Review Summaries

• Reception is generally positive, with praise for the premise and the emotional stakes. Some readers want a tighter pace or a little more depth in places.

Reviews

• Love story with depth

  For a romance book, this one has deeper themes and complicated emotions. I loved the lead male character. Also, the writers' room setting allows you to learn how the writers gather together to create a story from books to television. If you want a love story with depth, this one's for you.

• Forbidden Romance Story

  Forbidden romance trope at its peak. This embodies the trope in the best way. If you are a fan of a fan of this trope(like Normal People) then go for it.

• A different heart-felt romance

  I liked this one a lot. It was great romance with some heavy themes and really made me wonder about what I'd have done in that same situation. The characters had to overcome some challenging hurdles to be together and it was great to see such emotional growth and fleshed out character arcs. This author was new to me, but I'd .

• Wonderful book

  I loved it! Intense, emotional, truly beautifully written. The plot is serious and tragic and beautiful. Must read. Authentic and compelling.

• Para mais resenhas literárias veja o Instagram @leiturascomlara

  MAIS UM ACERTO DO CLUBE DA REESE. ESSE AQUI VAI FAZER VOCÊ SE APAIXONAR POR MAIS UM HOMEM FICTÍCIO. Helen e Grant se conectam de uma forma bastante triste durante a adolescência e esse é o tipo de ligação que não dá pra ignorar ou esquecer. Mais de uma década após esse evento trágico, eles se reencontram e é em um ambiente profissional… apesar de nenhum dos dois estarem confortáveis com isso. Helen é escritora de uma série de livros e vendeu seus créditos para uma adaptação. Detalhe: é na sala de escritores, para realização do roteiro de adaptação, que ela tem que trabalhar com Grant e a tensão entre eles é notada pelos demais!! Ela faz questão de deixar bem claro pra ele sua insatisfação, o trata mal e chega a pedir pra ele pedir demissão! A inevitável atração do casal, de inimigos a amantes, vai acontecendo tão aos poucos que quando você menos espera já está torcendo pelo Grant e pra que tudo dê certo entre eles. No decorrer da leitura você acaba entendendo o motivo de Helen não querer nada duradouro: a pressão que ela sente pra ser a filha perfeita que não decepciona os pais é enorme e ela não sabe lidar muito bem quando a panela de pressão estoura. Grant, por outro lado, mesmo com todos seus próprios problemas psicológicos (é explicado isso no livro), se entrega de corpo e alma a Helen e é completamente dedicado a ela com declarações de tirar o fôlego! Ouso dizer que ele entrou na minha listinha de personagens literários masculinos favoritos! Tirando um pouco o véu do romance romântico tem umas coisas que gostei: 1. Logo no começo do livro já teve uma fala que me pegou, pois com toda essa confusão da adaptação de “Bridgerton”, fiquei grata por nem todos, mesmo que ficcional, não ignorarem os leitores…👀 2. O drama familiar no livro é tão bem construído, tão real, que se torna muito compreensível todas as questões de Helen. Me peguei, em vários momentos, pensando se eu agiria diferente dela. 3. O luto aqui foi trabalhado de um jeito bem específico… o de ter mágoa e saudade da pessoa que se foi. Muitas vezes a gente costuma ler apenas sobre a falta que o falecido deixa, ver essa outra face do luto foi bem interessante. No mais, foi uma leitura que me cativou de diversas formas e foi impossível não favoritar. Espero que essa leitura seja para vocês como foi pra mim 🩷 fechou com chave de ouro meu mês de junho.

• Filled with emotion!

  This book has been getting a lot of buzz and I can understand why. First of all, the title alone grabbed my attention. It sounded like it had the potential to break my heart, and I am not a romance reader who looks for instant love, the perfect, smooth sailing kind of relationships for the characters. Give me the emotions to the max. I want to feel something when I am reading. I want the intense attraction between the characters, but I certainly don’t mind if they have to work and wait for anything to happen. Don’t make it easy, make me sweat it out right along with them. Yulin Kuang did not make it easy on her characters, and I appreciated it. Helen is a complex character. She isn’t warm and fuzzy, she has a difficult time expressing her feelings, but this was how she was raised by her parents. She gives what she received. She was cared for and loved by her family, but they just weren’t demonstrative people. When her young adult series gets picked up to be a television series, she is getting the recognition that she has longed for in her career. Getting to sit in on its creation and production is a dream come true, and she moved to Los Angeles to live out this dream. The downfall to this is that Grant Shepard is also working on this show. She knows Grant from her hometown, and while they were never friends, she has a history with him. He was Mr. Popular, homecoming king, and an athlete. She was studious, quiet, and socially awkward. Aside from their vast differences in high school, she didn’t know how she was going to be able to sit and work in the same room with him, seeing him would be a constant reminder of her pain. While Grant knew that he was good at his job and could bring this series to fruition and make it shine, he wasn’t sure how his interactions were going to be with Helen. She wasn’t the only one who had serious reservations about working together. Their interactions were stiff, unfriendly, and awkward to say the least, but they had to work together in a team environment in order to get the job done. As I said, the author did not give these characters a free ride. Nope. She made them experience the awkwardness and the painful interactions. While they did become friendlier as the novel went on, their relationship was complicated, messy, and seemed doomed before it really ever even lifted off. What they did have in spades was chemistry. Holy smokes, they sparked. How to End a Love Story was filled with emotion, family issues, personal growth, and romance. I would definitely read another novel by this author. She didn’t just offer up an easy romance, it was an uphill trek that was well worth the journey.

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