The Fault In Our Stars by John Green - 5 stars

I have a feeling that this might be a long review but I have many thoughts about it so stick with me.

I'm not really a big fan of non-fantasy books. I just can't get into them usually unless it's something like  Ellen Hopkins' books that focus on the tough stuff in life. Identical is one of my favorite books by her. I also enjoyed Perks of Being A Wallflower (review here) but the only reason I picked that one up was because I wanted to see the movie and I refused to watch it before reading it.

I follow people on Instagram who are book lovers like me and they continued to post things about TFIOS. I had to actually look up that acronym because I had no idea what they were talking about. I looked at the summary on Goodreads and I added it to my to-read list.

 

The Fault In Our Stars by John Green
5 Stars

This book was absolutely amazing. Seriously I don't give out five stars all the time but it seems that I keep reading or rereading five star books. This book is definitely five stars for me. I even think they're making a movie out of it.

In this book we have Hazel. The story is told from her point of view. Hazel has thyroid cancer that has spread to her lungs. She is going to die eventually but she's not dead yet. Instead she's stuck with bad lungs that require oxygen 24/7. She knows she's dying so she really just wants to sit in her room and read. Her mom forces her to go to a support group for people with cancer. At support group she meets Augustus Waters.

I like Augustus. Actually, I love him. However, I hate that Green gave him the nickname Gus. Bleh. I hate that name. I can understand that Green wanted to give him a nickname and that Gus is the obvious choice but I think Augustus is a wonderful name. I mean, I love Hazel as a name. I have this thing with names and he should have just stuck with Augustus and taken out the Gus.

Augustus had osteosarcoma which required him to get his leg amputated. His best friend is basically Isaac, another cancer kid, who has some kind of eye cancer. He already lost one eye and it turns out that he needs the second one removed which meant he would be blind. He has a girlfriend and they say "always" to each other a lot. They will always be together, they will always love each other, etc. It's very cute in a vomit inducing way. Eventually Hazel and Augustus develop their own "always" but instead of "always" they say "okay". It's very cute in a not so vomit inducing way.

Augustus and Hazel really connect though sometimes she gets annoyed with all his deep and metaphorical talk. Augustus wants to leave his mark on the world and Hazel doesn't understand that. One of his things is to hold an unlit cigarette. It's a metaphor; he puts the killing thin in his mouth but doesn't give it the power to kill him. That's just how Augustus is throughout the book. He wants to be in control of his life but cancer took some of that control away. He's just the type of person who likes to look at meaning and the beauty in things.

There is a few brief and somewhat annoying scenes involving Hazel's friend Kaitlyn. I don't know why but I felt that these scenes were unnecessary. Maybe Green was trying to link Hazel to a life before cancer? I'm not sure. Maybe he needed her to have one friend who isn't her mother. I like the relationship Hazel has with her parents. It was well written and I like that Hazel views her mother as her best friend.

I enjoyed the scenes with Isaac also. Isaac has some girlfriend issues so Hazel goes to Augustus' house to comfort Isaac and there they discuss books while Isaac has a breakdown. He goes crazy in Augustus' room. He kicks his chairs around and starts breaking things. Augustus eggs him on and gives him trophies to break. Honestly the scene made me smile because of their support. It also has one of the best quotes:

"That's the thing about pain," Augustus said, and then glanced back at me. "It demands to be felt."

This quote hits really close to home and I do love it. There are many powerful quotes in this book. I have many of them highlighted on my nook.

Hazel and Augustus also share the love of one book, An Imperial Affliction. This is a very important part of the book. They connect over this book in many ways and I find it very romantic. I'm an avid reader and if I could connect with a guy over a book then that would be awesome. The story just stops in the middle of a sentence and it's extremely frustrating. If an author did that to me I would find them an punch them. Well, Augustus gets in contact with the author, Peter Van Houten and they use his wish to go to Amsterdam to meet Van Houten to get the end of the story. Many things happen there that make you smile and also make you want to cry. Trust me there are many opportunities for crying from chapter 16 on.

To read about the ending go here. Warning. This is my spoiler page and will tell you many things.

I cried. I cried and cried and couldn't stop. This was a fantastic book, quite obvious from my long review but I couldn't stop writing. I love this book and will reread it and cry again. This is a must read for me. This is something I want everyone to read.

Some quotes:

"I love it when you talk medical to me."

"But we both now that okay is a very flirty word. Okay is BURSTING with sensuality."

"The fault, dear Brutus, is not in our stars/ But in ourselves." Easy enough to say when you're a Roman nobleman (or Shakespeare!), but there is no shortage of fault to be found amid our stars.

What a slut time is. She screws everybody.

"Well that metaphor is prohibited on today's flight."

"Oh, I wouldn't mind, Hazel Grace. It would be a privilege to have my heart broken by you."

"I'm on a roller coaster that only goes up," he said.
"And it's my privilege and my responsibility to ride all the way up with you," I said.

As he read, I fell in love the way you fall asleep: slowly, and then all at once.

"I believe the universe wants to be noticed..."

 Review on Goodreads