Review Detail

How to Lose a Best Friend brings the drama, as the name implies it will. In this debut YA novel by Jordan K. Casomar, we meet Zeke and Imogen. They have been friends forever, and Zeke can’t wait to announce his love in a sweeping gesture on her 16th birthday, when her parents will officially allow her to date. The only problem in everyone’s vision of their future is that Imogen only loves him like a brother and not romantically. Yet, she feels trapped from being open with her feelings because he’s already dealing with his dad having cancer and having to quit baseball to get a job to help with bills.
I am not the target audience, so it was a bit hard to read the n-word used casually repeatedly between the male characters. It was also hard knowing it’s going to be a train wreck with nothing to keep the situation from derailing when some communication would have prevented the whole scenario. I will say that the drama that ensued was so much bigger than I imagined it could get, which was riveting and hard to put down. I especially enjoyed the chapters from Imogen’s perspective. I have read so many friends-to-lovers books that it was different to read an anti-romance (at least among the two main characters). Imogen does find someone she falls head over heels for, and through Trevor we can see exactly why Zeke wasn’t her person. She did not need time; she did not need forced proximity; she just needs people to listen to the words coming out of her mouth that her relationship is “not like that” with Zeke.
I am glad the author fully developed the short story Imogen publishes and includes it in the book, so readers understand why it affects everyone who reads it. Overall, this book deeply explores the harmful assumption that someone is owed affection simply because they have feelings for another person. Zeke goes to a dark place, but because the story is told partly from his perspective, we see the care and love from others that help him accept responsibility and gain perspective on his actions, allowing him to be a redeemable character and not a villain. This book has high appeal for readers who like drama and realistic situations.