Touted as The Fault in Our Stars meets Eleanor & Park comes Zac and Mia by Australian author A.J. Betts. I understand the comparisons between the stories, but they really are completely different stories, and this one is really worth a read.
Zac and Mia
by A.J. Betts
289 p. HMH Books for Young Readers. September 2014.
Gr 9 Up.
Zac is recovering from a bone marrow transplant in the oncology ward. He is kept confined to a room for five weeks with only his mother and nurses for company. Until the arrival of a new cancer patient, Mia, in the 4×5 meter room next to his; separated by paper-thin walls, a loud blast of Lady Gaga’s “Lovegame” on repeat immediately alerts Zac to her presence. By the eighteenth time, Zac can’t take the noise anymore and begins pounding on the wall. His knock leads to her tap, and a friendship begins to develop. Zac is flippant and condescending, but full of positive energy and affection, whereas Mia is full of angst and aggression. In this story of friendship, the two struggle together to see beyond their sickness and circumstances and to accept the realities of life after cancer.
The Feels
The book starts out really well; Zac is the kind of character that you can’t help fall in love with. And well, Mia is there too. I never really felt the “romance” between the two; this is more a story about the importance of friendship and its ability to help in healing.
When reading this book, I had about 30-40 pages left, and I decided to go ahead and rate it on Goodreads with three stars (i.e. “I liked it”), because while the story had the wit, humor, and heartfelt moments I loved in Green’s books, I wasn’t thrilled with the book. Then something happened, and I won’t spoil it for you, but I cried and cried. 
When I finished, I changed my rating to four stars for “I really liked it.” It’s strange that crying is somewhat of a deciding factor in how well I like a book, right? I’m obviously crazy. When I recounted my experience to my friend, she and I joked that I should start a new rating system for my blog featuring tear drops instead of stars depending on the amount of “feels,” which I honestly might do, if I have ever have the time and energy. I don’t particularly enjoy crying and having my heart ripped to pieces. Yet, crying, to me, represents that I have emotionally connected on some level with the characters, because I am able to empathize with them. Surely this is a good thing?
Or maybe I do like crying. I’m not the only one though, there are lists upon lists of books and movies that are “guaranteed” to make you cry. Seriously, just do a quick Google search; it’s almost shocking how many lists there are. People are actively seeking out things that will make them cry! Why? Why do we like crying? I’m still working on my answer to that question.
I hope to come to some sort of conclusion on why tears matter from all my readings, and this blog is pretty much about embracing the feels. I’m mostly just blubbering my way through this personal inquiry project.
Side note: you should really check out The New Yorker‘s article exploring the prominent place tears have played in literature throughout history.
Literary Feels 