Curiosity got the better of me because the reviews of this book mention a comparison to The Fault In Our Stars. This book is nothing like that book other than the fact that both have a female character with cancer.
Me and Earl and the Dying Girl is a dark, sarcastic, often uncomfortable story written by Greg. Greg, an overweight, very awkward, high school senior, is friends but not friends with Earl and they make shitty movies together. Earl is a foul mouthed bad tempered kid from a very dysfunctional family. Rachel is a girl who Greg is forced to be friends with by his mother when Rachel is diagnosed with Leukemia. They used to be almost friends but Greg messed that up and would have rather not be friends with her now, but how do you say no to being friends with a girl who is dying? She is the only one who likes Greg & Earl's films.
There are parts of this story that are awful, both in writing and in content but that is intentional since the story is told by Greg as a book is writing. He knows he isn't a writer any more than he is a film maker. He doesn't think anyone will even read his story so admits he says things because of the feeling of having no audience. And it works. You get the feeling that high school is filled with land mines and booby traps just waiting to blow you to bits that will take the entirety of your adulthood to fix.
There are no warm fuzzier to be found here, it is grit and gross and sad and funny.
(Finished October 12, 2015)
