The Fault in Our Stars by
John Green
My rating: 5 of 5 stars
Series: Standalone
Reading Level: Young Adult
Publisher: Dutton Books January 10, 2012
Pages: 313
Synopsis:
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.
My Thoughts {bzzzzzzzzzz}:
Just look at the synopsis for this book. Shows you that it's about cancer and teenagers. With that said, I was very reluctant to read The Fault in Our Stars. I wasn't all to ecstatic to read about cancer and have my heart ripped out. But, really you should give this book a go because, yes even though it ripped my heart to shreds, it is a damn good story about life, love, and growing up (cheesy as that may sound).
Hazel was a very likable character. She didn't rub me the wrong way. I felt for her. I'm so glad that Shailene Woodley is playing her in the movie. I think she'll do a superb job of portraying Hazel.
Augustus Waters. He made this book so heartfelt. There's really not much I can say without spoiling anything so my advice to you is to just read
The Fault in Our Stars.
Yeah, so normal teenagers don't talk like Augustus and Hazel. Halfway through the book I was trying to see if I could talk like them but it kinda just came out like I was reciting poetry and talking about metaphors. Simply put, it didn't really work. I also came to the conclusion that to have dialogue like Augustus and Hazel you have to really
think. Hard. And let me tell you it's very difficult to think stuff like that on the spot. You gotta like sit down and write it. So yeah I really liked reading about their clever choice of words but I felt like it was a little unrealistic. But then again I think maybe that's a part of the reason why I like
The Fault in Our Stars so much. (Besides the tragic love story and fear of oblivion, among other things.) It wasn't the typical teenager talk. Sure it had some of that (not much) in it but for the most part it was different albeit sometimes it felt like John Green tried too hard (with the dialogue) and Hazel and Gus kinda talked the same way. Like really, their two
different people.
I feel like I shouldn't post any gifs of crying in this review seeing as how other readers and reviewers have adequately (okay maybe excessively) done their shared duty of said crying gifs. So, I won't. But I will say this: reading this book will probably make you cry, maybe not full blown snot induced hysteria but perhaps a light misting of the eyes or a subtle frog in your throat. I mean that's what happened to me (the latter not the former). Whatever type of tear you shed, make no mistake,
The Fault in Our Stars will affect you. (Unless you're a robot.) And now, let us go watch the movie and torture ourselves even more. Maybe that's what John Green intended. I swear, authors. Always messing with our heads. And hearts.
"They don't kill you unless you light them," he said as Mom arrived at the curb. "And I've never lit one. It's a metaphor, see: You put the killing thing right between your teeth, but you don't give it the power to do its killing."
--Augustus
"Oh, I wouldn't mind, Hazel Grace. It would be a privilege to have my heart broken by you."
--Augustus
"I can't talk about our love story, so I will talk about math. I am not a mathematician, but I know this: There are infinite numbers between 0 and 1. There's .1 and .12 and .112 and an infinite collection of others. Of course, there is a bigger infinite set of numbers between 0 and 2, or between 0 and a million. Some infinities are bigger than other infinities. A writer we used to like taught us that. There are days, many of them, when I resent the size of my unbounded set. I want more numbers than I'm likely to get, and God, I want more numbers for Augustus Waters than he got. But, Gus, my love, I cannot tell you how thankful I am for our little infinity. I wouldn't trade it for the world. You gave me a forever within the numbered days, and I'm grateful."
--Hazel
"I thought of my dad telling me that the universe wants to be noticed. But what we want is to be noticed by the universe, to have the universe give a shit what happens to us--not the collective idea of sentient life but each of us, as individuals."
--Hazel
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