Reviews with content warning for Suicide - How to End a Love Story

Reviews tagging 'Suicide'

How to End a Love Story by Yulin Kuang

315 reviews

iam_iam_iamy's review against another edition

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medium-paced

3.5

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albadee's review against another edition

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dark emotional hopeful reflective tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.25

this book pissed me off. It was hard for me to get into the storyline because of the outrageous premise and misplaced, seemingly immature anger that the FMC radiates. The romance felt melodramatic and corny at times and not even in a rewarding way. I will give it points for addressing topics I don’t typically see in these types of stories — immigrant family dynamics, mommy issues, grief, trauma, sister relationships, and others i might be forgetting rn.

the last quarter of the book saved this from being a straight 3-star rating for the growth the FMC demonstrated and thoughtful reflections laid out in pretty prose. Wish there was more of this earlier in the book instead of squished at the end. It felt like the author put the draft away for a while and came back inspired and refreshed and I wish the rest of the book was given that same treatment.

another redeeming quality was getting to see the inner workings of a tv writers room and life in LA. That kept me engaged and interested.

Ultimately I think the story had some promise but could have been executed better TO ME.

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caitlin_bookchats's review against another edition

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challenging emotional 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? It's complicated

4.0

Yulin Kuang's debut romance novel fits nicely in with the complex tragedies in the lives of Romance characters written by Mhairi McFarlane or Emily Henry.

I'm struggling a bit to rate this book though. It's a romance so the main couple matters quite a lot. Here's I was not so invested in them as a couple as I was invested in them as individuals. And somehow, as individuals being together was what they needed.

Yet I'm still not certain I understand how we got from the words and actions of our FMC in the first few chapters to their romantic involvement. I feel like I missed something.

At the same time I really appreciated and admired the big swing of the emotional conflict here. the FMC and the MMC both had a lot of baggage specifically between them, but not necessarily baggage that could be solved. If that makes any sense. Rather, they had to learn to live with it and that felt very emotionally honest.

I loved the character development the FMC went though most of all and her relationship with the MMC was an important part of that.

So, I'm going to give it 4 stars for now but I reserve the right to downgrade if my memory of the book fades too much. You better believe I'll be picking up Kuang's next book though.

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greena92's review against another edition

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emotional funny medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.0

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macygray14's review against another edition

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dark emotional tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

not a satisfying conclusion to the conflict in my opinion

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aries_sun1419's review against another edition

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emotional hopeful 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

3.75

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jen_nej's review against another edition

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emotional funny hopeful medium-paced

4.0

I saw some reviews that weren't happy with the enemies-to-lovers pacing but I thought it was relatively realistic. This is maybe not a book everyone will enjoy. I totally understand people's frustrations with both main characters. Despite it all, I enjoyed it and may come back to it in hard copy rather than listening to the audiobook. Ultimately, this book feels like the epitome of "you can't control who you fall for" and I thought it was very well executed.

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jcstokes95's review against another edition

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emotional funny hopeful reflective medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.5

I should have reviewed this when I first read it, because my god, did it engender strong reactions in me as I was reading. It really boils down to this, and really, Goodreads, please answer my question: how much do you bump up a romance with top tier spice but a tough plot? Because, I found the actual reasons for these two folks to be together insipid and insane. But also, this had some of the steamiest scenes I’ve read this year. And I am conflicted.

Let’s reduce the plot harshly: Grant Shepard ran over Helen Zhang’s suicidal sister when they were teenagers. Decades later, she is a successful author making her book into a TV show. And he’s been hired as head writer. Instead of bowing out like ANY MORAL SANE NOT FUCKING SOCIOPATHIC HUMAN would do, he stays on and is generally fucking rude and arrogant to her. At this point in their relationship, I’d be writing my piece for The Cut on how this man ruined my life. But, Helen’s…also fucking weird, so she’s into this. And, as if they are cosmically linked, decides it’s a good idea to fuck and fall in love with this man.

I think this woman needs a new therapist, but I guess this is what love is nowadays.

Grant Shepard is the WORST romantic lead of all time. I hate him. There is a point in here, where he describes what the night he killed her sister was like. And Helen…comforts him? At no point does he seem to directly show any remorse toward Helen. Or comfort her. It’s frankly a baffling narrative choice.

Some reviewers mention the third act breakup is great because, unlike in many romances, it makes sense. And yeah, I’d fucking say so, because imagine bringing the dude who had your dead sister in the grill of his car to meet your parents. They were unhappy. And honestly, I’m on the toxic parents’ side. The worst part of this, is when things are inevitably fixed, she doesn’t even seem to patch things up with her parents.

There is so little conversation in this book about the MAIN PROBLEM in the relationship. It can only feel like two deeply ill people who really have great sexual chemistry and thus decide nothing can keep them from screwing. Good for them, bad for my buying into their love. But at least the steam was good and constant.

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stormeno's review against another edition

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emotional hopeful 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? It's complicated

4.0

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khernandez44's review against another edition

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emotional funny hopeful

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

This book was cute! I enjoyed reading it. The characters were lovable and the plot kept me interested. Grant is quite the character! Helen was a bit annoying at times, but it makes sense as to why. Would recommend.

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