The Fault in Our Stars

January 19, 2012 Uncategorized 0

The Fault in Our Stars

Author: John Green
Publisher: Dutton Juvenile 
Publication Date: January 10, 2012
Pages: 313
Source: Purchased (In like, three formats!)


About the Book: 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.


My Thoughts: This book… I just… I can’t even. Thinking about it now, a week after reading it, I am still all flustered. I don’t know that any other book has affected me as much as this one. The only one that comes close is The Piper’s Son by Melina Marchetta (my thoughts here.) 

This is not going to be a typical review. I don’t want to go in to detail about anything that happened in the book because I think that would take away from the reading experience. That is the last thing I want to do. I considered not writing a review at all but I loved this book so much that I just couldn’t pass it up. What kind of John Green fangirl would that make me?!?! So… here are a few of my reactions that are not spoilery!


*The first sentence is also the first paragraph. I’m not sure why this tickled me so much, but it did! 


*I liked the way John Green used capitalization to make things stand out. For example, “Regular Doctor Jim” and “Support Group.”

*Hazel’s voice… it was fabulous. I loved her as a narrator.

*I really appreciated the descriptions of the characters. No gleaming bronze hair or eyes the color of spring’s first dew (what the heck is that supposed to mean anyway?!?!)

*The language and vocbulary. I am such a word nerd so any book that uses terms like “hamartia” automatically becomes awesome.

*Chicago gets a mention! 



*Things I recognized from the vlogbrother videos (like goat soap!)


*”Nothing Gold Can Stay” by Robert Frost gets a mention! I adore this poem.


*There were so many passages I marked! Obviously I’m not sharing them here because I 
want you to read them in context but trust me… have a pen handy for marking down parts you love!


*From about page 210 until the end I was crying. At first I was sobbing so much I had to stop reading for about ten minutes to get myself under control. Then it was just tears streaming down my face until John Green would throw in some one line observation that would set me off again. I used nearly a box of kleenex. An hour later I was lying in bed still doing the thing where you’re okay and then randomly your breath hitches and your off again. The Fault in Our Stars profoundly affected me. 


*Even though this book broke me in a way I wasn’t prepared for I was so incredibly satisfied with it. The end didn’t leave me grasping for the pieces. I didn’t feel cheated out of an ending. Did it end how I ideally wanted it to? No. Was the ending more authentic/appropriate than what I wanted? Yes. Honestly, had the book progressed any other way I think I would have been disappointed. 

So, there you have it. Some general and non-spoilery thoughts. If you read one book this year let it be The Fault in Our Stars. And I’m not just saying that because John Green is my favorite 😉

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