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thatswhatshanread's review
challenging
dark
emotional
hopeful
reflective
sad
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
It’s been a long time since a book has truly surprised me, and I commend Yulin Kuang’s debut (!) for doing it. This novel was a doozy, folks, and I loved it very much.
I think, if you’re looking for a modern book that has the vibes of Jane Austen when it comes to YEARNING and dramatic romance, this one has to be it??? That may sound crazy to say. But I couldn’t help feeling that familiar great tug and ache of Georgian-era stories. Okay, maybe this one has more of the tragedy synonymous with the Brontes. In any case, Kuang’s writing swept me away. The desperation on the pages gripped me to the bone. The way Grant wanted and needed Helen was so TANGIBLE.
“How To End A Love Story” was much more romantic and sexual than I thought it would be, especially considering the cold beginning and introduction to these two characters with the worst kind of shared tragedy. It worked so well obviously because one second I’m like okay and then I’m obsessed with the way they sink deeper into each other’s orbits and forgive themselves for being who they once were. I love that Grant falls first and isn’t afraid to tell Helen what he wants. It’s so genuine and so soft. Helen is more the stand-offish unsure one and their pairing doesn’t feel forced at all, even with the circumstances of their past and present. Kuang’s writing is harsh in a whimsical way, somehow an oxymoron of sweet subtle sentences and hard honest dialogue. There are heavy overall themes of suicide, grief, panic attacks. The story is very demanding of all of your emotions. It is definitely not a romcom. It’s a romantic drama for sure, with lots of deep trauma and healing.
THIS is how you do the grumpy x sunshine trope. It’s not too much of either, one character being a little ball of rainbow and glitter, the other the grim reaper who hates children and animals. It’s just the right amount of give and take, of one falling first and the other afraid to admit it. That’s that on tortured slow burns, baby. Lololololol the head of The Tortured Poets Department will see you now.
“Loving can hurt, and I want to do it anyway.”
READ THIS BOOK!!!!! Sorry if you cry but actually not really because crying is HEALTHY!!!!
I think, if you’re looking for a modern book that has the vibes of Jane Austen when it comes to YEARNING and dramatic romance, this one has to be it??? That may sound crazy to say. But I couldn’t help feeling that familiar great tug and ache of Georgian-era stories. Okay, maybe this one has more of the tragedy synonymous with the Brontes. In any case, Kuang’s writing swept me away. The desperation on the pages gripped me to the bone. The way Grant wanted and needed Helen was so TANGIBLE.
“How To End A Love Story” was much more romantic and sexual than I thought it would be, especially considering the cold beginning and introduction to these two characters with the worst kind of shared tragedy. It worked so well obviously because one second I’m like okay and then I’m obsessed with the way they sink deeper into each other’s orbits and forgive themselves for being who they once were. I love that Grant falls first and isn’t afraid to tell Helen what he wants. It’s so genuine and so soft. Helen is more the stand-offish unsure one and their pairing doesn’t feel forced at all, even with the circumstances of their past and present. Kuang’s writing is harsh in a whimsical way, somehow an oxymoron of sweet subtle sentences and hard honest dialogue. There are heavy overall themes of suicide, grief, panic attacks. The story is very demanding of all of your emotions. It is definitely not a romcom. It’s a romantic drama for sure, with lots of deep trauma and healing.
THIS is how you do the grumpy x sunshine trope. It’s not too much of either, one character being a little ball of rainbow and glitter, the other the grim reaper who hates children and animals. It’s just the right amount of give and take, of one falling first and the other afraid to admit it. That’s that on tortured slow burns, baby. Lololololol the head of The Tortured Poets Department will see you now.
“Loving can hurt, and I want to do it anyway.”
READ THIS BOOK!!!!! Sorry if you cry but actually not really because crying is HEALTHY!!!!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Suicidal thoughts, Car accident, Panic attacks/disorders, Child death, Injury/Injury detail, Self harm, Sexual content, Suicide, Medical content, Grief, Cursing, and Medical trauma
Moderate: Drug abuse, Drug use, Addiction, Mental illness, and Alcohol
Minor: Blood
estellec13's review against another edition
challenging
emotional
funny
inspiring
sad
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.75
Content Warnings
Graphic: Suicide, Sexual content, Grief, Car accident, Child death, and Death
Moderate: Panic attacks/disorders
Minor: Alcohol and Medical content
lisacanteven's review
emotional
funny
hopeful
reflective
sad
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
I did enjoy this book. The plot was very unique and moved at a great pace. I loved hanging out with these characters. I just didn't love the writing style. It felt a little too screen writing and not enough like a novel. It was the same reason I don't care for Emily Henry's books. They feel like they are only written to become the next Netflix hit.
I'm also surprised the editor didn't make the author remove the use of "tattoo of his heartbeat" about 3 times. The fact that it appeared in the books 4 times (or more if I missed one) is outrageous.
I did really love the look into Helen and Grant's jobs. I would love to have that job if it didn't mean living in LA, so I really appreciated how much detail the author went into the scenes surrounding their jobs.
I'm also surprised the editor didn't make the author remove the use of "tattoo of his heartbeat" about 3 times. The fact that it appeared in the books 4 times (or more if I missed one) is outrageous.
I did really love the look into Helen and Grant's jobs. I would love to have that job if it didn't mean living in LA, so I really appreciated how much detail the author went into the scenes surrounding their jobs.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Suicide, Child death, Death, Medical trauma, and Car accident
Moderate: Drug use, Medical trauma, Alcohol, Drug abuse, and Addiction
juanat77's review
emotional
funny
hopeful
inspiring
lighthearted
reflective
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
Content Warnings
Moderate: Cursing, Injury/Injury detail, Child death, Alcohol, Car accident, Toxic relationship, Death, Grief, Panic attacks/disorders, Sexual content, and Suicide
btwnprintedpgs's review
challenging
emotional
reflective
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.5
This book was a mixed bag for me. The beginning was a five-star, the middle was a three-star, and the end was a five-star again. So I'm landing on a 3.5 for this book as a whole.
I found Helen so relatable. There was one part in particular that was so familiar. She talks about picking up her feelings and putting them aside for others, which made her more fragile as an adult. That was 100% me in university. It got to the point where I was so damn depressed, emotionally repressed, and unable to process my own feelings that I was crying on a daily basis without a full understanding of my own feelings. Some of the stuff her parents say to her felt like they'd been pulled from my life. That side of things was written to perfection.
What lost me was the romance. She spews venom at him, she gives him a panic attack, then nothing happens, she has a sex dream, and suddenly they're doing it everywhere. It was not the vibe for me and came out of left field. The build up felt like an attempted montage of nothing that should've been comraderie where there was none. They lacked the communication I needed to buy into their relationship and that was a huge disappointment. Even at the end of the day, I didn't fully understand their love for each other and why it should've worked. This felt the same for most of Helen's and Grant's outside relationships. There never felt like there was a foundation of something stronger than convenience or a passing moment at a bar or cafe. I wanted more substance there, and never got it.
I'm keeping this book because I felt seen by it, but I think that my least favourite part of this romance was the romance, so I don't quite know what to do with that. All in all, I see why people love it, but I also see why people didn't.
TW: death of a sibling/child, car accident, panic attack, sexual content, alcohol consumption, grief, drug use, suicide
ARC gifted by HarperCollins in exchange for an honest review. Audio ARC gifted by Libro.fm in exchange for an honest review.
I found Helen so relatable. There was one part in particular that was so familiar. She talks about picking up her feelings and putting them aside for others, which made her more fragile as an adult. That was 100% me in university. It got to the point where I was so damn depressed, emotionally repressed, and unable to process my own feelings that I was crying on a daily basis without a full understanding of my own feelings. Some of the stuff her parents say to her felt like they'd been pulled from my life. That side of things was written to perfection.
What lost me was the romance. She spews venom at him, she gives him a panic attack, then nothing happens, she has a sex dream, and suddenly they're doing it everywhere. It was not the vibe for me and came out of left field. The build up felt like an attempted montage of nothing that should've been comraderie where there was none. They lacked the communication I needed to buy into their relationship and that was a huge disappointment. Even at the end of the day, I didn't fully understand their love for each other and why it should've worked. This felt the same for most of Helen's and Grant's outside relationships. There never felt like there was a foundation of something stronger than convenience or a passing moment at a bar or cafe. I wanted more substance there, and never got it.
I'm keeping this book because I felt seen by it, but I think that my least favourite part of this romance was the romance, so I don't quite know what to do with that. All in all, I see why people love it, but I also see why people didn't.
TW: death of a sibling/child, car accident, panic attack, sexual content, alcohol consumption, grief, drug use, suicide
ARC gifted by HarperCollins in exchange for an honest review. Audio ARC gifted by Libro.fm in exchange for an honest review.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Panic attacks/disorders, Sexual content, and Car accident
Moderate: Alcohol, Suicide, Grief, and Drug use
michelle_my_belle's review against another edition
challenging
emotional
funny
hopeful
reflective
relaxing
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
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. Thank you to NetGalley and Avon for this ARC.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Medical content, Alcohol, Car accident, Child death, Mental illness, Suicide, Cursing, Death, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Sexual content, and Panic attacks/disorders
Moderate: Addiction and Drug abuse
silverhill's review against another edition
emotional
funny
hopeful
reflective
sad
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.25
Content Warnings
Graphic: Car accident, Death, and Grief
Moderate: Sexual content, Suicide, Injury/Injury detail, and Panic attacks/disorders
Minor: Medical content, Drug use, and Alcohol
soobooksalot's review
emotional
funny
reflective
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.25
Content Warnings
Moderate: Alcohol, Death, Car accident, Suicide, and Panic attacks/disorders
bookishbrenbren's review
emotional
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.0
Um what. This book make no fking sense. Bc the characters are underdeveloped and have no internal arc/growth. So their decisions and choices make no sense and are not connected to who they supposedly are as people. The story is all plot *things are happening and there is sex!* but I need something deeper to believe true love is real lmao this book made me feel nothing except these two horndogs have sexual chemistry.
The very icky premise is laid out in the first chapter: the pair is a woman whose sister committed suicide and the man who was driving the car when she ran into traffic. Um why??? Why did that need to be a couple?!?! so anyway, i go on reading because it's so highly hyped, waiting for the ickiness to smooth itself out and for all these characters to like work through their collective, shared trauma and like let that emotional work bring them closer lol no none of that happens. For some reason, the main character is not turned off enough by her own grief and her partner's role in that grief - or at least his connection to it - to not have sex with him. And it's very weird like all around like have any of the people on the production side of this book ever lost a family member and/or experienced grief?? Like I know they must have, but I'm just wondering how this book ends up the book that it is. Idk call me crazy but grief is not a huge turn on for me. Much less grief by suicide! Were there sensitivity readers? I'm dying to know because some of the language used in this book seems very yeah I'm just gonna say it again icky.
If this was real like and the girl you ran over's sister asked you to fuck off their show's adaptation writing team, why would you say No!? Obviously he's not hurting for opportunities. And why would you EVER forgive him for saying no???? Can I not just suffer once, you want me to suffer every day I show up to work? Again I return to the idea that none of these editors, agents, writer, have ever actually lost anyone close to them.
Anyways. Ultimately the biggest issue here is that there is no character development. The pair has sexual chemistry as I mentioned before, but we have no idea why they do the things they do. Like it's clear, given their shared trauma, why they would *not* want to get together but what is making them ignore all of that self preservation? We'll never know because these characters are like an inch deep.
The very icky premise is laid out in the first chapter: the pair is a woman whose sister committed suicide and the man who was driving the car when she ran into traffic. Um why??? Why did that need to be a couple?!?! so anyway, i go on reading because it's so highly hyped, waiting for the ickiness to smooth itself out and for all these characters to like work through their collective, shared trauma and like let that emotional work bring them closer lol no none of that happens. For some reason, the main character is not turned off enough by her own grief and her partner's role in that grief - or at least his connection to it - to not have sex with him. And it's very weird like all around like have any of the people on the production side of this book ever lost a family member and/or experienced grief?? Like I know they must have, but I'm just wondering how this book ends up the book that it is. Idk call me crazy but grief is not a huge turn on for me. Much less grief by suicide! Were there sensitivity readers? I'm dying to know because some of the language used in this book seems very yeah I'm just gonna say it again icky.
If this was real like and the girl you ran over's sister asked you to fuck off their show's adaptation writing team, why would you say No!? Obviously he's not hurting for opportunities. And why would you EVER forgive him for saying no???? Can I not just suffer once, you want me to suffer every day I show up to work? Again I return to the idea that none of these editors, agents, writer, have ever actually lost anyone close to them.
Anyways. Ultimately the biggest issue here is that there is no character development. The pair has sexual chemistry as I mentioned before, but we have no idea why they do the things they do. Like it's clear, given their shared trauma, why they would *not* want to get together but what is making them ignore all of that self preservation? We'll never know because these characters are like an inch deep.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Medical content, Car accident, Child death, Cursing, Grief, Alcohol, Death, Panic attacks/disorders, and Suicide
gwenswoons's review against another edition
dark
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
Liked a lot about this - it didn’t feel entirely successful to me, but I would certainly read more by Yulin Kuang in the future! I really appreciated that the author dived into complex familial relationships (especially with the female MC’s first-generation immigrant parents) and the specific nature of grief after losing someone close to suicide. I loved the chemistry between the two central characters and thought the sex scenes (VERY open door 😂😜) were super hot throughout and really gorgeously written.
I did find the characters’ arcs disappointing and flat - somehow their individual growth in order to find their way back to each other didn’t quite register or land believably. I also guess I struggled (though I am a voracious rom-com and romance reader and actually very rarely say this!) with the believability of the basic premise: there were just a few too many neat/tidy coincidences to the overall romance plot, and though I get the plot device of this very specific enemies-to-lovers bent, it was so on the nose (like…there’s enemies and there’s “was driving the car when your teenage sister, who had no access to mental health support, jumped in front of it and died by suicide”) that it felt sort of heavy-handed ultimately. As I said - lots that was interesting, and also not totally satisfying for me ultimately.
I did find the characters’ arcs disappointing and flat - somehow their individual growth in order to find their way back to each other didn’t quite register or land believably. I also guess I struggled (though I am a voracious rom-com and romance reader and actually very rarely say this!) with the believability of the basic premise: there were just a few too many neat/tidy coincidences to the overall romance plot, and though I get the plot device of this very specific enemies-to-lovers bent, it was so on the nose (like…there’s enemies and there’s “was driving the car when your teenage sister, who had no access to mental health support, jumped in front of it and died by suicide”) that it felt sort of heavy-handed ultimately. As I said - lots that was interesting, and also not totally satisfying for me ultimately.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Injury/Injury detail, Car accident, Medical trauma, Panic attacks/disorders, Mental illness, Grief, Suicide, Child death, and Medical content
Moderate: Body horror, Blood, Bullying, Alcohol, Addiction, Drug abuse, and Drug use