A Love Story Starring My Dead Best Friend

This book does an incredible job dealing with grief at the loss of a loved one. In alternating chapters set right after Cass's best friend's death and her time when she gets back to school after the summer, it does such a wonderful job working through the process of grief and how to move on without letting go.

I've read this book more than any other book. I've checked it out from my library since it came out (in hardback,) and decided to buy it so I wouldn't have to give the book back up again! Now, I know what you're saying: "Oh, you love it so much, yet you gave it only 4 stars????" Hear me out, please. The characters are all fairly unlikeable (save for the main character and the dead character,) which may make it a chore to get through. It is also fairly short and has decently sized text. The twist that [no spoilers] is gay was pretty stupid. I really hate the stereotype that "oh~ all mean characters are secretly gay~!" because it doesn't ring true in real life (most of the time!) They should've left [no spoilers] as a character to develop through the story instead of just being like "Haha [no spoilers] is gay because I can't think of a good way to develop my characters!!" This plot twist the main reason I give this book only 4 stars. This is a very odd (for lack of a better word,) book, and not everyone will like it (I'd say, in fact, most will feel neutral on it.)

This is Emily Horner's debut YA novel. The narrative swings between `Now' and `Then'. The now is Cass back at school after her road-tripping absence, trying to fit back in with her friends who she never felt particularly `friendly' with. The `Then' is Cass's bike-trip to California with Julia's ashes in a Tupperware container along for the ride. The title is brilliant - `A Love Story Starring my Dead Best Friend' - it really jumps out at you, and is the sort of title that you'd stop and take notice of when browsing at the bookstore. I also loved the title of Julia's high school play; `Totally Sweet Ninja Death Squad'. But the same way a film trailer can be the best part of a movie, so too can an eye-grabbing title be the only highlight of a novel. Such is the case with Horner's debut. I think what the novel lacks is something that's quite hard to write. It's that `joie de vivre', pizzazz and charisma that some people just *have* in spades, oozing out their pores. The title has it - a combination of macabre and playful, a hint of wry witticism and dark humour - but Horner's actual writing is lacking in what the title promises. The book itself swings between being depressing and hopeful - with not much humour in between. It's a shame, both because the title hints at a mix of death and humour, and because humour is such an obvious by-product of grief. But Cass isn't particularly funny, she's actually quite dull. Not even her drama nerd friends have much flavour to them - no matter how much Horner insists that gay drama boy, Jon, is `fabulous'. I said humour is an obvious by-product of grief. I'm thinking of Jonathan Tropper's `How to Talk to a Widower' as a shining example. An adult book, true, but Tropper understands what Horner doesn't seem to - that at some point you get so sick of being sad that you've just got to laugh. And you can't go on remembering who you lost, but what you had - you remember the good times, the happy times, the stupid stunts and hilarious exploits. That's what is missing from `A Love Story'. It doesn't help that the best thing about Cass was Julia - her out-going, funny and loyal best friend. Cass herself is a wallflower, not particularly funny or self-aware and quite a laborious narrator. At times Horner's novel also feels a bit like a prescribed text. As though she's writing what she thinks a YA `coming of age' novel should be - complete with a `just find yourself' line in the blurb. It does feel as though she was writing through a checklist of inspirational and motivational moments for her character to experience. Having been a Young Adult not so long ago (and still considered one in some target audiences) I think YA readers are a bit savvier these days. They like a less `squeaky clean' moralistic message and prefer something more nitty-gritty, with a bit of an edge and more shades of grey. I think Horner's writing leans a bit more toward the unconventional and less PG-13 in regards to Cass's romance. As the story in `Now' progresses, Cass develops feelings for her previous arch-nemesis, Heather. She was the girl who made Cass's school life hell; the girl who called Cass `dyke' in front of everyone and took over Julia's role in the play. I really loved the development of Cass & Heather, for the very reason that the rest of the novel didn't work for me, Heather & Cass did. I liked the fact that Horner wrote a less conventional lesbian romance for her protagonist, even more so that Heather was once Cass's bully. Towards the end the pace picks up because Cass's blooming romance with Heather becomes the focus. And through that romance Cass is able to find her place in the world, without Julia. I actually learnt more about Cass and saw more healing in her because of Heather than I ever did reading her road-trip. I just plain loved Cass and Heather. Not only are they contending with the High School politics associated with `coming out', but they have a nasty past and Cass's grief to deal with. But they had a very real, very tender blooming romance that was wonderful to get caught up in. There was one scene involving Heather serenading to Cass with her clarinet that had me choking up a little bit. It is in writing the romance that Horner really shines. She treats Cass's exploration of her sexual identity with finesse and tenderness, at once compelling and thoughtful. Horner really shines in the second-half of her book - so much so that Cass and Heather's budding romance could easily have been the only plot focus. This is a tricky book to rate. I really hated the beginning, and almost gave up reading a few times. But toward the end Horner seemed to find her groove and I really enjoyed Cass & Heather's love story.

Why I read this: It's a debut, it deals with musicals and it sounded great. Plot: Definitely a great one. Cass didn't feel connected to her other friends once Julia died. She was the connection to her and the group of drama geeks they hung out with. The book alternates back and forth between when she is back, helping put on the musical and dealing with the presence of Heather - a girl who was mean to her ever since middle school, and then her road trip over the summer where she traveled by bike, trying to get to California on her own. I really liked the plot, with the romance between two friends and then two strangers. Definitely a book I'd recommend to those looking for GLBT books. Characters: I really liked Cass. I know what's it's like to be the friend who is unlike the rest of the friends. She felt so real - she was full of emotions and confusion and yet she still stubbornly did what she felt right. Cass was both weak and strong and just proves how human, how real an author can make a character. Heather - well she's a different story. Like Cass, it took me a while to warm up to her. I felt like I was living through Cass in the book and I have to attribute that to the outstanding writing behind this novel. Heather was the unexpected character - trying to stop her old ways and struggling, but in the end - ending up a good person for Cass to be around. And all the other characters - were hilarious and great. I love how they gave Cass the space she needed while still making her know they wanted her around. Everything about this book just felt so right. Relatability: Like I said earlier, I really felt like I was Cass while reading this book. I felt like the author just drew her out so well with her words that you could even gauge what she would react to and how and I really related to her character. Cover Commentary: It works for the book. Can't say I *love* it, but I can see where it really shows what the book is about.

The story is very much from the perspective of the protagonist and at times some deeper characterisation of other characters is missing. On the whole though this book flows nicely, makes me care about what is happening and was very enjoyable. I basically read it in one go on a sunny vacation day.

I completely fell for this beautiful story which has some truly laugh out loud moments. Cass has been friends with Julia ever since they were young and their friendship is as strong as one between two very different and complementary personalities. Cass is very introverted and loves math while Julia is into theatre and music and anything arty. If Cass is mostly withdrawn, Julia is full of life and bubbly. Julia has a boyfriend and a group of theatre friends and she makes Cass feel included in this group. Then one day Julia dies in a car accident and Cass's world falls apart. She realises that without Julia, she doesn't have friends anymore, not even the theatre group who are so different from her. When they decide to do Julia's secret project - a hilarious musical with ninjas - Cass offers to help to create the set, until the group hires Heather, Cass's nemesis and the girl who has been bullying her at school, in the role that would have been Julia's, the ninja princess. They have a huge fight and Cass decides to go on the road trip she had planned with Julia for the summer. She is bringing Julia's ashes with her without telling her friends or even Oliver, Julia's boyfriend. Cass will not come back the same after this trip. The book is divided between Then and Now, Then when Cass decides to go on the road trip and Now when she comes back home. Even though this is a tiny book, there are several themes present in the book and I liked how the serious aspects were counter-balanced by the slight craziness of Totally Sweet Ninja Death Squad and Julia's personality always present in the book. Cass is a very interesting, though not always likeable, character in this story. She is very introverted and even though her parents love her, Julia is the one to matter for Cass. Cass is bullied at school and doesn't have any other friends - not that she is interested to make any anyway. Cass didn't have much in her life, but she had Julia who made everything ok. The loss of Julia hits Cass hard, so hard that she isolates herself from everyone else. Cass never really tried to understand her feelings for Julia - they were close friends and that was it. But when Julia starts seeing Oliver, Cass starts feeling a bit jealous. Of course there are rumours started by Heather that Cass is a lesbian and everyone assumes that Cass has always been in love with Julia, but Cass never realised this herself. Even though she toughened a bit because of this and she always had Julia to defend her, Cass withdrew herself even more. Her progressive realisation of herself and of her sexuality comes with the painful reality of the object of her affection being dead. Emily Horner describes this very sensitively I thought. Not everyone knows which gender they are attracted to since age 4 when they had a crush on their kindergarten teacher. Some people need to fall in love with someone to realise this and it is too bad that people always feel the need to know immediately and label people. Some people need time to get to know themselves, and Cass's story shows it exceedingly well. There are some truly beautiful passages about friendship. I have tears in my eyes just thinking about the end of Cass's road trip and how the love they all felt for Julia brought this group of friends together. I really am and it is embarrassing since I'm at work. There's a really positive message in this and it's definitely the type of book people need to read to understand how some things may affect people deeply. The part of the story with Heather reminded me a lot of 13 Reasons Why by Jay Asher and how one person's actions may cause very serious consequences. I won't spoil the story for you but Heather's character is very interesting and a fantastic counterpart to Cass. The novel also shows how much people hide from others and how much a person can change. This is definitely not a story where evil people are evil and nice people are nice. It is an age where people get to know themselves and decide which type of person they would like to be. I loved the setting of the novel, may it be in Cass's epic road trip in bicycle through America or the set of Totally Sweet Ninja Death Squad. Cass's story is a beautiful coming of age story where one person loses everything and manages to find herself. It brings a very positive message for themes like bereavement/death, friendship and identity/sexuality. The characters are believable: full of flaws and preceded by a trail of mistakes but it doesn't make them either fondamentally bad or selfish, only human.