Review: Me and Earl and the Dying Girl by Jesse Andrews
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Nothingbutdez
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Review: Me and Earl and the Dying Girl by Jesse Andrews
Me and Earl and the Dying Girl is a debut Young Adult fiction novel by Jesse Andrews, released in 2012. It was even adapted into a film!
Will try not to spoil!
Description right from the back of the book (no spoilers):
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.
Review:
I should begin by explaining why and how I chose this book:
I just finished my shift at my job at the mall and decided to go into Barnes 'n' Nobles. As I fished through the aisles in search for a book, any book, I stumbled across this bright green novel near the Manga section. Title: Me and Earl and the Dying Earl. Reaction: ....Why is she dying? And that's when I picked up the book and bought it.
Now, for the real review:
I didn't flip through the book to read a page, nor did I even read the back; the front cover caught my eye and my curiosity led me to buy it. Once I got home, I began to read it. Immediately, I noted that this was a young adult novel and that it should've been a book I read my freshman year of high school, not my last, but I continued to read, nonetheless, because it did hook me. Especially the fact that it's written in the point of view of the main character who is writing a book, which is the very book you're reading!
The main character is a chubby Jewish boy named Greg S. Gaines. He's a normal teenage boy in the sense that he's a little girl crazy, but not normal in the sense that his goal in high school was to lay low and be friends with everyone, while also being friends with no one. Weird, right? But he explains how he does that. The only kinda not really but really is friend or best friend he has is a "coworker" named Earl. A poor, vertically challenged boy who only has two moods: pissed off and even more pissed off. Together, they make films (that's the job in where they're "coworkers"). They compliment each other pretty well and is an interesting friendship to have the privilege to witness. Greg's other friend, who is forcefully introduced into his life by his mother, is a girl named Rachel Kushner who is diagnosed with acute myelogenous leukemia their senior year. Damn....that's pretty....heavy....
WAIT, wait, wait... this sounds like it's going to be a YA romance novel that'll then rip my heart out like ANOTHER certain book that also involves cancer within this same genre... WRONG! Me and Earl and the Dying Girl, or should I say Greg, tries VERY hard to make it clear that there will be absolutely no romance through out this novel. It's actually a pretty funny story, which is totally refreshing!!
Pros:
- Entertaining
- Funny
- Thoughtful
- It's cool how it switches between a normal book and movie script writing
- The point of view it's written in is very cool and different
Cons:
- Repeats words that are close together often (small pet peeve of mine)
- Made me sad at some point :'((((((( Nah I'm kidding, that's not a con, it's okay
- Can't really think of many cons
Do I Recommend?
Yes! Very much so! Great read, especially to someone entering high school, but would still recommend to anyone.
Will try not to spoil!
Description right from the back of the book (no spoilers):
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.
Review:
I should begin by explaining why and how I chose this book:
I just finished my shift at my job at the mall and decided to go into Barnes 'n' Nobles. As I fished through the aisles in search for a book, any book, I stumbled across this bright green novel near the Manga section. Title: Me and Earl and the Dying Earl. Reaction: ....Why is she dying? And that's when I picked up the book and bought it.
Now, for the real review:
I didn't flip through the book to read a page, nor did I even read the back; the front cover caught my eye and my curiosity led me to buy it. Once I got home, I began to read it. Immediately, I noted that this was a young adult novel and that it should've been a book I read my freshman year of high school, not my last, but I continued to read, nonetheless, because it did hook me. Especially the fact that it's written in the point of view of the main character who is writing a book, which is the very book you're reading!
The main character is a chubby Jewish boy named Greg S. Gaines. He's a normal teenage boy in the sense that he's a little girl crazy, but not normal in the sense that his goal in high school was to lay low and be friends with everyone, while also being friends with no one. Weird, right? But he explains how he does that. The only kinda not really but really is friend or best friend he has is a "coworker" named Earl. A poor, vertically challenged boy who only has two moods: pissed off and even more pissed off. Together, they make films (that's the job in where they're "coworkers"). They compliment each other pretty well and is an interesting friendship to have the privilege to witness. Greg's other friend, who is forcefully introduced into his life by his mother, is a girl named Rachel Kushner who is diagnosed with acute myelogenous leukemia their senior year. Damn....that's pretty....heavy....
WAIT, wait, wait... this sounds like it's going to be a YA romance novel that'll then rip my heart out like ANOTHER certain book that also involves cancer within this same genre... WRONG! Me and Earl and the Dying Girl, or should I say Greg, tries VERY hard to make it clear that there will be absolutely no romance through out this novel. It's actually a pretty funny story, which is totally refreshing!!
Pros:
- Entertaining
- Funny
- Thoughtful
- It's cool how it switches between a normal book and movie script writing
- The point of view it's written in is very cool and different
Cons:
- Repeats words that are close together often (small pet peeve of mine)
- Made me sad at some point :'((((((( Nah I'm kidding, that's not a con, it's okay
- Can't really think of many cons
Do I Recommend?
Yes! Very much so! Great read, especially to someone entering high school, but would still recommend to anyone.
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What is grief, if not love persevering?
Grief is just love with no place to go.
What is grief, if not love persevering?
Grief is just love with no place to go.
