by John Green
Star crossed lovers? Sound familiar? Well, I guess with a title like this AND it being John Green, I should have known what I was letting myself in for and the emotional trauma I was probably going to put myself through!The novel is based around our dying heroine, Hazel, a girl living her last few months after a lifetime of cancer, medicine and hospitals.
One (of the many) amazing ways that John Green writes about people with illnesses, he doesn’t leave much out. Describing the sickness and aches Hazel is going though with intensive treatments, genuinely made me feel tired and achey too. Sometimes it can be quite exhausting, but Hazels witty commentary keeps it from getting too stuck.
Back to the story, Hazels mother, upset at the thought of her daughter living out her last months lounging around at home, signs her (unwillingly) up to a teenage cancer support group. The group is attended by a few characters you get to meet and although sometimes I wish there was more back-story, I can imagine it might get a bit much just reading about teens and their illnesses - I don’t think I could handle the angst!
The story kicks off its romance and drama when Augustus joins the group. The pure swagger and personality of this one legged (attractive) guy makes Hazel's bucket list overflow with new ideas and feelings to experience. He is an instantly likeable character, though not all that he might be cracked up to be, given the premise of this story. He is not perfect. He has ideals that, as far as Hazel can see, neither he nor she can live up to, and it is heart-rending to see him fall apart in their pursuit. Hazel, in contrast, has a very simple set of requests for life, only to discover that life can offer her a lot more than she thought possible. I’m not going to lie: only the most hard-hearted and callous reader will be able to complete The Fault in Our Stars without shedding a few - or a bucketful - of tears. It is just that powerful.
Gale. x
I cried so much reading TFiOS and, although I cannot choose a favourite John Green book, it has a really special place in my heart. The time, energy and love that John poured into this novel is evident and you can pick any sentence and it will be just wonderful.
ReplyDeleteI loved your review and I hope to see more. ^_^
Oh my, I loved TFiOS, such a great, emotional read, but easy at the same time. So many great messages and quotes in the writing too, which people can relate to in many different contexts, not just necessarily those in the book. I reviewed it on YouTube and I know everyone else there in the Book Community absolutely LOVES it - I've not heard anything negative, and it should remain that way. Loved how you put everything in this review and hopefully more people will read it (if they haven't already!)
ReplyDeleteThanks for the comments! I will be putting in a "Teen Book Club" display in the shop on Monday and will quote your reviews with the book, if there are no objections!
ReplyDeleteThat's fine with me, I'll try and go in Monday and take a look. What time will they be up? :)
DeleteThey should be up after lunch-time
ReplyDeleteOk, I don't know if I'll be going this week any more, but if I go again in a few weeks or whenever I go I'll check out the stand. :)
Delete"The Fault in our Stars" by John Green was, in my eyes, a simply phenomenal book that everyone should read. John Green is renowned for his ability to shatter the reader's heart and leave us wanting a different ending, and this book was no different. Although this is the first book I've read, and the only one I've finished of his, this has definitely inspired me to move onto some of his other titles. If his other characters are as well-defined and emotionally perfect as Augustus and Hazel in "The Fault in Our Stars", I may have found myself a new favourite author. The main reason being, I just couldn't stop crying at the end.
ReplyDeleteA truly inspirational and heartbreaking book, I would recommend this title to anybody who wants to read about a journey of friendship, love and courage. Cancer is a difficult disease to struggle through and an even harder one to write about effectively, but John Green did a truly fantastic job with this book and I praise him for his wonderful work and astounding ending. The only thing I'd ever want to change about this book is the ending - I hate books that don't end well, but this one ended badly AND amazingly, so I've had to make an unwanted exception. I wish it could have been a happy ending for Augustus and Hazel, but this story portrays the true cruelty of such a disease as Cancer and for that I'm grateful. Not every author can keep such issues so close to reality but so far from it at the same time. Truly inspiring and heartbreaking. </3
TFioS has inspired me to read more of John Green's novels, I am a proud nerdfighter yet I had never managed to read any of his books. Having The Fault in our Stars on the Waterstones teen book club gave me the opportunity to read it. Even though the hard theme of this book, I found the characters extremely relatable. As a teenager, I found their problems and aspirations to be similar to my own. Since reading TFioS I have read Paper Towns and am currently reading Looking for Alaska, both I feel are great but aren't on the same level as the amazing plot and characters of The Fault In Our Stars.
ReplyDeleteJohn Green's witty writing style is a great contradiction to the difficult plot of the story. It has opened my eyes to the courage and bravery of people battling cancer, yet having the protagonist have such an honest tone, was extremely strange and hard to describe. TFios was an incredible book.