A review by loverofeels
Laura Dean Keeps Breaking Up with Me by Mariko Tamaki

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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