The Fault In Our Stars

The Fault in Our Stars by John Green is a remarkable book that displays a beautiful relationship built on very sad but unavoidable circumstances. Along with The Fault in Our Stars John Green has written many other books such as, Looking for Alaska and Paper Towns, I have not read either of these books but Looking for Alaska has been recommended to me on numerous occasions. There are many themes in this book but I would have to say the battling cancer is by far the biggest.  Both of the main characters are battling cancer, for Hazel she and everyone around her knew that she would eventually lose the fight to cancer it was just a matter of how long she could hold it off. Augustus Waters was a different story though the Doctors said that he had an 80% chance of survival even after he lost his leg.

               

This amazing novel follows a girl named Hazel and her struggle to fight cancer, her family and how they try to cope with it, and her friends that understand exactly what she is going through. After Hazel was diagnosed with cancer she stopped going to school (although she was still taking some college courses) because of this she lost touch with a lot of her friends and became quite antisocial, her mom and dad worried about her and eventually due to doctor recommendation they forced Hazel to go to a support group with a bunch of other kids with cancer or terminal illnesses. After a while of going to the group a new kid was brought by Isaac, another group member (for emotional support) whom she had never had a conversation with aside from the sighs of agreement that they exchanged. The new guys name was Augustus Waters, Hazel was taken back by him he was a handsome young man that had a mysterious ore about and instantly Hazel was interested. Throughout the group the only interaction that they had was intense staring beside the one banter back and forth about Gus’s fear or oblivion. At the end of the group Gus asked Hazel to come to his house and watch a movie in which the main character reminded him of Hazel at first she refused but as their conversation progressed she accepted his offer. They hung out after the movie and they traded their favorite books which later became a big part of the story his being related to the videogame that the always referred to and hers being a huge topic of choice when they seek out the author to try to find the answers for the drop off ending. Hazel has issues being around Gus because she knows that she is going to die and she doesn’t want to hurt him like his last girlfriend did. Along with their friend Isaac they go through their ups and downs and try to find out how to leave their mark on the world after they have all gone.

I enjoyed this book and I definitely think that it was worth reading. There was a lot of hype about this book and I think that that got my expectations really high and that’s why I was a little disappointed by it. The writing style is very strait forward and blunt. The book kind of opened my eyes of what cancer patients go through, I loved how well Hazel and Gus fit together I can just feel how they were brought together for a reason and I think that if I was in their situation and met someone that I went along with like that I would feel like I wouldn’t need anything else in my life for it to be complete. It is a great book and I recommend it to anyone and everyone.

Book Review by Hanna W.