The Fault In Our Stars

Originally published to http://www.nobentspines.blogspot.com/2013/01/books-so-special-and-rare-and-yours.html

I am amazed and seriously jealous of Mr. Green's ability to conjurer emotions from letters on a page. This book struck me in a way that, honestly, no other book has. It is filled with raw, pure, undeniable and unconditional love. Mr. Green has away of sucking the reader it and holding them tight to a point where they have no choice but to finish the tale in one sitting. And that's what I did. Finish the book in a single sitting.
When you read this, because you will, have a box of tissues prepared. You get dragged into the story; you will laugh, cry, smile and feel all the emotions that the characters do. I have this bad habit of peeking at the ending, but with this one I forced myself not to. Why? I figured it would destroy the book for me. And it did. Just not the way I thought it would. I'm not describing this well at all.
This is one of those books that you can't get enough words out to convey the full and heartbreaking feelings that the book shoves at you.
I don't write in books. Ever. But I think I would in this book. There are just so many things that Gus and Hazel say that I want to remember forever. Forever. Sadly, this is a library book.
Mr. Green has easily made himself my favorite author of all time. With this one book. This is the first one I've read and I can promise promise you that this will most certainly not be my last.The way they all described things: Cancer Perks (signed basketballs, posters, concert tickets), Side effects of death (depression, cancer), Encouragements (without pain, we wouldn't know joy), Being a professor in the Department of Slightly Crooked Smiles, Swing sets of tears, Okay, Always, Hazel's response to Gus's fear of oblivion, Gus's response to Hazel's response to his fear of oblivion, The Way They Talk To Each Other, Metaphors(I have a new appreciation to them), spoiler alerts, An Imperial Affliction, The Price of Dawn, phone numbers written in books. (there are a lot more but I suspect you want me to move on)

This is the first book I've finished in under 24 hours in longer than I can recall.

I don't feel like an adequate review for a book such as this can be written, so I'll just say this: The Fault in Our Stars is beautiful and heartbreaking, but not just because something Sad happens. It mad me think and it made me appreciate the life I have a little more.

I expected this book to be so much better than it was. The hype is what killed it for me. I went into it expecting some life changing book and it just didn't live up to it. I liked this book. I didn't hate it or love it but I was left disappointed and mostly unsatisfied. I'm not saying the book wasn't beautiful because at parts it truly was. And then others just sort of fell flat.

Hazel at times was a good character but for the most part she seemed to be in a different universe. I'm sure she was meant to be a very likeable, strong character but at times her character just fell flat. Augustus on the other hand was extremely charming and charismatic. He wanted to leave a mark in the world and was always living his life to his fullest.

There were parts of this book that made me laugh and I admit that I cried at a few parts. There are moments where the romance is absolutely swoon worthy and others where the book just infuriates you to point where you want to smack some sense into the characters.

I had some issues with the way things were done in this novel as well. Hazel's parents just let her go to the house of some boy she's known for less than 2 hours. Which is strange since her mother hovers over her constantly whenever she's at home so why is she so lenient all of a sudden? And another thing is in the beginning of the novel her mother pushes her to get out of the house and make friends but when she does her mother complains that she's never home and makes it seem like Hazel is just doing it on purpose even though her mother told her to.

This book had me really excited but turned out to be a major let down for me. It was alright but not the wonderful novel that everybody made it out to be. This book is a tear-jerker there is no doubt about that but I believe that it could have been done in a way that would have brought out the full potential that this novel could have had.

I’m not a big contemporary fan… but this was excellent. It was so excellent, that there was one point that I was forcing myself not to cry. I just felt so connected to the characters that I was tearing up.

This story is from the point of view of a girl named Hazel who has likely terminal cancer. But it’s not a sob story like you might think—I don’t think the purpose of the story was to make you weep openly. No, it was more about… the battle and the strength these people have to have to fight it.

Hazel is an excellent character. Her view on life and her illness is something very interesting to look at, because she just feels so real. She feels so lifelike that you can’t help but get attached to her.

You can’t help but get attached to Augustus either. Augustus’ views on life and his illness are just as interesting because he’s just as lifelike as Hazel. The whole plot of the story depends on August being there, actually. And what a plot it was.

Beautifully paced, perfectly written. All the characters and locations are so real you might as well be standing right there! I was so happy to have read this book—even if it is the only contemporary book I own. Highly recommended.

Hazel’s a spectacular protagonist. Even though I can't relate with her situation, I can relate with her as a person. In fact, I lost count of how many times I nodded my head in agreement with the things she said. With his gorgeous blue eyes, charm and quirky personality, Augustus Waters is heavenly. He and Hazel made a lovely couple; watching their relationship evolve was beautiful to read about.

This is not a good book to read at night. Not because it’s scary or creepy but because when you put it down for the night and attempt to go to bed it will keep you wide awake and have you tossing and turning. Well, at least that’s what happened with me. This isn’t just a book you can just switch off. Once you start reading A Fault in Our Stars, you become a part of it, there’s no going back.

My only complaint is you that some of the language was a bit over the top and felt unnatural; to be honest, I had some trouble comprehending some of the speech that was used. I understand that Hazel and Gus are intelligent and wise for their years but it felt disbelieving that a 16 and 17 year old were using this kind of language.

In reviews I've read, everyone says they sobbed their eyes out and whilst it was heartbreaking to read and I did shed a few tears I didn’t cry nearly as much as I originally thought I would.

Deep, meaningful and gorgeously written, this was my first experience reading John Green but I guarantee you it won’t be my last.

I don’t know how many books I’ve read but none of them have touched me as quite much as this book. Simply put John Green is a genius. I went into this book only knowing two things, that it was about cancer and according to all the reviews on Goodreads it would make me cry.

The reason I loved this book so much was because of Green’s ability to create such fleshed out characters. Most times authors’ focus only on the two main characters while giving the secondary characters dialogue here and there. Not John Green. Although the focus is on Hazel and Augustus we still get to meet the awesomness that is Hazel’s mother. I like how she was a real character which isn’t what we often see in YA.

The reason I put this book off for so long was because I was afraid it would be depressing and boy was I wrong. John Green uses just the right amount of humor. The romance between Augustus and Hazel is so sweet. I loved how even though right off the bat they liked each other their relationship started with friendship first. Now I feel I should warn you that if you are going to read this you should probably invest in a box of tissues (because those Goodreads reviewers were right you will cry. A lot.). Also, don’t read this on the bus (people will stare when you cry).

First off, I want to say I thought this book would be a little hard to read considering my niece is named Hazel and my aunt has breast cancer. But somehow John Green found a way to take this sad situation and turn it into witty charismatic love story with some amazing characters.
The book was filled with power and emotion. And not all the emotion was bad. Just like in life, there were some fun times and other times they of course were not so good. Which is what I liked most about the novel. All the events that took place seemed so well researched and for it to be fiction, it seemed so real... And that's what I loved most about it. Although it was completely fiction, I still found that connection with Hazel and her family and I loved it.
As for their romance, I really thought it was amazingly sweet. Augustus was a very sweet boy and was just what Hazel needed to open her eyes about some things. They fit very well together and it was very evident that they loved each other.
There is really nothing else I can say about this book. I loved every second of it and I am so glad I finally was able to read it. This is my first novel by John Green that I have read and I can definitely ensure you that it will NOT be the last. His way with words is something that cannot be ignored.

Ever since I sobbed my eyes out in "A Walk to Remember" I vowed never to read or watch anything related to cancer ever again. I’m so glad I broke that rule with John Green’s "The Fault in Our Stars." That’s not to say I didn’t cry like a baby a couple times, but let me tell you, the tears were worth it.

What struck me most about the story of terminal cancer teen Hazel is how wonderfully funny Hazel’s thoughts and banter are. I regularly found myself asking, “Am I allowed to laugh at this? Am I some completely insensitive, cancer-free jerk?” I’m hoping the answer is yes to the first question and no to the second, and that others found themselves laughing out loud a time or two.

It’s a testament to Green’s writing skills that he is able to find the humor in such a heart-wrenching story. He has some sort of writing magic to have people chuckling at one point and blubbering the next. Throughout it all, he sends the sincere messages of enjoying the time we have and of not taking life for granted. Thanks to Green, I think it’s time I end my moratorium on cancer-related works, and forgive Nicholas Sparks/Mandy Moore for all those tears.

In a strange way, I always sort of dread reading anything by John Green. Weird, right? See, I live in perpetual fear that one day he will let me down and his book will be less brilliant than I'm expecting. My expectations when it comes to John Green are ridiculously high, because, basically, he's like the god of the nerds and, even in the books I like less, his writing makes me laugh and makes me feel. Despite this constant fear, his books have, so far, improved every time, with The Fault in Our Stars being his best yet, dark and funny and honest and touching and hopeful and depressing and painful and perfect.

*wipes away tears*

When people talk about this book, the first thing they mention is the sadness of it, of how many tissues are requisite to getting through this novel without emerging a snot monster at the end. What struck me much more strongly, though, was the sense of humor and optimism running through the book, even the darkest moments. The humor doesn't subtract from the pain or the suffering; it humanizes it, and enhances the strength of the characters.

In the past, my main complaint about John Green's books (no, I did not think they were all completely perfect) were the characters. They were real, but they were annoying and repetitive (especially with Paper Towns and Looking for Alaska. None of them did I fall completely in love with, although Tiny Cooper was close. In Hazel and Augusta, John Green's characterization has seriously hit its stride in my opinion.

Hazel's voice is just...incredible. Her sarcasm, her brutal honesty, her anger, her intelligence and her wit all made her one of the most wonderful narrators I've ever encountered. I love the way she phrases things. I love that she uses some words that I don't know the meaning of, which really doesn't happen often in my reading. Hazel feels wholly like a kindred spirit, like we would be friends if we ever met, which would totally never happen since we're both so anti-social. Also, she feels one hundred percent like a female to me, always a remarkable thing for a male author to accomplish.

Hazel and Augustus meet and there's an immediate attraction. Though they immediately feel for one another on some level, John Green deftly doesn't go anywhere near instalove territory. For one thing, there's Hazel's cancer, which holds the two apart. Even if there weren't and they immediately leaped into a relationship, I would have been okay with it, because the two legitimately develop a bond. They wisecrack and have this insane rapport; they share a love of word play and navel gazing. They trade their favorite novels and both go into the experience with an open mind, even though the novels were not what they were expecting. They are, without a doubt, one of the best, most convincing, most well-matched couples I have encountered in fiction.

Throughout The Fault in Our Stars, John Green has woven a lot of thoughts about the value of fiction and about what a novel really is, both to the reader and to the author. Hazel's favorite novel, An Imperial Affliction by Peter Van Houten, is a work of literary fiction about a young girl with cancer; Augustus' is a series of novelizations based on a video game about the adventures of Staff Sergeant Max Mayhem. While there's clearly a difference of literary merit between the two, I loved how John Green stressed the importance of both.

I feel like there isn't much more that I can say about this without cutting into your enjoyment of the book. I realize I didn't talk about the cancer at all, but I suppose that was intentional, because the book isn't so much about the cancer as about the people who are partially made of cancer. The cancer is them after all, not a foreign element. The book is wholly about cancer and wholly not, though I know that probably doesn't make any sense. What I mean is that this is in no way simply some weepy tearjerker stereotype of a cancer book.

My words are failing me, so I leave you now with this: The Fault in Our Stars is everything I dreamed it would be and more. John Green constantly increases his awesomeness. With this novel, he will break your heart, repair said heart a few sizes larger, make you laugh, give you hope, rip your heart to pieces again, and basically tell you the utter truth about a lot of awful things also known as life.

Meet Hazel, diagnosed with thyroid cancer at 12 and ready to die.
While reading the beginning of the book I felt a “click” with the story that ended when Hazel met Gus at Cancer Support Group (apparently people who suffer the cancer have a massive vocabulary, especially teenagers).

Are you supposed to like a book just because it is about cancer and dying teenagers? Some readers love this book so much that they get offended if you don’t. I feel the book said too much and nothing at the same time.

Sadly, the story didn’t work for me. I did not enjoy the story within the story of the book (the writer, the fictional book...). I feel it was too fast paced. I mean, not that the book had to be only about sickness and that, but I didn't get this "An Imperial Affection" mystery/conflict.

I did feel sad and almost like crying at one point or two, but that wasn’t enough to make like the book.

I’m including the links of some other readers who did not enjoy “the fault in our stars” either. Some of them express my sentiments perfectly; others add to it. But since I can’t just