Title: The Fault in Our Stars
Author: John Green
Pages: 318
Published: 2012
Summary: Diagnosed with Stage IV thyroid cancer at 12, Hazel was prepared to die until, at 14, a medical miracle shrunk the tumours in her lungs... for now.
Two years post-miracle, sixteen-year-old Hazel is post-everything else, too; post-high school, post-friends and post-normalcy. And even though she could live for a long time (whatever that means), Hazel lives tethered to an oxygen tank, the tumours tenuously kept at bay with a constant chemical assault.
Enter Augustus Waters. A match made at cancer kid support group, Augustus is gorgeous, in remission, and shockingly to her, interested in Hazel. Being with Augustus is both an unexpected destination and a long-needed journey, pushing Hazel to re-examine how sickness and health, life and death, will define her and the legacy that everyone leaves behind.
Review:
It’s
hard to imagine that some YA novel could sweep you off of your feet, especially
when you approach a book with notions that I’ve already had.
John
Green is a famous man; not only for his books, but for all of Nerdfighteria, and ending world suck.
I have read all of his preceding books, and while I loved each one
individually, there is something about John Green I always ponder: Can he write
something different? Everything he writes,
he knows of. Situationally, at least. In his first four books, the main
characters were scary similar (and in two of them, the love interests were as
well). I was very, very wary when first approaching The Fault in Our Stars, because it was his first time writing from
a girl’s perspective and he stated how hard and difficult it was.
When I
first started TFIOS, I was hesitant. I didn’t like it at first. It was like
stepping into a cold pool, one step at a time. I just wanted to get through it
because oh goodness it was going to be the same and that’s not how girls think
all the time, John Green!
But I
was so wrong.
I cannot
name a point in the novel, but at some point, there was a shift. There was a shift and I realised all the wonderful
things I adore about John Green.
I love
his metaphors. His ability to take situations or words or anything and give you a new perspective on them. And throughout
this novel? That’s all that he did. Along with an original plot, there was so
much symbolism. There were so many higher level metaphors, that are sure, spelt
out for the reader, but that doesn’t make them any less brilliant. It doesn’t
make the reader think less.
I really
don’t know where to begin. I guess I’ll begin with the quality of the plot. It
was unique. And, the reader is set up for something, but there is a huge, huge,
huge twist. It’s like everything hits the reader at once. There were parts in
the book when I was cursing this one character, wishing that they had never
even bothered and that there was absolutely no one worse than them ever in the
history of all things. And then there were parts when I was crying, sobbing
really, because I just felt so many things and John Green has a magical way with
words. It’s like a fantastical idea that hits you in such a real way you don’t
even know what to think except it
evoked so many emotions inside of you.
I can’t
even properly say how much I liked this book. It’s just. It’s genius. Maybe the
setting is what John Green knows and so are the characters, but hey, that doesn’t
make it not brilliant. He writes amazingly.
The Fault in Our Stars is one of the rare, RARE books I
would not mind rereading immediately. I feel like I have to, actually. There is
only one other book that has ever made me feel that way…and well, that review
is (hopefully!) coming soon.
TFIOS
deserves every single star it’s getting. This star won’t go out.
Rating: ★★★★★ 5/5 Stars
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