Why do I feel awful for not liking this story as much as everyone else? I felt this was a slow and disappointing story. It was just missing that thing that would have made this story really great.
Short recap: Zac is having a relapse with his leukemia so he’s is in the hospital again, this time for a marrow transplant. While in his room he eyes the newbie in the room next to him, Mia. Mia has a huge chip on her shoulder and awful taste in music, but she is the first patient on his floor that is close to his age so he cannot help but pay attention. A simple, small act ends up being exactly what these two needed to bring them together.
First of all, this book came out hot on the heels of The Fault in our Stars so immediately I was hesitant to even start. Kind of hard to compare to the passion and power that is Gus & Hazel. This book did not come anywhere close to TFIOS so rest assured there really is no comparison. What this story is full of is disappointment. The first 100 pages or so are chalked full of dreary and depressing stories of cancer treatments, doctor visits, and medical procedures. Actually, it was pretty boring. It felt like reading a textbook instead of a novel. I didn’t DNF because I told myself it had to get better after the first 100 pages. Boy how I was wrong! It went nowhere fast.
The characters themselves were completely underdeveloped and one-sided. I don’t know about you, but I like my characters to develop and grow as the story continues. That didn’t happen here. Not even close. Zac has a rather judgemental tone to his thoughts and narrative, like he is one to judge others. Alright slick, you go right ahead and throw those stones at people in glass houses. Wait until that turns around on you, then come back and let me know how it feels. Wanker. And Mia? That girl was a bitch. There’s no other way to say it. She was a selfish brat who only thought of her whoa-is-me self. She was downright rude to her mother who did nothing to deserve that. Jerk. Her inner monologue came across as immature and I didn’t want to read anything else about her. She was clearly meant to be the Manic Pixie Dream Girl of this story but it just did not work. She was just a toxic, hateful, horrible person that never should have existed in this story.
In the end, I do wish I had DNFd this one. It was painfully predictable and (again) very boring. I felt nothing for any of the characters. I didn’t care that Zac and his mother played card games for weeks on end. BORING. It was almost instalove and we all know how much I don’t believe in or like instalove. *gag me with a spoon* I cannot recommend this to anyone in good faith. It was a bad read and I wouldn’t wish that on anyone. If you want a good story about cancer teens, stick with TFIOS. Green knew what he was doing with that story.
