SUMMARY
Two writers with a complicated history end up working on the same TV show. Can they write themselves a new ending? A sexy and emotional enemies-to-lovers romance guaranteed to pull on your heartstrings and give you a book hangover from brilliant new voice Yulin Kuang
Helen Zhang hasn’t seen Grant Shepard once in the thirteen years since the tragic accident that bound their lives together forever.
Now a bestselling author, Helen pours everything into her career. She’s even scored a coveted spot in the writers’ room of the TV adaptation of her popular young adult novels, and if she can hide her imposter syndrome and overcome her writer’s block, surely the rest of her life will fall into place too. LA is the fresh start she needs. After all, no one knows her there. Except…
Grant has done everything in his power to move on from the past, including building a life across the country. And while the panic attacks have never quite gone away, he’s well liked around town as a screenwriter. He knows he shouldn’t have taken the job on Helen’s show, but it will open doors to developing his own projects that he just can’t pass up.
Grant’s exactly as Helen remembers him—charming, funny, popular, and lovable in ways that she’s never been. And Helen’s exactly as Grant remembers too—brilliant, beautiful, closed off. But working together is messy, and electrifying, and Helen’s parents, who have never forgiven Grant, have no idea he’s in the picture at all.
When secrets come to light, they must reckon with the fact that theirs was never meant to be any kind of love story. And yet… the key to making peace with their past—and themselves—might just lie in holding on to each other in the present.
Summary from Goodreads.
REVIEW
I’d been looking forward to reading How to End a Love Story for quite a while. An enemies to lovers contemporary romance written by Yulin Kuang sounded like it would be right up my alley, especially with so many people describing it as both emotional and romantic. I went in expecting a rom-com with plenty of banter, tension and heartfelt moments.
Instead, I found something much heavier.
That’s not necessarily a bad thing, but I do think the marketing set my expectations in the wrong direction. This isn’t the lighthearted romantic comedy I was expecting. While there are moments of humour throughout, the novel spends much more time exploring grief, guilt, trauma and the long lasting impact of loss than it does leaning into romance. If I’d gone in expecting an emotional contemporary drama with a romance at its centre, I probably would have connected with it a little more.
One thing I really did enjoy was the relationship between Helen and Grant. Their history is incredibly complicated and considering everything they’ve both experienced, it makes sense that their relationship begins with resentment and unresolved pain. I thought Yulin Kuang did a great job of showing that healing isn’t a straight line. Rather than magically fixing each other, Helen and Grant slowly learn how to confront the parts of themselves they’ve been trying to avoid for years.
Helen was a character I found easy to empathise with. She’s built walls around herself after the death of her sister, carrying guilt and grief that have shaped almost every aspect of her life. You can understand why she keeps people at a distance, even when it’s hurting her. Grant also carries emotional scars of his own and I appreciated that he wasn’t written as someone who had everything figured out. Both characters felt flawed and believable and I liked watching them slowly become people who could lean on each other instead of carrying everything alone.
I also thought they had good chemistry together. Their conversations felt natural and once they allowed themselves to be vulnerable, I could understand why they were drawn to one another. Even though I enjoyed their dynamic though I never felt surprised by where the story was heading. The romance followed a fairly predictable path and I found myself anticipating most of the major emotional beats long before they happened.
My biggest issue with the book was the pacing.
It somehow managed to feel rushed and slow at the same time. Some of the most emotionally significant moments seemed to pass by too quickly, leaving me wishing they had been explored in greater depth. At the same time other scenes lingered much longer than they needed to, focusing on moments that didn’t feel particularly important to the overall story. That uneven pacing made it difficult for me to stay consistently invested and I often felt like the narrative was losing momentum just as it was beginning to build.
I also found it harder than expected to become emotionally attached to the romance. I cared about Helen and Grant as individuals and I wanted them to heal, but I wasn’t completely swept away by their love story. For a novel that’s centred on their relationship, I was hoping to feel more emotionally connected by the end.
Overall, How to End a Love Story wasn’t a bad book, it just wasn’t quite the book I was expecting. It offers thoughtful discussions about grief, forgiveness and learning to move forward after unimaginable loss and I can absolutely see why it resonates with so many readers. For me though the predictable storyline, uneven pacing and mismatch between my expectations and what the book actually delivered meant it never rose above a three star read.
-Rachelle
I’m on Instagram at @rachellesbookshelf
