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The Faults in Our Stars is an amazing book. John
Green writes about these two teenagers that are diagnosed with Cancer. He
writes about a young girl known as Hazel who was diagnosed with lung cancer
known as Thyroid. Hazel wouldn’t bother getting to know others and keep her
circle of friends limited because she wouldn’t want them to pity her after her
death. Hazel would usually stay at home,
sleeping or reading her favorite book over and over again, The Imperial
Affliction by Peter Van Houten. She doesn’t make an effort to connect with
her parents before her inevitable death, at the most sitting down to watching America’s
Next Top Model together. Hazel is 16 and reluctant to attend a
support group her mother was told about that is mainly for kids who are
diagnose with terminal illness. Her first day attending support group she met a
handsome one-legged young boy named Augustus Waters. Augustus is a very
attractive, charming and witty young man. He was diagnosed with osteosarcoma, a
rare form of bone cancer, but has recently had it all cleared. He got a leg
amputated to remove the cancer. Hazels and Augustus friendship began when she
first laid eyes on him. They had this staring contest that spiced everything up
between them. After that we already knew that their friendship would even
become more than just a friendship. Augustus would be the type of boy that
would be so determined to leave a mark on anything or anyone who speaks to him.
Augustus took no time in getting to know Hazel but wasn’t hesitant to invite
her over to watch a movie right after Support Group was over. Gus would attempt
to make the impossible possible.
Now
let’s talk about Hazel. She refers herself to a “ticking bomb” nearly close to
blow up any minute. As we’ve read, her first time attending the Support Group
she doesn’t make any effort trying to communicate with others. Even though we
know that she becomes friends with Augustus and Isaac. Isaac is Gus best
friend; he had to get his eyes removed in order to get rid of the cancer. Back
to Hazel and Gus; Hazel was very attractive to Gus, but didn’t want their
friendship to become anything else. She was afraid that when she dies she would
break his heart. Although, after their trip to Amsterdam she realized that
loving someone was actually worth it.
For
a good portion of The Fault in Our Stars, I found myself chuckling at Hazel and
Augustus’ dry humor. The first half was generally light-hearted despite the
grim situation the characters were in. Even when things got more serious, the
humor was subtly there as a convenient ice-breaker of sorts. It’s awkward and
uncomfortable, but oddly reassuring that it’s possible to joke about something
so morbid. Life goes on.
The plot was simply
“ok” for me, at times wowing me, keeping me on the edge of my seat. It seemed
to just float by with occasional things happening. There weren’t many plot
twists or “ah ha!” moments because you could tell from the beginning how it
would end. You knew from the subject matter that it would be sad, and yet… I,
of course shed a few tears towards the ending of the book. There are many
different ways people reacted to this, some cried some didn’t.
I would definitely read
this book again and not get tired of it. So in that case I recommend this book
to anyone, I’m pretty sure you’ll like it.
