A Love Story Starring My Dead Best Friend by Emily Horner

Summary/Cover Image from Publisher's website:

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.

Review:

Don't you just hate it when a book you've been pining over for the last year or so ends up disappointing it you? Well, I do, and sadly enough that is what happened with A Love Story Starring My Dead Best Friend and me.

I've been looking forward to this book since it was titled Totally Sweet Ninja Death Squad, a title I loved and still do, and after hearing the most amazing things about this, I was even more excited. So when the time came to read this, I couldn't wait to gobble it right up.
 
The beginning of this was great. I loved the premise, which had to do with Cass and her friends putting on their dead best friend's supper secret play. I loved the fact that it was altering between section titled "Now" and "Then" because you got to see what occurred before the accident and of Cass's bike trip, as well as current time. And, lastly, I loved the friendship between Cass and Julia, which was sweet and relatable, as well as the budding romance between Heather and Cass.
 
The middle, however, left a lot to be desired. Since missing was the funniness and uniqueness I loved, instead it was switched with boringness that I detested. Suddenly, I was not at all awed by Cass, nor could I find her particular likable. She was just there and, I have to say, I found her to be a bit annoying. Plus there wasn't nearly as much info about her and Julia's friendship; the plot dragged in a pace that made this novel unbearable at times; and character development was lacking. Though I did like some parts of this, such as Heather, my favorite character from this, and the messages that came with Cass's journey to find out who she was without Julia.
 
Then something particularly AMAZING happened. What was that per say? Well, the last four chapters. All of sudden my faith in this was restored. I was smiling giddily, laughing, and going "Aw!" at was happening, as well as beginning to understand Cass in a way I couldn't before.
 
If based on those and the beginning alone, I would have loved A Love Story Starring My Dead Best Friend, strangely enough.

And no matter how much I want to do so, I can't, sadly, so overall it was okay, not great, not amazing, not spectacular, just okay. I can see promise in Horner, even if it wasn't displayed as well as I would've liked in this novel. So even with the disappointment this brought, I still will be reading more by her, possibly.

Grade: Very, very, very low C. A D+ most likely.

A Love Story Starring My Dead Best Friend will be released June 10, 2010.

Souce: Around The World Tour