Me and Earl and the Dying Girl
Jesse Andrews
Amulet Books
March 2012
5/5
Quotes:
“Girls like good-looking guys, and I am not very good-looking. In fact, I sort of look like a pudding”
“If after reading this book you come to my home and brutally murder me, I do not blame you.”
"When you convert a good book to a film, stupid things happen."
Guys, this is one of the funniest books I've read in a long time. I know, you don't expect a book with the dying girl in the title to be funny, but this is not your typical book. It was a pleasant surprise for me and I'm really glad I read this. I recommend this to anyone looking for a hilarious yet oddly charming read.
Greg is our funny and angsty narrator who addresses the audience in a unique way. I won't spoil it but you figure out who specifically he is writing the book to in the epilogue. It explains a lot and I enjoyed how the book was wrapped up. But anyway, Greg doesn't have many friends, he just jumps around from social groups in order to maintain some kind of status but not have to deal with relationships. The closest thing he has to a friend is his business partner Earl, who he makes terrible movies with. His mom then makes him start hanging out with Rachel, who has an advanced form of Leukemia. He went to Hebrew school with her and they sort of had a brief thing, but was never close to her at all. Anyway, he finds that he actually kind of enjoys spending time with her. Rachel finds out about the movies they make and she then starts watching them. Greg and Earl then get roped into making a film just for Rachel, which leads to a lot of funny and interesting moments.
Like I said, Greg is a really great character. I can't really explain what makes him so memorable, but he's just different from other teen boy narrators that you come across. Even his attitude towards making friends and keeping the films he makes with Earl a secret is different from others. Earl is probably one of my favorite supporting characters. He doesn't have much to say that doesn't include a string of cuss words, but he is always up front and says what he's thinking. I like that he calls Greg out whenever he does something stupid. I also love how sweet Earl was to Rachel and that it was completely genuine.
This is a unique Young Adult novel and I doubt I'll ever read another book like it. I think my favorite part of it was that it handled cancer in a sensitive manner but it also wasn't depressing. The humor was always appropriate, it never made light of the illness. It's hands down the funniest book you'll ever read about death. I can't recommend it enough.
Awesome review. I read this book a few months ago and loved it.
ReplyDeleteAj @ Read All The Things!
Thank you! Omg it's so funny and I feel a little guilty saying that but I can't think of a better word to describe it!
DeleteI loved this book too!! It's definitely not going to be for everybody bc of the language and type of humor, but I clicked with it right away. Like the first page. I laughed in public while reading it and embarrassed myself and I didn't care one bit. I also loved the movie. They changed a lot of things, but I think for the better bc Rachel's character was WAY more developed. Although I didn't like how they cut out a lot of the lewd stuff :( Great review!!
ReplyDeleteI totally agree! I laughed at loud more than I ever have with any other book. I haven't seen the movie yet. I was kind of afraid that the girl who played Rachel was too pretty since she's nothing like what's described in the book. But yeah, I felt like her character could have been a lot more developed so that's good to hear!
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