Me & Earl & the Dying Girl (utgåvan 2012)

** spoilers **
This was a good book, but I didn’t connect enough with the characters. I guess it’s cool that this one broke the traditional “sick girl and healthy boy fall in love” trope, but I think because this was told from the perspective of a boy who spent most of the book insisting he wasn’t even her friend, it made me unable to feel that much for her or him when she died. I guess if you go in with the expectation that it’s more funny than sad, it’ll be more enjoyable. ( )

interesting narrative style ( )

Me and Earl and the Dying Girl is a hilarious book but, unfortunately, as the main character warns on the back cover, there is no significance to be found. It made me laugh almost to tears but I couldn't find any grand message about life and death and relationships at all.

The main character is unique if sometimes (many times) an asshole. The secondary characters, like his father and his friend's siblings, are great. I actually thought Earl was a way more interesting and better character. I would love to read a spin-off series on Earl alone.

I liked the writing and the different formats throughout the book. Scripts, bullet lists, and one text message exchange made an appearance.

Overall, it's a hilarious book but don't go to it looking for a message. ( )

3.5 Young adult lit seems to be trending 2 directions: Dystopian post-apocalytic lit. and depressed, anxious, disassociated confessional narratives by humorous angst-filled young people. Millenial malaise? This book falls into the second category: Greg Gaines shares the story of his senior year of high school ("how is it possible to exist in a place that sucks so bad?")and how he has gotten by in the previous 3 years by effectively mixing with, but not befriending anyone in any of the HS groups: jocks, rich kids, church kids, theatre kids, goths, smart kids, etc. His analysis of these various groups and how NOT to fit in with them is hilarious and he is meticulous in his classification -- dividing down to subgroups with sub-classifications -- clearly he has studied the subject thoroughly. He has a great first day of senior year skimming through the various cliques and coming out unscathed -- successfully missing the lunchroom on a regular basis by eating in his favorite teacher's office, who completely defies classification. Greg's one friend of any dependability is Earl, an African-American short kid with a deadly head-kick. The two are united in their love of esoteric movies and trying to make their own versions of them. Very funny fare, especially with Greg's bare-all droll narration. Enter drama in the form of Rachel, a current classmate and former bar(t) mitzvah classmate of Greg's. She has just been diagnosed with leukemia and Greg's mother essentially commits him to cheering her up and signing him on to be her friend. Greg's determination to avoid attachment swirls down the drain as he and Earl begin to hang out with her and her group of friends and soon Greg has a label too. While a little disheartening to believe that teenage boys are really THAT completely crass, I found a sweetness to the story and especially to Greg as he ultimately faces some serious growing up in a short period of time. ( )

I loved the way this book was written. It was humorous throughout even though the topic can be sad in many ways. It was a quick read and I finished within 2 days. I would recommend it to anyone that likes young adult novels. ( )