★★★彡
Summary:
Greg Gaines is the last master of high school espionage, able to disappear at will into any social environment. He has only one friend, Earl, and together they spend their time making movies, their own incomprehensible versions of Coppola and Herzog cult classics.
Until Greg’s mother forces him to rekindle his childhood friendship with Rachel.
Rachel has been diagnosed with leukemia—-cue extreme adolescent awkwardness—-but a parental mandate has been issued and must be obeyed. When Rachel stops treatment, Greg and Earl decide the thing to do is to make a film for her, which turns into the Worst Film Ever Made and becomes a turning point in each of their lives.
And all at once Greg must abandon invisibility and stand in the spotlight.
Summary:
Greg Gaines is the last master of high school espionage, able to disappear at will into any social environment. He has only one friend, Earl, and together they spend their time making movies, their own incomprehensible versions of Coppola and Herzog cult classics.
Until Greg’s mother forces him to rekindle his childhood friendship with Rachel.
Rachel has been diagnosed with leukemia—-cue extreme adolescent awkwardness—-but a parental mandate has been issued and must be obeyed. When Rachel stops treatment, Greg and Earl decide the thing to do is to make a film for her, which turns into the Worst Film Ever Made and becomes a turning point in each of their lives.
And all at once Greg must abandon invisibility and stand in the spotlight.
Before I even start with the review, I want to congratulate whoever designed the cover. It is beautiful, colorful, and distinctive from all other YA book covers out there.
Me and Earl and the Dying Girl is a book that deals with Cancer but is not about cancer. Sound familiar? You might be thinking of The Fault in our Stars, by John Green. But as far as I am concerned, that's as far as the similarities go. I have heard many people say this book is the most honest depiction of living with cancer (whether it is you who has it or someone else). I disagree. Saying that takes away the credit of every other depiction of cancer there is, like saying cancer could not possibly affect your life so heavily.
Jesse Andrews set out to write a humorous book, and he achieved it; I laughed continuously throughout the entire book. Greg, the MC, was seriously funny without trying to be, as were the situations he got himself into. But Greg has no filter, and I found that it was when he did try to be funny that I got annoyed at his character. I just wanted him to shut up, take a breath, and think about what he is about to say.
Greg is a senior in high school that goes out of his way to not make any friends. He wants everyone to like him, and in order to do this he cannot be seen socializing with anyone lest other people think he is proclaiming his loyalty to a different clique from theirs. The closest thing she has to a friend is Earl, but still, Greg describes him as more of a co-worker than a friend. He and Greg have been making films together for years, but they never show them to anyone.
One day Greg's mom tells him his ex-girlfriend from a million years ago was just diagnosed with leukemia. Greg and Rachel, the dying girl, did not end their friendship in particularly good terms, so when his mom forces him to call/hang out with her, he doesn't really want to do it. But what mom wants, mom gets.
Once Greg and Rachel become friends, he faces a problem: he has a friend. How can he follow his theory for surviving high school without enemies if he has a friend? Suddenly he is no longer invisible, and he doesn't particularly like that.
Rachel was my favorite character, and I truly wish she had been in the book more. I feel like Andrews was trying really hard to not make this "another one of those cancer books" and had to limit Rachel's book so we would not grow attached to her. I also liked Earl a lot even though he made lots of (unnecessary) crude jokes.
Earl also becomes friends with Rachel, and it is all very sweet. He is Greg's counterpart: if Greg doesn't even consider visiting Rachel at the hospital, Earl does. It is very interesting to see how Earl, who also doesn't have many friends, is lacking many of the social inadequacies that Greg owns.
It was a really interesting read mainly because of the way it was written, which is different from any book I have read before. Greg narrates the story as though he is the one writing this book. From time to time he says things like "Let me just get some popcorn—Okay, I'm back" and (this one is actually a quote from the book) "If after reading this book you come to my home and brutally murder me, I do not blame you", which is like breaking the fourth wall in book version. He also sometimes uses bullet points in his narration, and—since he is into movies—sometimes uses script format for some scenes. Although it was really interesting, sometimes it annoyed me that he kept insisting the book I was reading was stupid.
I liked the way the secondary characters were written, such as Greg's family or even Earl's family. I wish I could understand their personalities better because most of them were so drastic, but they were funny and great to read. I also wish Greg had had actual conversations with his siblings every once in a while, instead of just describing how they reacted to certain things. I also wish I could understand Earl's family dynamics better, but since they were not really important to the story I can let that go.
I wish there had been a little more of a climax to the story. As it is, sometimes (especially in the end) the story fell a bit flat, like it kept going but nothing was happening. I realize this is supposed to be a humorous book, but I think I was expecting something serious and profound to happen, but when the chance presented itself, it was glossed over by a whole lot of nothingness.
Overall, I enjoyed this book and I think a lot of people would enjoy it. It is definitely a unique read. However, I wish Andrews hadn't been trying so hard to stir so far from the typical "cancer books" and allowed himself to write something a little deeper when it made sense. Why can't there just be a happy medium?
WARNING: This book is not exactly G-rated, and there is lots of cursing.
Have you read Me and Earl and the Dying Girl? What did you think?
Me and Earl and the Dying Girl is a book that deals with Cancer but is not about cancer. Sound familiar? You might be thinking of The Fault in our Stars, by John Green. But as far as I am concerned, that's as far as the similarities go. I have heard many people say this book is the most honest depiction of living with cancer (whether it is you who has it or someone else). I disagree. Saying that takes away the credit of every other depiction of cancer there is, like saying cancer could not possibly affect your life so heavily.
Jesse Andrews set out to write a humorous book, and he achieved it; I laughed continuously throughout the entire book. Greg, the MC, was seriously funny without trying to be, as were the situations he got himself into. But Greg has no filter, and I found that it was when he did try to be funny that I got annoyed at his character. I just wanted him to shut up, take a breath, and think about what he is about to say.
Greg is a senior in high school that goes out of his way to not make any friends. He wants everyone to like him, and in order to do this he cannot be seen socializing with anyone lest other people think he is proclaiming his loyalty to a different clique from theirs. The closest thing she has to a friend is Earl, but still, Greg describes him as more of a co-worker than a friend. He and Greg have been making films together for years, but they never show them to anyone.
One day Greg's mom tells him his ex-girlfriend from a million years ago was just diagnosed with leukemia. Greg and Rachel, the dying girl, did not end their friendship in particularly good terms, so when his mom forces him to call/hang out with her, he doesn't really want to do it. But what mom wants, mom gets.
Once Greg and Rachel become friends, he faces a problem: he has a friend. How can he follow his theory for surviving high school without enemies if he has a friend? Suddenly he is no longer invisible, and he doesn't particularly like that.
Rachel was my favorite character, and I truly wish she had been in the book more. I feel like Andrews was trying really hard to not make this "another one of those cancer books" and had to limit Rachel's book so we would not grow attached to her. I also liked Earl a lot even though he made lots of (unnecessary) crude jokes.
Earl also becomes friends with Rachel, and it is all very sweet. He is Greg's counterpart: if Greg doesn't even consider visiting Rachel at the hospital, Earl does. It is very interesting to see how Earl, who also doesn't have many friends, is lacking many of the social inadequacies that Greg owns.
It was a really interesting read mainly because of the way it was written, which is different from any book I have read before. Greg narrates the story as though he is the one writing this book. From time to time he says things like "Let me just get some popcorn—Okay, I'm back" and (this one is actually a quote from the book) "If after reading this book you come to my home and brutally murder me, I do not blame you", which is like breaking the fourth wall in book version. He also sometimes uses bullet points in his narration, and—since he is into movies—sometimes uses script format for some scenes. Although it was really interesting, sometimes it annoyed me that he kept insisting the book I was reading was stupid.
I liked the way the secondary characters were written, such as Greg's family or even Earl's family. I wish I could understand their personalities better because most of them were so drastic, but they were funny and great to read. I also wish Greg had had actual conversations with his siblings every once in a while, instead of just describing how they reacted to certain things. I also wish I could understand Earl's family dynamics better, but since they were not really important to the story I can let that go.
I wish there had been a little more of a climax to the story. As it is, sometimes (especially in the end) the story fell a bit flat, like it kept going but nothing was happening. I realize this is supposed to be a humorous book, but I think I was expecting something serious and profound to happen, but when the chance presented itself, it was glossed over by a whole lot of nothingness.
Overall, I enjoyed this book and I think a lot of people would enjoy it. It is definitely a unique read. However, I wish Andrews hadn't been trying so hard to stir so far from the typical "cancer books" and allowed himself to write something a little deeper when it made sense. Why can't there just be a happy medium?
WARNING: This book is not exactly G-rated, and there is lots of cursing.
Have you read Me and Earl and the Dying Girl? What did you think?