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pacifickat's review
challenging
emotional
funny
reflective
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
I'm not sure how to write a review of this book yet, but I'll probably update this later with some thoughts. For now, suffice it to say that the audiobook read by Thomas Mann and RJ Cyler is brilliantly done. I laughed out loud quite a lot, and Mann perfectly captured the voice and intonation of an awkward teenage boy.
Not sure this book would be published now with certain language and stereotypes being present in the storytelling, but to me it came off as believably 'of a time' and true to what teenage boys might have said and thought circa 2012.
Also, concerning this book being a target for school and library bans, I recommend reading this article explaining the offending passages as well as a defense by the author regarding their inclusion in the story:
https://deadline.com/2023/07/jesse-andrews-me-and-earl-and-the-dying-girl-book-ban-florida-1235440379/
*UPDATE:* I finally have more to say about this book and why I liked it a lot more than I probably should have. This is a book about art and the human experience as told (messily) by a teenage boy with a foul mouth and a lot of (relatable) awkward internal monologuing. I was surprised how poignantly it capture the unbridgeable gap between artistic expression (human expression, really) and reality can be, and the frustration and existential pain this causes the main character as he attempts to understand and relate to his own interior landscape and the truth of what is happening to Rachel. The impossibility of it is profound in the end. Greg is also more vulnerable than he seems, and by paying attention to what he's NOT saying, between the jokes and meandering storytelling, one can learn a lot. In the end, art has limits as to what it can achieve, and is almost always more about the person who made it than anything else. It is, in essence, as narcissistic and self-involved as the teenager narrating this story. Does the story 'fridge' the girl to move the male character's story arc along? Yes. Does it know it's doing it and talk about how arrogant and stupid that is? Also, yes. I will end this horrifying long review with three quotes from the book:
1. "[We had made a film about a thing, death, that we knew nothing about. Maybe Earl sort of knew something, but I knew nothing about it. Plus we had made a film about a girl who we really hadn't gotten to know. Actually, we hadn't made the film about her at all. She was just dying, there, and we had gone and made a film about ourselves. We had taken this girl and used her really to make a film about ourselves, and it just seemed so stupid and wrong that I couldn't stop crying. Rachel the Film is not at all about Rachel. It's about how little we know about Rachel. We were so ridiculously arrogant to try to make a film about her."
2. "[...] I hated myself for this, I was realizing how to make the movie I should have made, that it had to be something that stored as much of Rachel as possible, that ideally we would have had a camera on her for her whole life, and one inside her head, and it made me so bitter and fucking angry that this was impossible, and she was just going to be lost."
3. "It's not a good film. OK? Actually, it sucks. Because [...] we had pretty good intentions, but that doesn't mean we made a good film. OK? Because it's not about her at all. It's just this embarrassing thing that shows that we don't eve understand anything about her. [...] Just because something is weird and hard to understand doesn't mean it's creative. That's - that's the whole problem. If you want to pretend like something is good, even when it's not, that's when you use stupid words like 'creative'. Our classmates hated it. [...] If it was good, they would have liked it. They would have understood it. And if it was good, maybe it would have helped."
Is this book perfect? No. Is it OK to not create clear meaning and purpose out of what looks and feels like chaotic nonsense? Yes. Grappling with nonbeing while being a living, breathing, conscious person can feel baffling. The actual experience can ultimately be impossible to express, to actually capture, hold, and share. The beauty of this book is that it admits to that truth, that in trying to say something meaningful, we end up saying nothing sensical at all. And, paradoxically (impossibly, frustratingly, unintentionally?) perhaps the very opposite is sometimes true as well.
Not sure this book would be published now with certain language and stereotypes being present in the storytelling, but to me it came off as believably 'of a time' and true to what teenage boys might have said and thought circa 2012.
Also, concerning this book being a target for school and library bans, I recommend reading this article explaining the offending passages as well as a defense by the author regarding their inclusion in the story:
https://deadline.com/2023/07/jesse-andrews-me-and-earl-and-the-dying-girl-book-ban-florida-1235440379/
*UPDATE:* I finally have more to say about this book and why I liked it a lot more than I probably should have. This is a book about art and the human experience as told (messily) by a teenage boy with a foul mouth and a lot of (relatable) awkward internal monologuing. I was surprised how poignantly it capture the unbridgeable gap between artistic expression (human expression, really) and reality can be, and the frustration and existential pain this causes the main character as he attempts to understand and relate to his own interior landscape and the truth of what is happening to Rachel. The impossibility of it is profound in the end. Greg is also more vulnerable than he seems, and by paying attention to what he's NOT saying, between the jokes and meandering storytelling, one can learn a lot. In the end, art has limits as to what it can achieve, and is almost always more about the person who made it than anything else. It is, in essence, as narcissistic and self-involved as the teenager narrating this story.
1. "[We had made a film about a thing, death, that we knew nothing about. Maybe Earl sort of knew something, but I knew nothing about it. Plus we had made a film about a girl who we really hadn't gotten to know. Actually, we hadn't made the film about her at all. She was just dying, there, and we had gone and made a film about ourselves. We had taken this girl and used her really to make a film about ourselves, and it just seemed so stupid and wrong that I couldn't stop crying. Rachel the Film is not at all about Rachel. It's about how little we know about Rachel. We were so ridiculously arrogant to try to make a film about her."
2. "[...] I hated myself for this, I was realizing how to make the movie I should have made, that it had to be something that stored as much of Rachel as possible, that ideally we would have had a camera on her for her whole life, and one inside her head, and it made me so bitter and fucking angry that this was impossible, and she was just going to be lost."
3. "It's not a good film. OK? Actually, it sucks. Because [...] we had pretty good intentions, but that doesn't mean we made a good film. OK? Because it's not about her at all. It's just this embarrassing thing that shows that we don't eve understand anything about her. [...] Just because something is weird and hard to understand doesn't mean it's creative. That's - that's the whole problem. If you want to pretend like something is good, even when it's not, that's when you use stupid words like 'creative'. Our classmates hated it. [...] If it was good, they would have liked it. They would have understood it. And if it was good, maybe it would have helped."
Is this book perfect? No. Is it OK to not create clear meaning and purpose out of what looks and feels like chaotic nonsense? Yes. Grappling with nonbeing while being a living, breathing, conscious person can feel baffling. The actual experience can ultimately be impossible to express, to actually capture, hold, and share. The beauty of this book is that it admits to that truth, that in trying to say something meaningful, we end up saying nothing sensical at all. And, paradoxically (impossibly, frustratingly, unintentionally?) perhaps the very opposite is sometimes true as well.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body shaming, Cancer, Child death, Cursing, Death, and Grief
Moderate: Sexual content, Drug use, and Racial slurs
Minor: Misogyny, Homophobia, and Fatphobia
koplomps's review against another edition
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
0.5
What a douche of a main character and a fucked up best friend. The way they talked about their fellow female students was disgusting.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Cancer, Sexism, Biphobia, Child death, Cursing, Violence, Racism, Bullying, and Sexual content
Moderate: Drug use, Abandonment, Body shaming, Body horror, Homophobia, Lesbophobia, and Racial slurs
Minor: Fatphobia and Toxic friendship
lizardinhat's review
emotional
funny
lighthearted
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
pretty funny book i liked it a lot. there were like two parts where i was ehhhh but overall it cancelled out imo
Content Warnings
Graphic: Cancer, Child death, Terminal illness, Chronic illness, Death, and Grief
Moderate: Drug use, Alcoholism, and Medical content
Minor: Biphobia, Fatphobia, and Alcoholism
vincentedward16's review
dark
emotional
funny
lighthearted
reflective
sad
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
This was my favorite book for a long time. But now can see how problematic book and message is. So I can see why some people hate it. The first time I readed it was 7th grade and now every time I read it I love it.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child death, Chronic illness, Cursing, and Death
Moderate: Grief, Homophobia, Toxic friendship, and Fatphobia
Minor: Biphobia, Body shaming, and Bullying
_roctopus_'s review against another edition
funny
lighthearted
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
I feel really conflicted about this book and my enjoyment of it so the easiest way I can write a review and get all of my feelings out is a numbered lists of features and how I felt about them. (No nice flowing paragraphs today!)
1) Overall it was pretty funny, but I agree with some reviewers that the constant "this book is so bad and I'm just so stupid" attitude of narration did not work for me. I didn't mind it in general, but it was way overused in my opinion.
2) I do not like Earl. I don't really like Greg much either, but Earl really bothered me. I get that they are teenage boys, but the constant objectification and frankly gross conversations about sex really made me question my choice to read this book. On top of that, I really, really hate the biphobic comments made by Earl and I believe there may have been some transphobia too, but I don't specifically remember. I also did not like the constant use of "gay" as an insult or the frequency of the f-slur. I know that some people, especially teen boys say things like that, but it bothers me a lot.
3) The constant reminder of how "this is not a deep story about death and love" annoyed me because it was true. There was nothing really emotional about this book except for when Greg is crying in the hospital just wanting Rachel to wake up. Now, I completely understand that not everyone is going to get a profound new look at life when someone they know dies (I certainly haven't), but I felt so detached from the struggles and situations in the book which disappointed me. A story can be told with realistic characters and reactions while still having an emotional connection. Greg didn't need to have this life change after Rachel's death, but I would have liked to see him care more about her, but that's just my personal opinion.
4) I liked the quick pacing of the book and it was a fun read.
5) I liked the first half of the book more then the second half solely because I felt there should have been more happening in the second part, but it was just more of the same.
6) I am going to watch the movie because the trailer for that looks like more of what I wanted this to be and I will update this review and let you know my brief thoughts comparatively in case you feel the same as I did.
7) Despite me talking about everything I didn't like, I did overall like this book and it was an enjoyable read, just these issues took me out of the book at times.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Homophobia, Child death, Death, and Cancer
Moderate: Biphobia, Fatphobia, and Homophobia
kriti's review against another edition
medium-paced
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
3.75
Content Warnings
Graphic: Cancer, Chronic illness, Death, and Grief
Minor: Biphobia, Bullying, Drug use, Fatphobia, and Racial slurs
teki_p's review
adventurous
dark
emotional
funny
informative
reflective
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Cancer, Child death, Chronic illness, Death, Body shaming, and Cursing
Moderate: Drug abuse, Toxic friendship, Sexism, Vomit, Fatphobia, Grief, and Medical content
Minor: Biphobia, Classism, Bullying, Lesbophobia, Homophobia, and Transphobia
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