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aleiaslibrary's review
emotional
inspiring
reflective
sad
slow-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
4.5
damedallas's review
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
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
5.0
sahanasri's review
dark
emotional
hopeful
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
this was an interesting one… I was initially really intrigued by the premise as I love to talk about Asian American families and how they discuss mental health! However the execution was quite different from what I expected: this was first and foremost a romance where the initiating incident feels way too serious to jumpstart a connection. The writing style was good enough to keep me interested but there were definitely some huge jumps in pacing that felt really off. The tone switches quite abruptly in the middle which is quite jarring - it felt like there are 2 distinct plots in here that are squished together. I still enjoyed this overall (work book club read) but the whiplash it gave me was CRAZY
emily_holden's review
emotional
funny
hopeful
inspiring
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.25
Content Warnings
Moderate: Panic attacks/disorders, Death, and Car accident
jillmacintyre's review
emotional
funny
hopeful
reflective
sad
tense
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? It's complicated
4.5
leslieknope14's review against another edition
emotional
hopeful
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
4.5
mrskicklighter's review
dark
emotional
sad
medium-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
3.5
readsrandiread's review against another edition
emotional
hopeful
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
saffiyah's review against another edition
2.0
➳ 2 stars ✩
⤿ a spoiler free arc review
⤿ tropes: forbidden love, forced proximity, found family, office romance, enemies to lovers (but not really), second chance romance (but again, not really)
⤿ trigger warnings: suicide, substance abuse, panic attacks, car accidents, grief and the death of a sibling
if a book was an oat and raisin cookie masquerading as a chocolate chip one, but you only realise when your knee deep in the sugar high
'how to end a love story' is an angsty contemporary romance between grant shepherd, a screenwriter, and helen zhang, an author. the only problem? 13 years ago, helen's sister committed suicide by throwing herself in front of grant's car. now, the two have to work together to bring helen's popular book series to life.
and i hated all of it.
i connected to neither of the mcs and i think this took me out of the story the most. helen was very boring and grant was just utterly pathetic. they both fell horny-over-heads into an insta-lust that they continuously denied and it was incredibly frustrating to read about.
found family you say? count me in. forced 'moments' between characters with no depth? i'm running away so fast there is a saffiyah-shaped hole in the wall.
third acts. never been happier about one, and i’ve never been more upset at the resolution. but tbh it was for no real reason, it was just sort of thrown in there with the worst build up and then resolved in moments. i love angst, just not when it’s annoying and predictable.
they were enemies for as long as they were broken up (not long at all) which was just stupid. WHY MUST WE BE DEPRIVEDD???
the word choices were giving me the ick more than grant was. he was GROWILNG! how does one physically growl? is this supposed to be attractive?? is he part wolf??? an alpha male???? and helen was no better with her stupid ‘weak ha’. please, for the love of God, learn how to laugh like a normal person, or at least laugh less. plus, everything was described as 'naked' before they had sex the first time, although maybe that was just kuang’s way of foreshadowing? all i know is that it made me want to rip my eyelashes off.
and in regards to the writing as a whole, it felt very stilted and detached (dual-pov in third person) and it did feel more like a screenplay: he said 'words'. she let out a weak 'ha'. he growled. they had sex. the end!).
and on the topic of sex, there was more smut than plot, and their relationship was so physical that i felt like a third-wheel third-wheeling on another third wheel who - you guessed it - is another third wheel. the writing style didn’t help.
for a couple who had sustained as much trauma as they had, there was very little talking about their mental health. it was as though their relationship was purely physical and every time anything about feelings and the like would arise they would just.. have more sex.
the stigma around mental health in the asian community was never addressed and there was so much potential wasted. and for a book with such heavy themes, their happy ending felt too convenient, too forced.
(+ more dislikes but i am very sick and thinking about this book is giving me a headache, so more to come later)
bottom line: this book was so much yet so little at the same time - - - you will not catch me watching beach read or pwmov in the cinema any time soon.
thank you to netgalley and the publisher for the arc in exchange for my honest thoughts!
__
a very long pre-review:
remind me to never be excited about a book again.
could i just direct your attention to the blurb? oh, you don't want to click off of this (pre)review of complete brilliance? i don't blame you either.
so i'll write it here: the brilliant contemporary romance novel debut from yulin kuang, the acclaimed screenwriter of emily henry’s 'people we meet on vacation' and director of the forthcoming 'beach read' feature film.
emily. henry.
i love emily henry. i have never rated a book of hers lower than 3 stars. that is a very big number. it's two stars above my usual rating. (it's also the first odd prime number but that's not important here: emily henry is important here.)
if i had an auto-buy author, it would be emily henry. i love the way she seamlessly blends the pain, angst, and sadness of being in a relationship into a story of beautiful romance.
when i got this arc i was overjoyed. but, alas, it was not to be; i got lovestruck and it went straight to my head. to be fair, my expectations were startlingly high, but what else was i supposed to do when the author is the screenwriter of emily henry. i mean she even rated it five stars! it was meant to be. and then being approved for the arc (despite my ratio being abysmal) was fate.
but i digress from the topic at hand: i believed that this would be the best romance i read this year.
i strongly dislike it when i am proved wrong.
i strongly disliked this book. for many reasons. i just don't want to talk about said reasons right now.
another unpopular opinion. for once, i'm surprised. and for once, i hate that i need to rant but for some reason i don't want to?! what has the world come to??
2.5★ (later dropped to 2)
a full, coherent rtc
_
tbr-review:
the cover makes me happy
⤿ a spoiler free arc review
⤿ tropes: forbidden love, forced proximity, found family, office romance, enemies to lovers (but not really), second chance romance (but again, not really)
⤿ trigger warnings: suicide, substance abuse, panic attacks, car accidents, grief and the death of a sibling
if a book was an oat and raisin cookie masquerading as a chocolate chip one, but you only realise when your knee deep in the sugar high
'how to end a love story' is an angsty contemporary romance between grant shepherd, a screenwriter, and helen zhang, an author. the only problem? 13 years ago, helen's sister committed suicide by throwing herself in front of grant's car. now, the two have to work together to bring helen's popular book series to life.
and i hated all of it.
i connected to neither of the mcs and i think this took me out of the story the most. helen was very boring and grant was just utterly pathetic. they both fell horny-over-heads into an insta-lust that they continuously denied and it was incredibly frustrating to read about.
found family you say? count me in. forced 'moments' between characters with no depth? i'm running away so fast there is a saffiyah-shaped hole in the wall.
third acts. never been happier about one, and i’ve never been more upset at the resolution. but tbh it was for no real reason, it was just sort of thrown in there with the worst build up and then resolved in moments. i love angst, just not when it’s annoying and predictable.
they were enemies for as long as they were broken up (not long at all) which was just stupid. WHY MUST WE BE DEPRIVEDD???
the word choices were giving me the ick more than grant was. he was GROWILNG! how does one physically growl? is this supposed to be attractive?? is he part wolf??? an alpha male???? and helen was no better with her stupid ‘weak ha’. please, for the love of God, learn how to laugh like a normal person, or at least laugh less. plus, everything was described as 'naked' before they had sex the first time, although maybe that was just kuang’s way of foreshadowing? all i know is that it made me want to rip my eyelashes off.
and in regards to the writing as a whole, it felt very stilted and detached (dual-pov in third person) and it did feel more like a screenplay: he said 'words'. she let out a weak 'ha'. he growled. they had sex. the end!).
and on the topic of sex, there was more smut than plot, and their relationship was so physical that i felt like a third-wheel third-wheeling on another third wheel who - you guessed it - is another third wheel. the writing style didn’t help.
for a couple who had sustained as much trauma as they had, there was very little talking about their mental health. it was as though their relationship was purely physical and every time anything about feelings and the like would arise they would just.. have more sex.
the stigma around mental health in the asian community was never addressed and there was so much potential wasted. and for a book with such heavy themes, their happy ending felt too convenient, too forced.
(+ more dislikes but i am very sick and thinking about this book is giving me a headache, so more to come later)
bottom line: this book was so much yet so little at the same time - - - you will not catch me watching beach read or pwmov in the cinema any time soon.
thank you to netgalley and the publisher for the arc in exchange for my honest thoughts!
__
a very long pre-review:
remind me to never be excited about a book again.
could i just direct your attention to the blurb? oh, you don't want to click off of this (pre)review of complete brilliance? i don't blame you either.
so i'll write it here: the brilliant contemporary romance novel debut from yulin kuang, the acclaimed screenwriter of emily henry’s 'people we meet on vacation' and director of the forthcoming 'beach read' feature film.
emily. henry.
i love emily henry. i have never rated a book of hers lower than 3 stars. that is a very big number. it's two stars above my usual rating. (it's also the first odd prime number but that's not important here: emily henry is important here.)
if i had an auto-buy author, it would be emily henry. i love the way she seamlessly blends the pain, angst, and sadness of being in a relationship into a story of beautiful romance.
when i got this arc i was overjoyed. but, alas, it was not to be; i got lovestruck and it went straight to my head. to be fair, my expectations were startlingly high, but what else was i supposed to do when the author is the screenwriter of emily henry. i mean she even rated it five stars! it was meant to be. and then being approved for the arc (despite my ratio being abysmal) was fate.
but i digress from the topic at hand: i believed that this would be the best romance i read this year.
i strongly dislike it when i am proved wrong.
i strongly disliked this book. for many reasons. i just don't want to talk about said reasons right now.
another unpopular opinion. for once, i'm surprised. and for once, i hate that i need to rant but for some reason i don't want to?! what has the world come to??
2.5★ (later dropped to 2)
a full, coherent rtc
_
tbr-review:
the cover makes me happy