not sure how I feel about the premise of this book. I don’t have much experience with the darker themes and plot points of this novel, so I can’t speak for how realistic or sensitive they may be, but I can speak to the book’s readability. The beginning of this book is engaging, if a little jarring, and I was interested in where Kuang would go with it. I was pleased to see that she spent a good amount of time really going into the psyche of our main characters (particularly the FMC) and that she created three-dimensional characters that I became invested in.

If you like romances with some darker psychological elements, you may really enjoy this one. I did get a little bored by the procedural nature of the characters’ jobs (I think you’ll understand what I mean if you give the book a go), but I was interested in the exploration of screenwriting, and as a reader, I’ll always love reading about authors and readers.

I felt like the romance could have used a little more development, perhaps a little more slow burn to create intimacy, but I still very much enjoyed the characters’ love story.

I’d recommend this one to romance readers looking for something a little heavier. PLEASE CHECK TWs BEFORE READING, as this book delves into some upsetting subject matter. I rated this one 3/5 stars.

WOW! What a book!

I was in a bit of a reading rut heading into this book and boy did it shake me right out of it. It’s one of my favourite reads of the year so far!

I loved that I could feel the tension between Helen and Grant but also just within Helen herself as she battles with a solid case of expectation vs reality. We see their internal and external battles as they come face to face after many years. The plot didn’t feel forced, was almost constantly entertaining and in a world where romance novels blend together, it stood out.

I will say when I saw she works with Emily Henry I was apprehensive at best. I’ve had a rocky relationship with her books and greatly preferred this. If this is what Yulin can do with a book of her own, I’m sure the upcoming adaptations will be fantastic! Hopefully she gets to turn this one into a movie for herself too!

I loved this book and all the characters in it! It’s definitely one of my top romance reads, it had the perfect mix of cute romance and spice (and don’t forget the banter!). Grant has been added to my list of book boyfriends, I mean, he chose to read on the KINDLE instead on a group getaway while the others got drunk and played with an Ouija board. He is funny and flirty, and I felt really bad for him as he has to constantly suffer with the guilt of an accident he was involved in as a teenager that wasn’t his fault. Helen initially despises him but then their relationship evolves into a FWB situation. The sexual tension in this book is 🥵 and the spice is HOT (they do work in an office…😉) Every character has such unique personalities so it was easy to remember who was who in the work group.

There were some sentences that didn’t really make sense e.g. “it’s so much time being around people all the time” (i think just an accidental mistake with the use of words) so it does need a little fine tuning.

Thank you to netgalley and Avon Books for the ARC in exchange for an honest review ✨

Helen loses her sister Michelle as a teenager. Ten years later, when in LA to work on the tv adaptation of her book, she is confronted by Grant, the man behind the wheel of the car that hit her sister.

I really wasn’t sure how this would work as a romance. The premise felt unique, but also so sad. I was so pleasantly surprised by the story, and loved my time living in Helen and Grant’s world.

The book touches on a number of sensitive issues such as suicide, mental health, family conflict, trauma and self discovery with care and respect. I thought the author did a wonderful job of bringing Grant and Helen’s relationship and personal growth to life, and took the readers on a journey that was sometimes sad, often uncomfortable, but so rewarding. The result is a novel with depth, hope and a rich emotional experience.

It’s great to see that Yulin Kuang is involved in bringing some of Emily Henry’s work to the screen. Based on this debut novel, I can’t wait to see what she does next.

Thank you Hachette Australia and New Zealand, and NetGalley for a complimentary copy of this book. Opinions expressed are my own.

I absolutely loved this book. How to End a Love Story truly made me feel a lot of emotions I was not expecting. Yulin Kuang is definitely one of my go to authors now!

I was very sceptical when I first started reading this book. It wasn't a pace or tone had read in a while so it took me a while to get into the groove. It's the first time in a while I have read a book in the third person perspective.

The narrative unfolds around Helen Zhang, a renowned YA novelist seeking creative inspiration. Desiring to be involved in the television adaptation of her books, she ventures to Hollywood. To her astonishment, she discovers that Grant Shepard, a former high school acquaintance, is one of the writers on the show. Grant, once the golden boy of their hometown, also carried the burden of being the driver in the tragic incident thirteen years ago when Helen's sister intentionally jumped in front of his car. The Zhang family has harbored resentment towards Grant for his unwitting role in their daughter's demise. As Helen and Grant grapple with their tumultuous past to collaborate professionally, an unexpected turn arises when they find themselves developing romantic feelings for each other.

I wouldn't say that this is an enemies to lovers story. It didn't feel like it was an enemy situation, especially from Grant's perspective. Helen obviously had some trauma and issues against Grant, which was completely reasonable, but not enemies per say. Which isn't a bad thing. They are two people trying to work through the grief of a tragedy that changed the projection of their lives forever.

I found it hard to warm up to the characters initially, which in hindsight is actually great writing because that is exactly how the characters feel at the beginning of the story. Misunderstood, misplaced and honestly self-doubting their entire career and sometimes their place in the world. and understandable. The decisions that they had to make, for acceptance of their families, of each other, of their potentially forbidden connection was in depth and woven together with such emotion and complex outcomes. My heart stopped when Helen's Mum finally found out they were working together to the love confession. WHAT A ROLLEROCASTER!

This book is also very steamy, if that is something that tickles your fancy.

The ending was a classic love story ending, but writing in such a way I didn't know if it was going to end like I thought. A wonderful story, that had a rocky start for me but ended on a high.