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As a longtime fan of Yulin Kuang’s work on YouTube, I picked up my copy of How to End a Love Story when it came out last year…and then promptly put it on my shelf. 🤣 Helen is a novelist and Grant is a TV writer and part of the team helping to adapt her book — but this isn’t the first time they’ve met. They went to the same high school, and they’re connected by the suicide of Helen’s sister, Michelle. I was worried that the relationship between the characters would be eclipsed by the premise, but that was not the case. I found instead that the book focuses on navigating relationships as an adult: romantic, professional, and familial. Helen’s story deals not only with her sister’s death but also with her experience as a child of immigrants; someone whose parents love and support her, but don’t really understand her. I felt a kinship with Helen, who believed that not feeling her feelings allowed her to protect herself only to discover that it may in fact have been sabotaging her (WHO COULD HAVE PREDICTED?!) I loved seeing her work through the belief that happiness or love isn’t something that happens for people like her. I enjoyed the production and writing elements as well and I think Kuang’s experience in both really come through, especially in Grant’s journey to determine if he is talented enough to put his own work into the world rather than just being “good in a room.” I’m looking forward to Kuang’s adaptations of Beach Read and PWMOV — if anyone can do them justice, it’s her! 📸: A paperback copy of How to End a Love Story lays on a couch. via Instagram https://instagr.am/p/DHyL6RjAt23/