The Fault in Our Stars

The Fault in Our Stars by John Green

My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I'm the kind of person who avoid sad and depressing books when I'm not in an extremely happy and relaxed mood, which I'm not right now...so I was going to pass on this book when I found out that it's about some teenagers with cancer. I mean, come on...we all have our own real life challenges and problems, who have time to read about some 16-year-olds complaining about life being unfair, unhappy and unfulfilled? However, my daughter was introduced to Green by reading his "An Abundance of Katherines", and really liked him, so I promised her to read along. I was so glad I read this book. It has just become one of my all time favorites.

The story was narrated by Hazel, a 16-year-old girl with progressive thyroid cancer that somehow weakened her lungs so she required an oxygen tank constantly. She met Augustus (Gus) Waters, a previous basketball star that lost a leg to bone cancer, at a support group. Well, of course, they were immediately attracted to each other.

The story is not about cancer, not quite. It's about love, loss, pain, hope, fear, struggle, friends, family...everything that is dear or not so dear to us. Both Hazel and Gus are mature for their age, very wise, humorous and a tad cynical. Reading their exchanges and thoughts was such an enjoyable experience, poetic at times.

"They always list depression among the side effects of cancer. But, in fact, depression is a not a side effect of cancer. Depression is a side effect of dying."

"I'm in love with you, and I'm not in the business of denying myself the simple pleasure of saying true things. I'm in love with you, and I know that love is just a shout into the void, and that oblivion is inevitable, and that we're all doomed and that there will come a day when all our labor has been returned to dust, and I know the sun will swallow the only earth we'll ever have, and I am in love with you."

I'm not going to reveal the ending, or the middle here...which I usually don't like to do in my reviews. I will just say that anyone with a heart will definitely get something out of this book, whether if it's joy, pain or a big hole in that heart...



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