Official Review: The Fault In Our Stars

[mmandy38]

The Fault In Our Stars by John Green was a pleasantly surprising book. It kept me reading-wanting to know what would happen to the characters and if their desires would ever be achieved.

Sparks fly when Augustus Waters stares at Hazel Grace Lancaster from across the room at a cancer support group meeting. Hazel is forced by her parents to go to the support group, since they think she is a homebody after her diagnosis. Augustus is new to the group, and has actually been in remission for over a year, and just happened to show up one day in support of his friend.

The story follows a group of kids that have been diagnosed with different forms of cancer and how they deal with it and how their lives have changed since their diagnosis. The book in particularly focuses on Augustus and Hazel, who meet in the group but take their relationship outside of the circle and become closer than anyone ever expects. Unfortunately, Hazel spends a lot of their time trying to suppress her feelings so she won’t hurt him when she passes away.

They help each other through everything and surprise each other in many ways throughout the book. Augustus even finds ways to introduce her to her favorite author after they trade novels in his room. The two of them correspond with the author’s assistant multiple times and soon they discover that he is not the man that either of them thought he was. He has changed since writing the book and does not have much to discuss with them about the book.

It teaches you about love and loss, about life and death, but most importantly, how not to take your life for granted. Hazel is constantly reminded of her disease as she pulls her oxygen machine around, and feels as if no one should care about her because of this, but as the story progresses, she learns that she is not there to hurt others’ feelings, but to change the lives of the people around her.

John truly tugs at your emotional strings, as I both laughed and cried on the same page. I became connected to Gus and Hazel and wanted them to become cancer-free by the end of the book and not have to deal with their medicine, oxygen tanks, or prosthetic legs. Almost everyone knows someone who has fought with cancer, and this story is from their perspective. I highly recommend this book to anyone out there. The book contains metaphors and keeps you thinking about life itself and the meaning of it.

[Fran]

Duplicated topic