Name: Laura Dean Keeps Breaking Up with Me
ISBN: 9781250312846

Mariko Tamaki

Laura Dean, the most popular girl in high school, was Frederica Riley's dream girl: charming, confident, and SO cute. There's just one problem: Laura Dean is maybe not the greatest girlfriend. Reeling from her latest break up, Freddy's best friend, Doodle, introduces her to the Seek-Her, a mysterious medium, who leaves Freddy some cryptic parting words: break up with her. But Laura Dean keeps coming back, and as their relationship spirals further out of her control, Freddy has to wonder if it's really Laura Dean that's the problem. Maybe it's Freddy, who is rapidly losing her friends, including Doodle, who needs her now more than ever. Fortunately for Freddy, there are new friends, and the insight of advice columnists like Anna Vice to help her through being a teenager in love. Mariko Tamaki and Rosemary Valero-O’Connell bring to life a sweet and spirited tale of young love that asks us to consider what happens when we ditch the toxic relationships we crave to embrace the healthy ones we need.

Laura Dean Keeps Breaking Up with Me

From This One Summer co-creator Mariko Tamaki comes a hilarious and poignant story of teen heartbreak and friendship. All Freddy Riley wants is for Laura Dean to stop breaking up with her. The day they got back together was the best one of Freddy’s life, but nothing’s made sense since. Laura Dean is popular, funny and SO CUTE ... but she can be really thoughtless, even mean. Their on-again, off-again relationship has Freddy’s head spinning — and Freddy’s friends can’t understand why she keeps going back. When Freddy consults the services of a local mystic, the mysterious Seek-Her, she isn’t thrilled with the advice she receives. But something’s got to give: Freddy’s heart is breaking in slow motion, and she may be about to lose her very best friend as well as her last shred of self-respect. Fortunately for Freddy, there are new friends, and the insight of advice columnist Anna Vice, to help her through being a teenager in love. Mariko Tamaki and Rosemary Valero-O’Connell bring to life a sweet and spirited tale of young love that asks us to consider what happens when we ditch the toxic relationships we crave to embrace the healthy ones we need. Key Text Features rough sketches character drawings speech bubbles process art Correlates to the Common Core State Standards in English Language Arts: CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.5.2 CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.5.3 Compare and contrast two or more characters, settings, or events in a story or drama, drawing on specific details in the text (e.g., how characters interact). CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.5.6 Describe how a narrator's or speaker's point of view influences how events are described. CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.6.1 Cite textual evidence to support analysis of what the text says explicitly as well as inferences drawn from the text. CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.6.3 Describe how a particular story's or drama's plot unfolds in a series of episodes as well as how the characters respond or change as the plot moves toward a resolution. CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.6.6 Explain how an author develops the point of view of the narrator or speaker in a text.

liked this way more than i thought i would! at the very beginning, i was like OH BROTHER another story abt this girl clearly doing what she shouldn’t be doing by accepting less from someone who keeps walking over her. BUT i felt like the development she went through was fulfilling, and i love stories about FRIENDSHIP, especially when friendship prevails!!! i also think that the struggle w balancing friends with romantic partners can be extremely difficult, and the struggle persists throughout almost every stage of our lives, so i think what freddy goes through can resonate with many people. hell, if i had read this two or three years ago, it would probably have me sobbing — not for freddy, but for doodle 🥺 wish eric and buddy’s conflict got a bit more closure, but also life goes on without everything wrapping up neatly in a bow all at the same time.

really liked the art style — there were some panels where i just had to take a few minutes to appreciate the beauty of freddy’s hair. blocking was great, and every panel just felt so full and rich. really lovely to enjoy visually, and i think i’ll pick up on so much more with rereads. tldr a lovely and meaningful story that can resonate w the young and the old alike!

lucia

liked this way more than i thought i would! at the very beginning, i was like OH BROTHER another story abt this girl clearly doing what she shouldn’t be doing by accepting less from someone who keeps walking over her. BUT i felt like the development she went through was fulfilling, and i love stories about FRIENDSHIP, especially when friendship prevails!!! i also think that the struggle w balancing friends with romantic partners can be extremely difficult, and the struggle persists throughout almost every stage of our lives, so i think what freddy goes through can resonate with many people. hell, if i had read this two or three years ago, it would probably have me sobbing — not for freddy, but for doodle 🥺 wish eric and buddy’s conflict got a bit more closure, but also life goes on without everything wrapping up neatly in a bow all at the same time.

really liked the art style — there were some panels where i just had to take a few minutes to appreciate the beauty of freddy’s hair. blocking was great, and every panel just felt so full and rich. really lovely to enjoy visually, and i think i’ll pick up on so much more with rereads. tldr a lovely and meaningful story that can resonate w the young and the old alike!

reading this as an adult was super frustrating bc freddy just needed to do one thing to get her life to where she wanted it to be. i really liked freddy’s friend group but bc she was so focused on laura dean, their interactions were limited and we missed pivotal moments in her friends’ lives. which ig was the point. 

doodle was my baby, she deserved better. vi and freddy had good chemistry but it could also just be that vi is such a fun and bubbly character. 

if I read this in high school, i feel it would’ve left a bigger impact on me but for now it was just ok.

sara

reading this as an adult was super frustrating bc freddy just needed to do one thing to get her life to where she wanted it to be. i really liked freddy’s friend group but bc she was so focused on laura dean, their interactions were limited and we missed pivotal moments in her friends’ lives. which ig was the point. 

doodle was my baby, she deserved better. vi and freddy had good chemistry but it could also just be that vi is such a fun and bubbly character. 

if I read this in high school, i feel it would’ve left a bigger impact on me but for now it was just ok.

HAPPY PRIDE 2024 !!! didn’t read the synopsis of the book so I thought the main couple was straight and I’m pleasantly surprised that they aren’t. warning, this is an extremely toxic lesbian high school romance, girlie got broke up 3 times by other girlie BUT SHE JUST CANT MOVE ON they always say girls nvr move on from their first sapphic relationship… this book is really that case. this book really shows how being obsessed over a relationship, BEING IN A RS WITH A HORRIBLE PERSON BTW, unable to move on, can be detrimental to a person’s well being and affect those around them. freddy’s actions were so shitty… laura is also very shitty, even shittier than freddy. the romance in this book is messy from start to end… love the drama honestly! I was on the edge of my seat the entire time, I guarantee that this a page turner 

Bria

Moonchild

Was a nice one siting reading, cringing along the way throw the end, I loved the illustration. But the story it's a bit cringey.
This is a overhyped book, it didn't made the expectations I had I guess

probably my biggest issue w this book was that it felt like they were trying to be subtle w these conversations, when they are things that we MUST confront and name if we want to abolish them. like, laura dean is abusive!! and her friends definitely were too, but this was only hinted at by the book. and freddy wasn’t just a “shitty friend,” she lied about her feelings (..repetitively) to her closest friends as a trauma response probably directly from laura dean!! like these systems of abuse are absolutely something each of us must target and work on within ourselves but they’re also not something that’s going to be resolved just by breaking up w ur toxic girlf. i just wish the book had committed more to the conversations it said it was trying to have.

also like freddy and doodle were the only characters that felt real, and even then.. meh. the only time buddy felt real was when they were mad bc their partner was still closeted to his family? & i’m like, if they can’t talk about something like this are they even in love???? both buddy and vi felt like black characters that were just there so the author could get away with saying “for the gods” or something dumb like that. vi, especially, felt VERY not real. like, no one is going to immediately befriend the girl that pukes on their counter, much less invite her to a function. i thought we left these completely unrealistic, forced, and honestly dehumanizing tropes in 2016 with wattpad. SIGH. 

all in all, this book manages to uphold every characteristic of white supremacy that it claims to be denouncing. while quite aesthetically pleasing, this was not the cute ode to friendship and “showing up” that it tried to be. i do give mariko props for trying to depict something like this, because the process of becoming aware of and breaking out of patterns of abuse is extremely difficult and painful! and it does look similar to freddy’s story, so like i think it could have been good. i just think that the author themselves probably has many toxic habits/communication patterns that they are not enlightened on yet, and this hurt the book. bonus points bc it’s pretty & my lesbian liked it.

madison w

probably my biggest issue w this book was that it felt like they were trying to be subtle w these conversations, when they are things that we MUST confront and name if we want to abolish them. like, laura dean is abusive!! and her friends definitely were too, but this was only hinted at by the book. and freddy wasn’t just a “shitty friend,” she lied about her feelings (..repetitively) to her closest friends as a trauma response probably directly from laura dean!! like these systems of abuse are absolutely something each of us must target and work on within ourselves but they’re also not something that’s going to be resolved just by breaking up w ur toxic girlf. i just wish the book had committed more to the conversations it said it was trying to have.

also like freddy and doodle were the only characters that felt real, and even then.. meh. the only time buddy felt real was when they were mad bc their partner was still closeted to his family? & i’m like, if they can’t talk about something like this are they even in love???? both buddy and vi felt like black characters that were just there so the author could get away with saying “for the gods” or something dumb like that. vi, especially, felt VERY not real. like, no one is going to immediately befriend the girl that pukes on their counter, much less invite her to a function. i thought we left these completely unrealistic, forced, and honestly dehumanizing tropes in 2016 with wattpad. SIGH. 

all in all, this book manages to uphold every characteristic of white supremacy that it claims to be denouncing. while quite aesthetically pleasing, this was not the cute ode to friendship and “showing up” that it tried to be. i do give mariko props for trying to depict something like this, because the process of becoming aware of and breaking out of patterns of abuse is extremely difficult and painful! and it does look similar to freddy’s story, so like i think it could have been good. i just think that the author themselves probably has many toxic habits/communication patterns that they are not enlightened on yet, and this hurt the book. bonus points bc it’s pretty & my lesbian liked it.

3/5 stars.

Ellie M.

3.25 ⭐️

This book had an incredibly pretty art style! It also offers a very queer and diverse cast of characters and mainly explores what being in a toxic relationship is like. Most of the time, individuals find it hard to leave that cycle because they do not even notice or they simply fail to accept that their partner’s behavior is actually mentally abusive and emotionally manipulative and this graphic novel offers an insight to that. This book also traversed through abortion, homophobia, and discrimination, making it informative and enlightening as well.

kait

it is a crime that a book with a cover this cute is only just okay

Filipa Carvalho

The art on this graphic novel is absolutely stunning, but I wished  we could've had more thoughtful conversations. There were a lot of plot points that never really got anywhere and could've have been helpful and really interesting to the premise and overall message of the book. A cute read overall.

Tatiana

Laura Dean Keeps Breaking Up with Me: 3/5


  “Polyamorous or monogamous, your love should be a thing that brings something to you.
It's true that giving can be a part of love. But, contrary to popular belief, love should never take from you, Freddy.”

CW: Toxic relationships

This book was exactly what I expected and nothing more. It explores a toxic relationship and how that affects the others around you. I think this is an overall valuable lesson for young adults, but as a 22-year-old woman, I felt there were some issues with it.

Heres what I liked:
1. The overall message of discovering love you deserve and exiting toxic relationships. I think the actual writing was strong and conveyed the message well.

2. The art is to die for! The colors and attention to detail are astounding. I could flip through this and only look at the art for hours.

3. It's pretty easy to follow. Because of the art, every setting is recognizable, and the plot is straightforward, making the story simple and an easy read.

4. The diversity. We are met with a highly diverse cast of characters that made each page come to life. I enjoyed all the diverse backgrounds each character had to share.

Here are some issues:
1. The characters only exist in their relationships with each other. None of the characters had their own personality, making it difficult to connect with each one. The characters never exist as individual entities, which is essential for a well-rounded character arc.

2. The majority of the graphic novel was highly emotional, depressing, and takes a lot out of the reader. 3/4 of the story is Freddy getting emotionally abused and mistreated, and thus, alienating herself from her friends.

3. Nobody asks if Freddy is okay. I understand that because she is not a great friend throughout the novel, her friends distance themselves from her, but it is clear that her friends do not like Laura Dean and sense something is wrong. The only people that ask if she's okay is a stranger. Instead, her friends resort to being passive-aggressive about her relationship and to Freddy herself. This causes Freddy to spiral even further into Laura's abuse. This led to a constant undertone of victim-blaming that was highly upsetting.  

The last issue is where most of my criticism lies. It does not sit well with me, and I think a friend reaching out to Freddy would have been beneficial to the plot. In the story, Freddy gives all she has, and no one is giving anything back to her. 

I understand the message is supposed to be hopeful at the end, but I wish Freddy had at least one ally to rely upon. The overall vibe for this book was depressing.

Please read the trigger warnings before picking up this graphic novel

trixie

Vivi

★★★✩✩ (3.5)

“Polyamorous or monogamous, your love should be a thing that brings something to you.
It's true that giving can be a part of love. But, contrary to popular belief, love should never take from you, Freddy.” 

Nunca había visto una novela tan hermosamente ilustrada. RTC

wauwa

I finished this rather quick, the art is really cute!
The story did feel all over the place at some points. I wish it could’ve been longer maybe? So it didnt feel rushed?
but even then I related to it, it was nice to see this drawn out.

** spoiler alert **
           Read this during an emotional turmoil and have never been infuriated with a character's loopy decisions. I love the diversity but sometimes I feel like some are just a "statement", not really an important aspect of the book.

Lara Engle

This was a slow starter, but it picked up in the second half. As always, Mariko Tamaki's artwork tells a masterfully paced tale with dreamlike ease. I particularly admired the use of pink and shades of gray to help direct the reader's attention. The lessons learned and realizations made leave the flawed but charming characters with wisdom they didn't have before. And they leave us with hope that life really does get better when we show vulnerability and let others in.

2.5 i clearly need to stop reading hyped books

I really loved the art style and the way this talked about relationships, particularly high school ones. However, there was a kind of weird thing in the latter half that I had complicated feelings about that kind of colored my view.

Emma Miller

menna

angie

Jamieson

“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?”



I loved this so much. Even though I do think it wasn't /perfect/ (I would have liked to see more depth to Laura Dean's character to better flesh out why Freddy loved her so much and was attached to the relationship) I do think it was excellently dealing with a lot of themes. Books like this dealing specifically with lesbian characters are so rare, so I really appreciated what this was doing. This felt like a really important book looking at toxic relationships, break-ups and the complexity of love. I also liked the general queerness of the side characters and the focus on friendship. 

The art is the HIGHLIGHT though, absolutely stunning. It's worth reading this book just for the art, honestly.

victoria

It's not as good as heartstopper but I enjoyed! At first I wasn't that happy with the story cause I couldn't agree with Freddy at all, but her development is really good! Also I loved the saphic representation