Let me start off by saying that I have never read and never plan to read the book this is compared to, The Fault in Our Stars (I did a few Lurlene McDaniels books in the 90s and am over the young adults in love dying from cancer, thank you very much). So I can't compare this to TFioS, it is being judged on it's own merits.

The MCs both come across to me as realistic. Zac is the survivor, obsessed with the percentage change of survival; while Mia is a spoiled little witch in denial who wants her life to go back to normal. I loved Zac, he was sweet and relatable. He's the one you would hope you would be if you had a horrible cancer diagnosis. Mia, the jerk, is probably who I would end up being.

While Mia is realistic and believable, she is NOT likable AT ALL and the reason why I DNF'd this at 42%. I didn't want to read ANYthing from her POV. Life is too short.

Other than Mia, who was my breaking point with this book, it has a lot to recommend it. Not only Zac, but his family, who are loving and supportive, but are human, with human flaws. This also takes place in Australia and has some local color to it that I found interesting. I really wish Mia was a nicer person in this book, but it is realistic. I would not hesitate to suggest this to someone looking for something similar to TFioS. Of course, I would also suggest Lurlene McDaniels if the reader wanted to ugly cry. With a title like "Don't Die My Love", what does one expect? That's just one of them, she had a whole slew of them, but that's the one that sticks out the most for me.

So, solid 3 stars for realistic and Australia. Knocked down two because Mia, she's a tad TOO realistic.

My thanks to NetGalley and Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Children's Book Group/HMH Books for Young Readers for an eARC copy of this book to read and review.

I couldn't finish this one. I had a hard time getting into it

Truly amazing and heartwarming story, it's also the kind that rips out your heart as a romantic and then again as a mother. Zac and Mia find themselves as strangers with the same problem, stuck in the cancer ward at a hospital. They aren't cute little kids anymore but young adults, shoved into the adult side without happy murals and visiting clowns. Each receiving treatment for different cancer and fighting for their lives. That's the only common ground between these two as they differ in everything else, personality, family life, and ways of rebellion. I felt their struggles, their triumphs and their love. Although it takes the whole book for them to realize the "ah ha" moment, it was worth the read and my heart thanks me. I received a copy through Netgalley ages ago and I regret not reading it sooner.

Sorry, requested but did not find the time to review.

Generic, ya cancer love-story book. It's kind of a role reversal to John Green's "Fault In Our Stars" and I did like that Zac & Mia come across as far more realistic teens than in a lot of these stories. But Mia is extremely un-likeable for a lot of the book and Zac is very much a pushover, with no personality. By the end I was just very unimpressed.