Laura Dean Keeps Breaking Up with Me isn’t a story everyone will love, but Mariko Tamaki’s deft control of the narrative and its themes left me in complete awe. Tamaki, and illustrator Rosemary Valero-O'Connell, explore the raw, messy emotions of adolescence perfectly in this story.

This graphic novel follows Freddy a 17-year-old high school sophomore trapped in the cycle of a truly toxic relationship with her girlfriend Laura Dean, who (you guessed it) keeps breaking up with her. Freddy is deeply infatuated with Laura Dean despite her routine cheating and manipulative behaviour. Throughout their relationship, Freddy pushes away her friends as she gets caught up in a self-destructive spiral.

If you can’t tell from the summary, this book is a rough read. Tamaki captures the nuances of toxic relationships and that could be to this book's detriment for some readers. It's hard to read about the casual cruelty Laura Dean weaponizes to ensnare Freddy time and time again. It’s frustrating seeing Freddy swallow Laura Dean’s excuses and ice out her friends. But I respect the authenticity illustrated within the book. While Freddy’s adoration for Laura Dean is baffling at first as the story unfolds you get a real sense of how intoxicating being loved by Laura Dean is for Freddy. My heart broke seeing Freddy contort herself in the hopes of getting a sliver of Laura Dean’s attention. This graphic novel elegantly explores the ways people neglect their own boundaries for the sake of their partners.

While emotional this book never felt sensationalist. Despite depicting people at their worst the story never neglects the humanity of its characters. Freddy is genuinely an awful friend throughout the story and I was enraged on behalf of the friends she abandoned. But, because we understood the ways Laura Dean brought out the worst in Freddy, her missteps felt like human mistakes rooted in reality. Even Laura Dean is given humanity. Her emotional manipulation is never excused, but the story took the time to demonstrate the roots of her behaviour and give her moments of genuine emotion that made her feel like a person rather than a cartoon villain.

Laura Dean Keeps Breaking Up with Me shines in its conclusion. After wringing the reader through a painful 289 pages the emotional catharsis of the ending felt victorious in the best way possible. Freddy’s steps towards growth and change were triumphant because I saw someone I connected with viscerally finally escape a destructive environment and rebuild with friends who cared about her.

Finally, I'd like to gush about Rosemary Valero-O'Connell’s stunning art. This book’s art was striking from the very first panel. Valero-O'Connell’s style was silky and fluid in a way that perfectly matched the story’s tone. Its colouring was especially arresting The deep, inky blacks of Freddy’s hair juxtaposed with the pastel pink monochrome highlighted the contrast between Laura Dean’s fluctuating loving and icy personalities. The backgrounds of each scene were remarkably detailed and made every room on this story feel lived in. Valero-O’Connell also brilliantly used variant panel layouts to capture the passion of time. It gave the story an expansive feel I absolutely adored.

Laura Dean Keeps Breaking Up with Me is a necessary piece of art. In a media landscape where LGBT people fight for scraps of representation and our stories are scrutinized relentlessly seeing a story about an unsanitized, imperfect sapphic relationship means so much.