Review: The Fault in Our Stars by John Green

The Fault in Our Stars

Author: John Green

Despite the tumor-shrinking medical miracle that has bought her a few years, Hazel has never been anything but terminal, her final chapter inscribed upon diagnosis. But when a gorgeous plot twist named Augustus Waters suddenly appears at Cancer Kid Support Group, Hazel's story is about to be completely rewritten.

Do you ever finish a book and think, how can I possible describe this book in a way that will make someone want to read it because they need and everyone needs to read it? Yeah, that's me right now. I have had this book on my bookshelf for a very long time and I didn't pick it up because of the content. I knew that it was going to make me cry and I just didn't know if I was ready for that. I think that the hardest part about reading it is the fact that it is written about something that people face everyday. Something that people are terrified of and that also scares me. It's easier to read about death or people facing death when it's in a dystopian or a paranormal--death is inevitable but it occurs because of something that's distant from us. But when faced with a reality, it's harder to read about and deal with.

Hazel is probably one of my favorite literary characters. She has cancer, and even though it's terminal she doesn't ever allow herself to feel like a victim, even when her world is falling apart. Sure, she's upset and angry and feels it in her soul but she doesn't ever allow herself to play the victim. She has cancer. Cancer doesn't have her. She is also very intelligent and I thoroughly enjoyed being inside her head and way she conducted herself towards others was, for me, delightful. Her comments were not only intelligent but sarcastic and snarky. People generally had a difficult time understanding what she was talking about or getting her sense of humor but Augustus Waters walked into her life and understood everything about her. From the moment they first meet it's obvious that they're fated to be together. They understood each other in a way that no one else did. They were a perfect match. Their conversations never ceased to amuse and amaze me. The things that Augustus would say to her and the things he would do for her continued to melt my heart until the very last page.

This is the first and only book of John Green's that I have read, but I am now very anxious to get my hands on another one. He has such an amazing talent for story-telling. Even though he was writing about something that's most of the time difficult to even talk about, he managed to bring light into it--showing us that you have to continue loving and living, even when it feels like you can't go on. The humor within the story was just wonderful and was one of my favorite things about the whole book. Even though these characters were facing something that should fill them with sadness, they faced the day headstrong and with humor.

If you haven't read The Fault in Our Stars, YOU NEED TO. This isn't a book that you should pass up because of content, or because you're not comfortable reading about such things. It's magnificent. Really and truly. Even though it is heartbreaking, it is also humorous and beautiful in a way that I never expected. It makes you laugh and then it makes you cry. And let me tell you, I very rarely outright cry when reading a book, but I did while reading this and that should tell you something about this story. The Fault in Our Stars far exceeded any expectation I could have imagined.

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