Title: Me and Earl and the Dying Girl
Author: Jesse Andrews
Series: N/A
Format: Paperback
Release Date: April 21, 2015
Genre(s): YA, Contemporary
Summary
It is a universally acknowledged truth that high school sucks. But on the first day of his senior year, Greg Gaines thinks he’s figured it out. The answer to the basic existential question: How is it possible to exist in a place that sucks so bad? His strategy: remain at the periphery at all times. Keep an insanely low profile. Make mediocre films with the one person who is even sort of his friend, Earl.
This plan works for exactly eight hours. Then Greg’s mom forces him to become friends with a girl who has cancer. This brings about the destruction of Greg’s entire life.
Fiercely funny, honest, heart-breaking—this is an unforgettable novel from a bright talent, now also a film that critics are calling “a touchstone for its generation” and “an instant classic.” (Source)
Review
Plot: This book’s plot isn’t completely new if you’ve read a lot of the contemporary fiction that is popular right now. This book is about a boy named Greg who is forced to spend time with Rachel, a girl who is sick with cancer. This book is meant to be more “realistic” and is riddled with sarcasm and humor. It was weird because I often didn’t know how I was supposed to feel while I read this. One moment, Greg was cracking jokes and the next something horrible would be said. I think the author was trying to make this book really relatable, but it just came off kind of weird to me. The plot was almost exactly like Fault In Our Stars (or any of those illness fiction novels).
Characters: Unfortunately, another flaw of this book was the characters. Greg was really unlikable to me. Like I said above, I think the author was trying to make him honest and realistic. But he just kind of came off as an asshole a lot of the time. He was funny, and I laughed a good amount of times. But overall, I didn’t really care about the characters. I thought Earl was funnier than Greg, but still wasn’t my favorite. Even though I felt bad for Rachel, I found myself not really caring what happened to her in the end. Maybe it was because I guessed she was probably going to die (not a spoiler, just my guess from page one), but I just never got invested in her character.
Cover: I picked up the book with this cover, rather than the newer, more popular one. I honestly like the simplicity of this cover better. It kind of reminds me of Stargirl (anyone else read that as a kid?)
Closing Thoughts: This book is decent, but forgettable. Among all the other books about sick kids (Fault In Our Stars, Everything Everything, etc.) this one doesn’t stand out any more than the others. I picked it up because I thought the movie looked cute and I was a fan of some of the actors. I also heard a lot of positive reviews about this book. I’m not saying it’s a bad book, it’s just not very unique. It’s something I honestly forgot I had read until I went to write this review.
Where to find Jesse Andrews:
Website l Twitter l Goodreads l Amazon
Sweet Daydreams,
Brooke
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