The Fault in Our Stars

I'm trying something new this week.  I'm going to review The Fault in Our Stars by John Green without adding any spoilers.  I repeat: there will be no spoiler section!  There will be no spoiler section.  I will try this out see how I like it, how it works out, and move on from there.

This year TFiOS was the assigned summer reading book for my high school, and I'm so glad it was.  Recently summer reading became optional at my school which is unfortunate because now less people have the exposure to new books.  Each grade reads the same book but does different projects.  This summer reading assignment was the push I needed to finally pick up this book; and boy am I glad I did.

I put off this review for so long. The Fault in our Stars by John Green is an amazing novel filled with sarcasm, romance, and tragedy. TFiOS follows a teenage girl with cancer named Hazel. At her Support Group Hazel meets the charismatic Augustus Waters. This is such a well-known book and is considered highly by most of those who read it. If you haven't read this book I highly recommend you do. John Green has a wonderful writing style with witty comments that never failed to make me laugh, touching and heartfelt lines that made me cry, and amazing characters.

Hazel was everything you would expect from a sixteen-year-old with cancer and more. She was snarky, depressed, intelligent, thoughtful, and “teenager-y”. Hazel constantly worries how her death will affect her parents, her old classmates, and Augustus.  She doesn’t want her passing to ruin their lives. I think it’s extraordinary that Hazel is concerned about her family and friends despite the fact she’s the one dying. Hazel still has those moments when she admits that she wishes she would just die already; which is to be expected. Hazel has an amazing support system and eventually she finds the strength to push past these moments from either her parents or Augustus.

Reading some of the reviews on GoodReads, some people felt that Hazel and Augustus were pretentious or had profound thoughts that sick teenagers would never have. Personally I really enjoyed this, because I try to think of the bigger picture, the broader idea, and the more insightful way to think of things (and I guess I just like pretentious books). If this deeply bothers you in a book you might not enjoy TFiOS, but if you can get past this I hope you do. This book is truly amazing and will pull your heartstrings every direction imaginable, and bring out emotions you never knew you could feel for fictional characters.

I will be back on Wednesday with Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince but for now I leave you with a quote from The Fault in Our Stars: “As he read, I fell in love the way you fall asleep: slowly, and then all at once”.
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