Novel Review: Me and Earl and the Dying Girl by Jesse Andrews

Rating (Out of 5): ~3.5

Genre: YA Contemporary, Cancer, Script

Publisher: Amulet (Abrams)

Release Date: 2012

Spoilers?: No.

Buy it here: Amazon. Barnes and Noble. Book Depository.

Teaser Tuesday.

Goodreads Synopsis:

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.

The Cover:

I actually quite like the cover above, and even most of the other ones I've seen for this book. They're simple and perfectly fitting for the book, showing the important characters.

Review:

This was a very fast, and funny book. The wit is very easy to read, and aside from a few more crude things than I like but most people would probably enjoy more, I quite enjoyed it. There are scripts, and bullet points, several neat ways of listing things and conversing throughout the book. It made it fun to read.

Greg is not especially likeable. Not even counting all the ways that he hates on himself, he’s also rather superficial, but he is a pretty typical guy in several ways. Then there’s Earl, who is crude and angry, but surprisingly realistic and smart. I was honestly more interested in Earl’s relationship with Rachel than Greg’s. I did like Rachel, she seemed like a normal girl who was dealt a crappy hand. She handled it in the way that she could.

There wasn’t really romance in this book, and I’m kind of left empty after how small the book ended. There wasn’t a bang at the end, we know what’s going to happen with Rachel from the very beginning. But I suppose it was realistic.

I enjoyed this book, it was a very fun read though sad at times, but the ending left me a little underwhelmed. I do want to read his next book, though.