A Love Story: Starring My Dead Best Friendm - Emily Horner

Thanks to Around the World Tours, I was able to get on an ARC tour for Emily Horner's A Love Story: Starring my Dead Best Friend.

Cass's best friend Julia was killed in a car accident. In her honor, Cass and some of Julia's drama friends are putting on the musical she had been working on for months titled Totally Sweet Ninja Death Squad. However, Cass feels that since the only link to the drama kids, Julia, is gone, that she no longer fits in with them. When Cass finds out that Heather, the girl who picked on Cass throughout middle school, has been cast as the Ninja Princess, she can't take it anymore and embarks on the trip from Illinois to California she and Julia had planned.

Cass takes off on her bicycle and with Julia's ashes, she starts her journey. Along the way she encounters new friends and tough situations. In a last ditch attempt, she calls Julia's boyfriend, Ollie, to come pick her up. When Ollie arrives, she finds a few other friends came along and Cass later realizes that they are still heading towards California. Once the mission to take Julia to California is complete, they all return home and continue with making Julia's musical a reality.

This book was told in alternating parts, Then and Now. Sometimes this format is hit or miss with me and this was one of those instances where I wish it had just started with the Then's and continued into the Now's. I liked this book well enough and I wasn't quite sure what I was getting into when I signed up for the tour, but I'm glad I read it.

I liked being able to figure out with Cass that she was a lesbian. It was something she struggled with without even knowing it herself. I hate that she was made fun of for it but Heather's picking on her made so much sense later because she acted just like a little kid would in elementary school. I also liked how the relationship between Cass and Heather blossomed. It wasn't easy for Cass to forgive and forget about the past but she made an honest attempt and in the end it all worked out.

I did have a problem with Cass's parents though. What parents don't let their teenager drive or wear makeup but they'll let them ride a bicycle from Illinois to California by themselves? This was just a part I couldn't get over.

Have you read this book? What did you think?

This was book #7 in the 2010 Debut Authors Challenge