A Love Story Starring My Dead Best Friend by Emily Horner
Reading level: Young Adult
Hardcover: 272 pages
Publisher: Dial (June 10, 2010)
Book summary: For months, Cass has heard her best friend, Julia, whisper about a secret project. When Julia dies in a car accident, her drama friends decide to bring the project—a musical called Totally Sweet Ninja Death Squad—to fruition. But Cass isn't a drama person. She can’t take a summer of painting sets, and she won’t spend long hours with Heather, the girl who made her miserable all through middle school and has somehow landed the leading role. So Cass takes off. In alternating chapters, she spends the first part of summer on a cross-country bike trip and the rest swallowing her pride, making props, and—of all things—falling for Heather.
This is a story of the breadth of love. Of the depth of friendship. And of the most hilarious musical one quiet suburb has ever seen.
My review: I have found there are some stories that take me awhile to get into. I may put them to the side, forget about them for some time, but I don't like to give up on a book. As both a reader and a writer I approach reading for what it ultimately becomes: an experience. I wasn't sure what to make of A Love Story Starring My Dead Best Friend when I first began it, but I'm glad I finished it. It was a story filled with quirky characters, told from different perspectives at different times and it was the change in time and voice which initially took me away from the story. And it also drew me back.
The story centers around Cass, a girl who isn't sure if she's gay or not, and her friendship with best friend Julia. Julia dies in a car crash and Cass decides to bike to California to scatter her friend's ashes across an ocean Julia was never able to see. Through this solo trip Cass figures out some things about herself, her life and her friends. Alternatively, the story also takes place in the present, where Julia and Cass' friends are preparing to stage a ninja musical written by Julia in her memory. It took some time for me to get comfortable with the back and forth of the story but when the flow clicked for me I understood what the author was doing. I understood Cass couldn't go on with her life unless she fully grasped, understood and let go of her past so she could live again. A big part of this was her coming to grips with her sexuality, making amends with her friends, and letting go of Julia so she could have a relationship with Heather.
What I liked about this story was Horner's way with description and dialogue. She also handled what could have been a depressing or melancholy story with honesty and humor. The parts with the musical prep were funny and Cass' bike ride held the steady pace of an actual ride, the ups and downs of the different terrain were shadowed with her experiences. I also developed a fondness for the secondary characters and I found myself racing through the last part of the novel to see what would happen next. This may not be the type of book for everyone but it was enjoyable and I would certainly read anything else by Horner. A Love Story Starring My Dead Best Friend was enlightening, entertaining and certainly worth the bumps in my reading experience.
Favorite excerpt: (Page 113, ARC edition.)
"I clinked my soda bottle against hers, after we were by ourselves again. "Heather?"
"Yeah?"
"You're kind of a genius."
She grinned. "Come on. For years I lived with It's easier to ask forgiveness than permission and What they don't know can't hurt them and It's only wrong if you get caught. Being undercover isn't always wrong. That's what being a ninja is all about--you're not just being stealthy because it's totally sweet, it's so that you can stay alive. So if our little play needs to go in the closet, bring it on."
That was when I decided something. Or realized something.
I had an itty-bitty crush."
Rating: +++1/2
Cover comment: I really liked this cover. The motel and Cass standing out front with her bike to the left of the shot really captured the essence of the novel.
Book source: Traveling ARC Tours
Reviewed by: Laurie
"You're kind of a genius."
She grinned. "Come on. For years I lived with It's easier to ask forgiveness than permission and What they don't know can't hurt them and It's only wrong if you get caught. Being undercover isn't always wrong. That's what being a ninja is all about--you're not just being stealthy because it's totally sweet, it's so that you can stay alive. So if our little play needs to go in the closet, bring it on."
That was when I decided something. Or realized something.
I had an itty-bitty crush."
Rating: +++1/2
Cover comment: I really liked this cover. The motel and Cass standing out front with her bike to the left of the shot really captured the essence of the novel.
Book source: Traveling ARC Tours
Reviewed by: Laurie
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