The Fault In Our Stars

Reviewer: Kristen
Author: John Green
Pages: 313
Format: Hardcover
My Rating: 10 out of 10

Summary (Okay. Okay, Goodreads): Diagnosed with Stage IV thyroid cancer at 13, 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: I admit, I went into reading The Fault in our Stars with a bit of a bias. Anyone who knows me knows I have an unfounded loathing of Looking for Alaska. I will spare you that rant, because that is one horse that has been beaten past recognition. I am angry at myself - you heard it right, angry - that I didn't just get over my Looking for Alaska bias, and pick this book up. There's a reason it's a New York Times best seller. The story is so hauntingly beautiful that I can only wish to write as effectively as John Green does. John Green does this story justice, and I doubt any other author achieve even a sliver of what John Green has. His pen (or computer, or type writer, or what have you) is the weapon that stabbed me in the heart, repeatedly. John Green wrote this story with such conviction, and he was so unflinchingly honest with the story, that I found myself in tears more than once. Both Hazel and Augustus are people that everyone, and I mean everyone, should strive to be more like them. They have their faults (hahahah get it?), but it just makes them feel real. Both Augustus and Hazel are characters that you feel like you know, that you feel as though you have spent time with them. I loved the constant underlying worry, almost, of what comes next. I loved that it was real. There was no sugar coating, the story was at times, brutally honest, which just made me want to push forward. I, admittingly, had to to put this down more than once because I didn't want to blubber like a child, but again, that's just a testament to what John Green has clearly accomplished. I'm so glad that I've finally moved it from my To Be Read pile, because it had been sitting there collecting dust for a while. This is, beyond a shadow of a doubt, one of my new favourite novels, and I look forward to reading it many times in the future. Seriously. Buy this. But beware, have some tissues (and by some I mean at least 3 boxes) beside you at all times. 

Final Thoughts: A beautiful portrayal of a harsh reality with the just the right amount of hope.

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Reviewer: Kelsey
Rating: 10 out of 10

My Thoughts: I really enjoyed this novel. I fell in love with the characters right away. This book made me feel every emotion from joy to sorrow and it even had me crying more than once. Also, the story tells the truth. People, and kids, go through this. They suffer. John Green didn't coat it or try and downplay it at all. He simply told the truth. I totally agree with everything that Kristen said above. I'm so glad that she forced me to read this book. I would definitely read this one again. You should check it out!