How to End a Love Story

Content Warning: The source text and this guide include descriptions of a character’s death by suicide and the death of a minor in a car accident. They also include descriptions of anxiety and panic attacks.

“‘You,’ Mom says, standing in the middle of the aisle, her mouth gasping for air like they’re in a Greek tragedy. Grant Shepard stands still, as if he exists just to be gasped at by grieving mothers and gawked at by middle-aged Chinese aunties and uncles.”

Helen’s allusion to Greek tragedy highlights that even as a teen, she thought in literary terms, foreshadowing her future career. The repetitive sentence structure and alliteration of “gasped at” and “gawked at” emphasizes that Grant is unexpectedly trapped and has become a spectacle. The quote’s explicit reference to Helen’s cultural identity contextualizes the contrast between her world and Grant’s, setting up another key aspect of their future adult interactions.

“Helen has never been cool enough to be ‘a music person.’ She prefers leaving that up to strangers on the internet who’ve experienced the same specific soundtrack-worthy moments in life—‘cozy October morning in the kitchen’ or ‘driving toward my uncertain future’—and hoping they’ll tell her exactly what songs would bring those feelings out best, like a purple scarf for green eyes.”

This inner monologue stresses Helen’s insecurities and doubts about herself. She feels distant from her own emotions, trusting strangers more than her own affective responses. She is looking for precision—she wants “exactly” the right mood, as if emotions are an accessory. This emphasizes the way her grief and loss have isolated her from her inner self, highlighting the theme of Overcoming Grief and Trauma.

“‘We’ve met’ she says neatly. There’s a sharpness to her voice that suddenly calls to mind an image of dispassionate scissors, cleanly snipping away any thread of destiny that has the gall to show up right now. ‘Grant and I went to high school together.’”

Grant likens Helen’s words to a weapon for maintaining distance, sensing immediately that she will be adversarial. The reference to a “thread of destiny” evokes the threads of fate from Greek myth, picking up the