Review: ‘Me and Earl and the Dying Girl’
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Review: ‘Me and Earl and the Dying Girl’

It is a rare gem that makes me want to read a book from beginning to end in one sitting, but I did just that with “Me and Earl and the Dying Girl.”

This novel is about Greg, who is forced to reunite with a girl he used to know because she is dying of cancer. Greg is less than thrilled but does so to please his mother.

Greg is an interesting character and the book is written almost as a stream of consciousness. In a mix of scripts, lists and narration, which is exactly how he would think.

Greg and his best friend, Earl, are amateur filmmakers, and the way in which this is portrayed is accurate. One chapter summarizes each of the films they make and at least one major thing wrong with it.

Greg rates most of the chapters one or two stars. Some of the reasons are quite funny, like the cat they are working with won’t behave.

Rachel is the girl who is dying and she is perspective and considerate, but not pretentious.

Earl shows her the videos after Greg tells her he hates when people see them and no one ever sees them. She sees right through both of them, knowing they’re forced to hang out with her and that if she weren’t dying they wouldn’t hang out with her.

Normally I don’t like books where I know the ending, but it’s okay when the book itself acknowledges the ending early on because then it’s not as much of spoiler.

The reader knows within the first chapter that Rachel will die. There is no way around this ending which makes the whole story a journey to the end.

While the reader may hope for a different ending, the story still ends in the predicted way.

“Me and Earl and the Dying Girl” was such a breath of fresh air from different books such as “The Fault in Our Stars” and “Your Voice is all I Hear.” It takes the seriousness of death, but it does not weigh the book down, it isn’t filled with metaphors and philosophical thoughts that no teenager would say.

Greg repeatedly makes comments toward the reader about how he doesn’t think the reader will read all the way to the end and how it is not the typical girl dies and the guy has some profound life changing thought. He makes ridiculous comments that seem out of place in a book about cancer.

I wasn’t expecting much of anything when I began this book, but it surpassed everything I could have thought.

Sometimes humor falls flat when it’s written versus spoken, but that was not the case with this book. The first thing I noticed was the chapter titles, with the very first one being “How is it Possible to Exist in a Place That Sucks so Bad.”

I knew I was in for a ride.

With this many laughs and good parts it would be a shame for me to rate “Me and Earl and the Dying Girl” anything other than a ten out of ten.

Jenna Koslowski

Arts & Entertainment Editor

Jkosl669@uwsp.edu

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