Book Review: The Fault in Our Stars

When I was a kid, I used to read these books by Lurlene McDaniel. Almost always, they were about girls who had cancer. One that stood out the most was Six Months to Live, which was about a 13 year-old girl who had cancer and she becomes best friends with another girl at the hospital, who is going through the same thing. The cover of this book originally had a girl wearing a robe and holding a teddy bear, which is similar to this cover (for the second book in the series, I Want to Live). While I wasn't too familiar with cancer at the time, having a girl on the cover who looked like she was just getting ready to go to bed made it look a lot less scary than someone hooked up to IVs while wearing a hospital gown. It had an inviting feel and once I started reading it, I was hooked.

As an adult, knowing of people who have passed away from cancer, including a childhood friend and a boy whose mother I met a long time ago, I was surprised I would even want to read The Fault in Our Stars by John Green. Except that everyone was raving about it and, at the heart of things, it was intended as a love story. Once I saw that Jodi Picoult endorsed it, I knew it was something I'd have to check out. Even knowing how devastating a disease cancer is, I felt the same way reading this novel as I did when I read Lurlene McDaniel's books at age 10.

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. (Synopsis courtesy of Amazon.)

I really enjoyed (if that's even the right word for a story that mostly talks about death) The Fault in Our Stars and I'm glad I finally decided to read it. It was a sweet story with a lot of uplifting moments. Hazel was an excellent narrator and I felt I could easily connect with her, even though we're about 20 years apart and facing entirely different situations in our lives. I've been told that terminal illness can force a child to grow up quickly, so Hazel's voice sounded more like someone in their 20s, at least in my head. I would forget she was a teenager sometimes. John Green ranks up there with Wally Lamb and Khaled Hosseini in his ability to make a girl sound so realistic that I forget the author is a man.

The story is well-written and compelling throughout. It is very easygoing with a lot of tongue-in-cheek humor that made me laugh when I wasn't even expecting to. The dialogue and banter between characters is very genuine and natural, making me feel like I could easily step into the conversation like I was an old friend of the characters. The only difficulty I had was when the characters were getting all philosophical, as it sometimes went over my head or just felt incredibly overwhelming to even ponder.

I have to admit that I have a tough time relating to teen love. I didn't experience my first relationship until college. Of course, I was still naïve at the time, but I still find it hard not to smirk when I hear teenagers talking so dramatically about love and relationships. However, there was a different aspect to the story that I could, unfortunately, relate to in some ways. To say what it is would spoil the story and I don't want to do that. (You can come back and ask me about it later.) In any case, whether I'm just a non-believer in teen love or I'm just desensitized because I know the story is fiction and I find sickness and death so much sadder in real life, I didn't cry at all. I feel guilty saying this because my sister told me she couldn't stop crying (nor could she stop reading it and finished it in about three hours). Even so, I get misty-eyed when I watch the trailer for the movie. Given that I didn't cry while reading some other books but had the movie versions reduce me to a bawling mess (The Last Song by Nicholas Sparks, for example), I have a feeling I'll need a box of tissues handy when I see this movie. Shailene Woodley is the perfect choice for Hazel! Of course, knowing that she was cast in this role made me picture her as Hazel the entire time anyway.

All I know for now is that I definitely want to read more books by John Green. And given that he recently won The Innovator's Award from the Los Angeles Times, I have a feeling I'm in store for even more greatness!

More by John Green:

Disclosure of Material Connection:
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