‘Laura Dean Keeps Breaking Up With Me’ Is an Unflinching Look at High School Heartache
By Rashauna Tunson
Recommended Reading Age: 16 and above
“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?”
Laura Dean Keeps Breaking Up With Me is a young adult graphic novel with heart as well as heartache. Seventeen-year-old Freddy Riley is stuck in a loop of breakups, feelings and confusion. All she wants is for her amazing, popular and kind-of-mean girlfriend to stop breaking up with her.
It seems like everyone in school- and maybe even the world- knows the drama between Freddy and Laura. Freddy’s friends are over it and don’t understand why she keeps going back to her every time. After her best friend Doodle suggests that she seek the advice of the town mystic, Freddy realizes that something has to change or else she might lose her treasured friend group along with her pride.
Author Mariko Tamaki and illustrator Rosemary Valero-O’Connell pair up to bring to life a spirited tale of being a teenager in love and ask us all to consider what happens when we ditch the toxic people we crave and open ourselves up to the healthy unknown.
For better or for worse, I related to the story way too much, and I am sure that a ton of readers out there will relate as well!
I wish that I could go back in time and hand a copy of Laura Dean Keeps Breaking Up With Me to a seventeen-year-old me and tell myself that sometimes all we want is the attention of the person who deserves our desire the least.
It can be scary to untether yourself from a person that you are so sure is your world, because it feels safer to settle for the patterns we know. But sometimes, we truly find ourselves when we let go and trust the unknown.
There were parts of the book in which I was rolling my eyes and groaning out loud at how thoughtless and uncaring Laura seemed to be — I wanted to break up with her myself!
But as teenagers, it can be hard to know how to prioritize feelings. I think it’s unfair how much we talk down to teenagers, especially about topics like love. The media tends to glorify relationships and puts them on a pedestal, making it seem like you absolutely need to be in a relationship to be a complete human.
Society then turns around and tells young adults that they are too young to understand what they are feeling. We don’t take the time to explain how wrapped up in another person it’s possible to become, or how you can lose sight of what’s best for you.
Being in love is fantastic and beautiful, but you do not have to be in a relationship, nor do you have to stay in a relationship that only tears you down. A relationship is only beneficial if it builds you up.
I appreciated the portrayal of platonic intimacy between Freddy and her best friend, Doodle. I think that it is critical to show that there are many types of love in this world- not just romantic love.
I also absolutely loved the black and white illustrations with splashes of vibrant peach that kept me totally engrossed. I think Rosemary Valero–O’Connell’s fanciful and delicate illustrations heightened Mariko Tamaki’s story and vice versa.
Every character has their own shining personality that leapt off the pages. I wish that this duo could write and illustrate my life, and I hope they team up again to tell more stories.
Laura Dean Keeps Breaking Up With Me is an exquisite, highly recommendable LGBTQ+ graphic novel- the kind not easily forgotten.
We need more honest, raw, beautiful YA stories like this depicting both the unhealthy and the healthy aspects of queer relationships. I am glad that this graphic novel is out there to help anyone realize that they don’t have to be stuck in a dysfunctional relationship!
About the Author
Rashauna Tunson (she/her) is a lifelong resident of Denver, Colorado and is a proud Black Queer. She is passionate about equality, Disco music, quoting ancient memes and petting cats. You can follow Rashauna on Twitter at @sk8tergrrrl666 or — if you’re lucky — you can catch her whipping around town on her roller skates!
