Me and Earl and the Dying Girl by Jesse Andrews ~ Impeccable Reviews

Publication Date: March 1, 2012

Publisher: Amulet Books

Genre: Young Adult, Contemporary

Format: Hardcover

Page Count: 295

Greg Gaines is the last master of high school espionage, able to disappear at will into any social environment. He has only one friend, Earl, and together they spend their time making movies, their own incomprehensible versions of Coppola and Herzog cult classics.

Until Greg’s mother forces him to rekindle his childhood friendship with Rachel.

Rachel has been diagnosed with leukemia—-cue extreme adolescent awkwardness—-but a parental mandate has been issued and must be obeyed. When Rachel stops treatment, Greg and Earl decide the thing to do is to make a film for her, which turns into the Worst Film Ever Made and becomes a turning point in each of their lives.

And all at once Greg must abandon invisibility and stand in the spotlight.

My Review

Initially, I had no idea what to expect from this book. If anyone watches booktube they might know Raeleen @ PadfootandProngs07 on Youtube mentioned this book in one of her videos. So a year ago when I saw it at bargain price on Amazon, I decided to pick it up. The title in itself (Me and Earl and the Dying Girl) is very intriguing because before I started the book I had so many questions like: Who is Earl? Who is the dying girl? Why is she dying?...etc. I was also a little worried that the book might end up being depressing all the way through, but that completely disappeared after reading the first chapter. Basically the title is very direct. The book is written by a senior in high school named Greg about his final year of school and how he survived both life and education with his friend Earl and a friend Rachel that is dying from cancer. I guess in honor of the book's title we will keep it in the same Me and Earl and the Dying Girl format.

Me

I really enjoyed the fact that the story was told as if the main character Greg, was writing the book. It made the book 10x more hilarious. Greg's character is very unique and he is someone who does not like conflict and tries to avoid it by pleasing everyone. He can also be quite unnecessarily frantic at times and overly modest. Even throughout the telling of his life, he complains how dumb the book he is writing is and how much it pains him to write about certain scenes that occurred. Greg gets into some many awkward situations and makes bad choices frequently. There were many times where I could not help bursting into laughter over something Greg did or said.

and Earl

Earl on the other hand, is the closest thing that Greg has to a best friend. Their relationship blossomed when they were little and fell in love with films and filmmaking. Earl comes from poor living conditions with a very dysfunctional family. He is easily angered and not afraid to start a fight. His sense of humor is very crude and he cannot go through a sentence without cussing at least once. Even though the book cover pictures him as black, it did not sink in until Greg actually mentioned it outright. To be totally honest, at first it bothered me because I felt like Earl and his family were following too much of a "black stereotype" often portrayed in the media and books, but by the end of the story Earl became by far my favorite character from the book. Unlike how his character appears, he is a very caring and wise. I really respected him throughout the book.

and the Dying Girl

I won't say too much about Rachel, but I liked her character. You find out at the very beginning that she has leukemia and she is pretty much sick throughout the whole book. I admired how well she handled her sickness and did not dwell excessively over the fact that she could possibly die soon. Greg and Rachel have a funny background story and Greg visits Rachel (at first reluctantly) to help cheer her up during rough times. I believe Rachel truely admired Greg and Earl and their talents even if they could not see them. She was a good friend to Greg which is one thing Greg needed.


Overall, this book was very light-hearted at the beginning, but begins to pick up weight as it progresses on. I very much enjoyed the ending and Greg and Earl were able to have a revelation. The epilogue of the book was the most interesting part for me because it does a great job at tying up any loses ends that were left after the last chapter. This book is worth reading and I believe will now be one of my all-time favorites.

My Rating:

5 out of 5 stars

Cover Rating:

3 out of 3 stars