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

emotional fast-paced

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

3.0

Quick takeaways:

Protagonist(s): Love Blind Teen….

Antagonist(s): Hormones

Plot: Predictable

Overall: C+

Thoughts:

I am NOT the target audience for this at all. My opinion is just going to be influenced by age and hindsight.

As you get older, your tolerance for foolishness tends to diminish.

This is why watching Frederica (our heroine) make silly decisions made me want to go to the nearest 16 year old, show them the book and scream “See her? Don’t be like her!!” To which I would hope the teen would be like “I’m too amazing to be like her”, snap their fingers and walk off with an extreme air of confidence. That would give me SO much hope for the future.

But alas, Frederica’s portrayal has to come from somewhere so I would hope kids similar to her or anyone in a similar situation who read this book take away the lessons that are being taught here (at least quicker than she does).

The whole plot of the book is Laura Dean, the on and off girlfriend, keeps toying with Fred’s feelings. We follow Frederica as she deals with the consequences of focusing her attentions on this tumultuous relationship.

TBH, I have had friends like Fred as well which I think is really clouding my judgement. But it also doesn’t help that Fred as a character is not interesting. I can’t think of one interesting thing about this girl. The other characters (like Doodles) have way more personality. Hell, I forgot her name at first when I started writing this review.

Laura, the titular character is….hot I guess? And aloof which just makes her hotter? Obviously she is kind of the bad guy here with her treatment of Fred (but you can only pity Fred so much). When you’re young and/or not fully sure of yourself, hot people tend to overcome the senses.

The artwork is very clean. It’s attractive and what personality characters do have does shine through.

The ending is predictable. It feels like it should be a “YAAAS GIRL” moment but since a) we all knew how this would end and b) Frederica is more frustrating than admirable, it doesn’t hit as hard. Again I’m not the target audience so maybe it will hit hard for someone going through something like this so can really only recommend it to them.