This was going to get the full five stars but I related way too hard to Doodle’s character and expected her “secret” to just be that she was in love with Freddy. But that’s just 100% me. Also I guess I’m a gay stereotype now of small quiet girl in love with best friend protagonist.

One of my favorite graphic novels of all time! So relatable it hurts. Funny, heartbreaking, beautifully written and illustrated.

A great graphic novel about the many ways in which we harm each other, especially when we are young and intoxicated with ourselves and each other.

This book is absolutely fantastic. The story is compelling, the characters are heart-wrenchingly real, and the nuanced representation of queer life is astounding. This book deserves all the hype it has received.

This book was absolutely fantastic. I've already added it to our library collection on preorder and will recommend it to students.

Freddy's relationship with Laura Dean is toxic, but she is stuck in the break up cycle and her friends are getting sick of being left behind anytime LD calls. Freddy has to find the strength to finally break away and give herself the chance to be truly happy. Lots of interesting conversations about LBGT along the way and a hard friend twist at the end as well.

Highly recommended for all ages, but especially its young adult audience. It's a familiar, relatable story and full of emotions. The art is beautiful and perfect for the story.

So beautiful and melancholic. This comic was very thoughtfully and truthfully written and the soft and exquisite artwork tells the story perfectly. A new classic that does justice to the realistic romantic experiences of lgbtq teens.

This one hits you right in the feelings. It's a beautiful story about first loves and self discovery. Teens will enjoy this story about sticking up for yourself and your right to be loved.

Because we need more representation - this graphic novel brings it. Ideal for our school libraries. Falling in the LGBTQA+ category and covering toxic relationships, it is one of those stories students need to know so they don't have to live it.

Freddy just wants Laura Dean to stop breaking up with her. Laura Dean just wants to play with Freddy's heart. Freddy learns the ups and downs of being in a dysfunctional relationship as it starts damaging other parts of her life. Is it possible to be in a shitty relationship and be a good friend? Freddy looks for help in a psychic and a self help columnist and finally finds the answer she's looking for but is she strong enough to handle it?

This was hard for me to read because I was in crappy, emotionally abusive relationships too. The book has a good message.

Finally, a story about toxic relationships and how they can in turn make us toxic friends. This story is so necessary. It also occurs in almost an entirely queer community. But that doesn't make the content or message exclusive to queer people. This message is for all young people experiencing their first romantic encounters. It's so hard to learn that sometimes we need to end relationships with people we still love. It's so hard to learn that breakups are a lot like love; messy and dramatic. It's so hard to value ourselves over our relationships, especially when we are young.

I love the art in this. Characters are not all skinny and they're not all white. Doodle and Freddy have weird hobbies, like D&D and splicing thrift shop stuffed animals together to make new creations. It's great and makes several characters well rounded.

I look forward to more novels from this author/illustrator.

I was given a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Thank you NetGalley and First Second Books for the advanced reading copy of Laura Dean Keeps Breaking Up With Me by Mariko Tamaki. I can't wait to start this book.

This is an own voices queer graphic novel. Laura Dean is the girl everyone wants to date/be. She is fun, easygoing, and relaxed about everything. Or at least that’s the appearance she gives off. Freddy is shy, soft spoken, and easily ignored. Freddy has found herself in a situation where she would rather take the “love” that she can get rather than search for the love she deserves. The story is Freddy’s journey to finding out what love means and how to be a true friend.

The plot had too much going on. Overall, this graphic novel was just meh for me.

While I didn't love this quite as much as most other people, I did enjoy it. I love that friendship ultimately is more important than a relationship and that Freddy does grow over the book.

I thought this was a cute read, well illustrated and modern, but the main character was kind of a terrible person and that made it difficult to get super invested.

Tamaki surely knows how to make great comics, I can tell you that. Laura Dead Keeps Breaking Up with Me is an amazing comic about growing up and letting go. Freddy is in a relationship with the most popular girl in school, Laura Dean, but she's not that good of a girlfriend and well, keeps breaking up with her. The comic is a journey for Freddy to see how their relationship isn't going anywhere and how you cannot change the other person unless they want to change themselves. Her other relationships suffer because she keeps wishing things will change and I love it how everything crumbles in a sense and how Freddy is oblivious. Everyone is distant and it highlights the fact how Freddy is curled into her own cocoon until she takes the lead in her life. This is the best part of the comic. Laura Dean isn't the "bad guy" and how she eventually takes the real breakup is perfect. Her reasoning about their relationship works for her and it's beautiful when Freddy makes the decision for herself for once.

The art is wonderful! It's clear, precise and still soft. The color world of black, white and pink works perfectly and the atmosphere is wonderfully aloof. The most I enjoy how the comic looks realistic, but still easy to approach with roundish shapes and cuteness. It's a good counterpart to the somewhat dark feeling the comic has without making it depressing. I wish this could've been longer actually, since the elements were there, but this is still very impressive like this. One of the best lesbian comics I've ever read, truly.

What I love most about Mariko's stories is how much you feel without the characters having to say much. Of course, that also says a lot about how amazing Rosemary is, too. The tone of this book is created through color and character expression. You WILL feel things. This is high school love wrapped up in one story and I am here for it.

The art in LAURA DEAN KEEPS BREAKING UP WITH ME alone is worth all the stars in the world. The compositions of the spreads and the purposeful application of a limited colour palette are second-to-none. I hope anyone who happens across this title will read it, but if you even just flip through to behold the beauty of these illustrations!

(Of course, how you could flip through and then not want to read it, is beyond me)

But even better, is that the art supports such an important and genuine story, and tells that story so, so tenderly. The discussion of healthy vs toxic relationships is something I don't think there's enough of in general, and particularly don't think there's enough of for (a) teens, and (b) queer teens. LAURA DEAN explores these so well, and not just for romantic relationships, but friendships and parent-child relationships, too. I'm so, so glad it fell into my hands.

Poor Freddy Riley. She has caught the attention of the incorrigible Laura Dean. Unfortunately for Freddy, so have many other people. And Laura has no issue with returning their affections.

Freddy feels almost guilty about the life she leads. She should be happy to at least live in a society progressive enough that she can openly have a girlfriend, right? She chides herself for having life relatively “easy” compared to the challenges faced by gays in the not-too distant-past. But Freddy knows that this relationship isn’t working. The story is (loosely) framed by her letters to an advice columnist as Freddy tries to break free (and stay broken from) Laura. Freddy’s friends are not as easily charmed by Laura, and Freddy finds her fixation on Laura is starting to strain her other relationship.

A very discussion—worthy story with stunning illustrations. Although I was a bit guarded after This One Summer (quite good, but also quite heavy), I was lured into a false sense that this would be a fairly straightforward plot. However, Tamaki pulls quite a punch – and, while jarring, it felt authentic to the narrative. An excellent book and worthy follow-up in Tamaki’s GN career.



https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/2879456202

I am a big fan of Mariko Tamaki so was eager to read this book. I loved the art, it was simple yet beautiful. The story was well-written and engaging. I work with 12 and under but I know that the teens at my library will really enjoy this book.