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chaptersofchase 's review for:
How to End a Love Story
by Yulin Kuang
emotional
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:
Complicated
How to End a Love Story
Thank you, Avon Books, for the gifted copy of How to End a Love Story {partner}
Genre: Fiction
Trope: Romance
Format: π§π
Audiobook Narration: ββββ
Pub Date: 4.9.2024
Star Rating: βββ.5
Thank you, Avon Books, for the gifted copy of How to End a Love Story {partner}
Genre: Fiction
Trope: Romance
Format: π§π
Audiobook Narration: ββββ
Pub Date: 4.9.2024
Star Rating: βββ.5
"I've always found endings harder than beginnings, goodbyes harder than hellos. When I was a kid, I thought that life and death were two sides of the same door and that when you died, there would be a long hallway in the afterlife where you would pass the doors of all the lives you'd lived before."
I struggle to classify How to End a Love Story as a romance. There was romance (hello spice), but it was more of a look at how Grant and Helen grew following the death of Helen's sister. There were themes of past trauma, family relationships, cultural identity, grief, and personal growth. But it never gave me the complete romance vibesβwhich may be why I knocked it down a star.
One of the areas I honestly struggled with was that the spice in the book took something away from the story. In all their intimate moments, only one or two felt well-placed. By the way, I never shy away from an open-door romance, but for those scenes to have a meaningful impact on the story, they must be well-placed, and those scenes in this book didn't feel that way.
But, in looking at the story as a whole (not as a romance), I appreciated the author's tender care in showing the long-term impact that suicide can have on a family. Towards the end, Helen writes a letter to her sister that brought me to tears; it was beautiful, heartbreaking, and poignant.
π₯³ Debut novel
π¬ Book to TV show
π₯ Open Door
β€οΈβπ©Ή Look at grief
I recommend reading How to End a Love Story if you want a steamy romance with heavy subjects.
_
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Content Warnings
Graphic: Suicide