Zac and Mia

My rating: 3.8 Stars out of 5. Goodreads rating: 4 stars

I won this book in a Goodreads Giveaway. The following is an honest review that I was in no way compensated to give 

First, I should say, this if I could rate this more than a 3.5 but less than a 4 on Goodreads, I would.

When I first entered this giveaway, I was excited to find out that I won. Once I received the book and started to read it, I found that i constantly had to remind myself that this book is not John Greene’s The Fault In Our Stars. If you plan on reading this and you liked The Fault in Our Stars, Zac and Mia is WAY different. If you go in thinking it might be just as great, you might be disappointed.

Zac was an enjoyable character. He was funny, and your almost typical 17 year old male. He was a smart ass and was obsessed with success rates. Cancer success rates that is. Zac has lukemea, with a very low success rate. In the 50s. If he is lucky. At the beginning of this story, Zac is in the hospital after having just received a marrow transplant. Chemo didn’t work, and this transplant has a “hit or miss.” Zac was always the strong one. For his family, for himself, and eventually, for Mia.

Mia was atrocious. I am not trying to be insensitive. I do understand why she was upset, having osteocarcoma and ultimately having part of her leg removed…I get that she would be upset. Mia was very shallow, and instead of doing what the doctors told her, she RAN AWAY….because running away from our problems means they won’t ever catch up right? Page after page of “woe is me” is too much. Especially when you have Zac, who had to have a marrow transplant that MAY NOT work and he is not crying or sniveling or stealing from family to run away. I think Betts could have spent a little more time on Mia. I couldn’t stand Mia until part 3 when she finally got it together.

Zac was strong. He just tried living what he had left of life to live. He never gave up on Mia, even when she gave up on herself. This story is about more than cancer and friendship. It’s about growth and strength.

I feel this story took too long to get to the point. I liked it was told from the points of view of both Zac and Mia, but I found myself more engrossed in Zac’s narratives. This book did bring tears to my eyes. Even though it took me a while to read and truck through, part 3 was worth reading and bumped my overall rating.

This book was far from The Fault in Our Stars, but then again, it’s not supposed to be the same is it? Just keep an open mind.