A Love Story Starring My Dead Best Friend

by Emily Horner

Hardcover, 2010

Status

Available

Call number

FICT-YA Horn

Genres

Young Adult

Collection

Michael C. Weidemann LGBT Library at Gay City

Publication

Dial Books (2010), Edition: 1, 272 pages

Description

As she tries to sort out her feelings of love, seventeen-year-old Cass, a spunky math genius with an introverted streak, finds a way to memorialize her dead best friend.

Media reviews

School Library Journal

This funny, touching, and sweet coming-of-age story explores serious themes in a fresh way. Cass's tentative questioning of her own sexuality and her hesitant approach toward her first serious romantic relationship will delight readers who struggle with similar issues, as well as those who simply

enjoy a well-crafted story. (Starred review.)

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User reviews

LibraryThing member satyridae

The story of how a well-loved member of a crowd's death affects the crowd is not new, and I picked this up with a bit of trepidation. It was unwarranted. Horner's first novel is ably plotted and well-done. There were more than a few laugh-out-loud moments, and I liked the narrator very well. She

was achingly believable and so adolescently stupid she could have stepped right off the page.

I loved the long-distance bicycle trip. I loved the growth in the characters throughout the story. I loved the way the friends close ranks when it becomes important. There's a lot here to love.

For all that I loved it, I recognize that it's a first novel. The dialogue was more than a little wooden in spots. There were some minor bobbles in believability and consistency, and the flashback flash forward format is difficult to follow at first, but overall I think it a very worthwhile and solid story.

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LibraryThing member doc_illusion

Good lesbian books are a rare treat, especially ones found sitting in major chain bookstores. So I was amazed when I saw this one in Borders, picked it up, and it was actually good.
It's happy. It's sad. It's a road trip story. It's a coming of age story.

LibraryThing member papersister

This was an excellent book and is really indicative of how far YA books have come over the last forty years. This could have easily become the typical 'problem' novel but it was uplifting, fun and had really great characters.

LibraryThing member gjchauvin504

I actually put off reading this book, because I have heard a lot of mixed reviews on it. I actually enjoyed A Love Story Starring My Dead Best Friend a lot. Parts of Cass reminded me of myself. In high school, I was always on the fringe of several cliques in high school and never felt that I truly

belonged in any of them. I understand how vicious middle schoolers can be and that helped me understand the tough shell that Cass had. The emotions that Cass had were so intense and realistic, I felt all of them. Heather seemed like a bitch at the beginning of this book, but she turned out to be likable and sweet at times. The other characters added humor to the story and kept me laughing. The plot was slow at the beginning, but it quickly became engaging. I liked that the story alternated back in forth and it showed the extreme growth that happened to Cass in such a short time. I found the theater aspect to be entertaining, but I love musicals and it could be boring to anyone that doesn't like it. There was also a lot of originality that was with in the book. I liked the one last legacy part that came from them preforming Totally Sweet Ninja Death. Horner made a fantastic debut. I would recommend this book to fans of contemporary young adult fiction.

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