Book: The Fault In Our Stars by John Green

Publishing Info: Published by Dutton Books; 318; Hardcover

Goodreads Summary: 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.

I finally read A Fault In Our Stars, and I am so glad I did.  The hype surrounding The Fault In Our Stars is so deserved.  It was funny, but it also makes you cry.  Once I started crying, I couldn’t stop.

It is so beautifully written, and the characters came alive.  They felt so real, and even though I’ve never had cancer, I felt like I knew exactly what they were feeling.  It was refreshing to see cancer patients that aren’t your stereotypical cancer kids.  You know, the ones that find the meaning of life, and are all strong and brave because of their illness and start their own foundation so they have a legacy?  These are not those kids.  While there’s nothing wrong with the standard portrayal, it’s nice to see kids who want to be normal, but aren’t.  It’s nice to see kids that aren’t super-focused on their disease and how they can change the world.  As Hazel would say, this is not a Cancer Book.

Do Hazel, Augustus and Isaac wonder and worry about the people they’ll leave behind and their mark on the world?  Of course, but it doesn’t seem to consume them the way you’d expect.  I don’t know if this makes any sense (and it seems horrible to write) but she is just a kid who happens to have terminal cancer.

All that aside, I loved the relationships between the characters, and how Hazel’s favorite author was not the man she expected.  I loved that I can’t get Hazel or Augustus out of my mind, and that I could relate to them so well.

I give it a 5 out of 5.  This is a very special book, and it’s on the short list of books that will stay with me for a long time to come.