I don't mean to sound so cold-hearted when I say this, but I normally hate "cancer books". Or illness and dying books in general. They're so hung up on leaving the reader with a beautiful message about life and/or death, so intent on making you cry and showing how a person can gain a new outlook on life from either having a terminal illness or being close to someone with a terminal illness. In real life, very few people are lucky enough to take something amazing away from an experience like this. Andrews knows that, and he does such a great job of delivering a book that is hilarious with colourful characters, that contains a girl with cancer, but doesn't strain itself to give us a life lesson.

One of the best things about this book is that the illness is a subplot in an otherwise really funny novel. This is the most I've laughed at a story in a very long time. Greg is a fantastic protagonist and the jokes vary between witty sarcasm and a bit of ridiculous schoolboy humour - who knew breasts could be such a source of hilarity? And the even better thing is that Andrews doesn't try to manipulate the reader's emotions, I didn't feel like I was being forced to cry or pity Rachel, and I appreciated the author's message that sometimes shit happens, things go wrong and people die, and we don't necessarily learn anything useful from it other than the fact that shit happens, things go wrong and people die.

Greg feels like he should be moved by Rachel's illness, he feels like he should hang out with her, and yet Andrews allows him to acknowledge that he isn't moved, he doesn't really want to help out or get involved, in fact he finds himself wishing he could ignore the whole situation, carry on with his life, and pretend it isn't happening. Maybe you won't like this sentiment, but it felt a million times more honest and real than any other book about illness that I can remember.

I haven't read John Green's story about cancer - The Fault in Our Stars - but I think that what I like about Me and Earl and the Dying Girl might be what's lacking in Green's work, if the reviews are anything to go by. I also think Green and his middle-aged teenagers will struggle to compete after I enjoyed this book so much. If you're looking for a honest and funny (in my opinion, anyway) story with a great cast of characters, I'm pretty confident Me and Earl and the Dying Girl is for you.