Author: John Green
Series: -
Genres: YA, Contemporary, Romance
Publisher: Penguin Books
Source: Physical copy
Pages: 313
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PLOT SUMMARY: 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. Insightful, bold, irreverent, and raw, The Fault in Our Stars is award-winning author John Green's most ambitious and heartbreaking work yet, brilliantly exploring the funny, thrilling, and tragic business of being alive and in love.
EVERYONE, LITERALLY EVERYONE was talking about this book for two years. A group of friends recommended me this book in summer 2013 while I was in Spain, about a year before the movie was released so I got no spoilers! I only knew it was about a teenage girl named Hazel with cancer who meets a special boy, Augustus, and they get along very well. I also knew it was sad, my friends couldn't stop crying. I am very sensitive when it comes to book characters so I knew I was going to cry too.
THE WORLD: The real world. The story takes places in Indiana (USA) and later on in Amsterdam "The City of Freedom" (NL).
CHARACTERS: The main character is Hazel Grace Lancaster, a teenage girl suffering from stage IV thyroid cancer but remains strong, witty, and down to earth. One day she goes to her local church's Support Group and bumps into Augustus Waters, a teenage boy who is so full of himself in the beginning (you would totally tell him off if he was an actual boy you met in real life), but hey don't judge quickly because there is a reason behind his behavior, a powerful one indeed. Along the main characters there are also both kid's parents, Augustus' best friend Isaac (John Green never mentions his last name for some reason... or no reason at all), and the "antagonist" Peter van Houten who wrote Hazel's favourite book An Imperial Affliction which plays an essential role in TFiOS as basically the whole story revolts around it.
PLUS: I don't even know where to start... this book has given me so much. Although a lot of people may not agree with this, I thought John Green did an excellent job on approaching a hard topic such as cancer but did not let the characters be defined by their illness. More pluses? The feels! All the feels! I've never cried so much oh man this book ruined my life.
Also, can we talk about all those iconic phrases? I'm not talking about the
"Okay? Okay."
but about all the rest. For example:
"My thoughts are stars I cannot fathom into constellations."
"You don't get to choose if you get hurt in this world...but you do have some say in who hurts you. I like my choices."
"The marks humans leave are too often scars."
"Books so special and rare and yours that advertising your affection feels like a betrayal."
And these are only a few examples! The whole book is a masterpiece.
MINUS: A lot of people argue about how John portrayed cancer or how the characters can be so mature when they're only teenagers but to be honest I did not have any problem with those topics although I can understand why people did.
OVERALL: A book made entirely of awesome just like its author. A funny, witty, poignant story with an ending that will make you wish you hadn't read it because it is just too much to handle. Definitely recommended! Read it and you will not regret it (or maybe you will, depends how much you like to cry).
EXTRA: Did you see the movie? Probably yes. How did you like it? Did you agree with the casting?
What do you guys think about THE FAULT IN OUR STARS?
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