Reviews with content warning for Alcohol - Laura Dean Keeps Breaking Up with Me

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Laura Dean Keeps Breaking Up with Me by Mariko Tamaki

41 reviews

berodatheelf's review

emotional reflective 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

4.0

The colour palette was adorable for this important graphic novel. Dealing with a tumultuous teenage relationship, it offers hope for those in similar situations.

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ollieez's review against another edition

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emotional sad medium-paced

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

3.75

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cecinamo's review

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emotional funny hopeful reflective 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? Yes

4.75

A really cute and gay graphic novel!! The artstyle is amazing and it’s a really fun read! It also was about how relationships can be toxic and messy. Freddy (mc) has to figure out and come to terms with her toxic relationship with LD. All the characters are really interesting. I think it would have been great to know more backstory of Laura Dean, but considering the format and how long the graphic novel already is, I can see how that just didn’t fit in there anymore.

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colorful_lulu's review

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emotional inspiring fast-paced

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

3.5

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marissasa's review

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emotional hopeful reflective sad fast-paced

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

4.0

This book is so raw and relatable because I know so many queer Asian American girls who had a weird high school relationship with a white person that ended in a break up. I like that this story doesn't shy away from the ugly sides of messy, toxic, teenage relationships both romantic and platonic. We are not always good friends when we get consumed by romance and there are times when we come back to the same person who keeps hurting us again and again. The main characters were a bit annoying and insufferable at times but even that is so realistic, and was very much an intentional choice. I really liked the side characters and the effortless queer diversity that felt true to the Berkeley social life I also experienced, and of course the art is gorgeous, stylish, and really enjoyable to look at too.

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sweetchocolatez's review against another edition

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emotional hopeful reflective 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? Yes

4.5

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clarabooksit's review

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emotional reflective medium-paced

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

3.75

I really enjoyed this. It was great.

I loved the art and the use of pink throughout. I loved the diversity of characters. I loved that friendship was such an important part of the narrative. I loved that the seemingly simple story holds so much in it and it unfolds with delicacy and understanding.

It did an excellent job portraying what one kind of toxic relationship looks like and how it bleeds into other areas of your life. While it wasn’t perfect, it was very effective.

I read a couple of reviews that said the characters were underdeveloped and literally could’ve been anyone but I actually think that’s one of the graphic novels strengths. Do we know exactly who Freddy is? No, but she could be any love-struck, love-stuck teenager struggling with relationships and that makes it easy for the reader to see themselves in her. Relationships are hard, there’s no guidebook, and sometimes a piece of fiction is the catalyst for figuring shit out.

The only narrative element that really did nothing for me is the relationship columnist conceit. I think that was unnecessary. But overall, I enjoyed it and I love that there are books like this out there for young adults.

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foldingthepage_kayleigh's review against another edition

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dark emotional sad slow-paced

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

4.0

“What is it like to love this person who keeps breaking up with you, and then presumably coming back to you? What does your love with this person offer you? Does it make you happy? Does it give you what you need to be a better person?”

This is a YA novel that follows Freddy as she tries to navigate a toxic relationship while still trying to be there for her friends.

This was an emotionally resonant, at times hard, read as Freddy struggles to assert herself as she gets down trodden and toiled with by Laura Dean. I definitely felt myself feeling adrift and lost in the story each time Freddy gets rejected and in trying to chase love, lets down her friends and ends up feeling even worse. The ending made me cry happy tears as a culmination of Freddy’s coming of age arc and showed the power of friendship!

The art was so stunning in this graphic novel, in black and white but with splashes of pink, sometimes just as enhancements, other times as large swaths. I also loved Freddy’s besties, who were all so charming, and that made you wish they were your friends too.

This is the second book I’ve read by Mariko Tamaki and I definitely plan to read more by this author. She’s excellent at getting into the darker, heart wrenching elements of queer YA and I would recommend this to anyone who’s looking for graphic novels that explore these themes.

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katsmedialibrary's review

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4.75

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loverofeels's review

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emotional slow-paced

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

3.0

stunning art!! the plot sucked me in at first, but the first 3/4 of this was repetitive enough that it started to get tiresome.

it kinda became a cycle of "laura acts unpredictably" --> "freddy responds accordingly, treating her friends badly in the process" --> "her friends are understandably angry" --> repeat. the scenes with freddy's parents and those with eric and buddy felt kind of random, since the plotlines with her mom being annoyed, eric being bullied, etc were unresolved. i'm not sure whether those scenes were intended to paint a picture of her life as a whole or to serve as a foil to freddy and laura's relationship, but either way it didn't work for me.
i also don't love that freddy's one act of standing up for herself—breaking up with laura—only came after reading the email from the advice columnist. it would have been nice to see her come to that realization on her own and have a few honest conversations with laura and her family, rather than having a moment of bravery and suddenly everything's fine.

a lotta negativity in this review, but i honestly didn't hate this. the author does a good job depicting teenage emotions in a realistic way and the illustrations are certainly easy on the eyes. just leaves something to be desired.

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