February 24, 2012

Book Review: THE FAULT IN OUR STARS by John Green

Book:  THE FAULT IN OUR STARS
Author: John Green
Publisher: Dutton Juvenile
Category: Young Adult Romance

Shakespeare:  The fault, dear Brutus, is not in our stars/ but in ourselves.

“It would be a privilege to have my heart broken by you”- Augustus Waters

“you don’t get to choose if you get hurt in this world…. But you do have some say in who hurts you.  I like my choices”- Augustus Waters

“You are the side effect of an evolutionary process that cares little for individual lives. You are a failed experiment in mutation”- Peter Van Houten

“You gave me forever within the numbered days and I’m grateful”- Hazel Grace Lancaster

I have been anticipating this book for a while now.  Not just because it’s by John Green who is an amazing writer.  But also because of the story's premise.

A dying sixteen year old girl named Hazel Grace meets Augustus Waters, a gorgeous boy who also happens to have cancer.  He falls for her fast.  But Hazel, knowing her death is near, pulls back. 

Both are quick witted with very deep thoughts about everything, including a particular book written by a recluse, Peter Van Houten.  So Gus decides to use his one WISH (basically a wish granted as a gift by The Genie Foundation specifically for very sick children) to take Hazel to Amsterdam to meet the author.


The trip turns out to be good and bad.  Bad because Houten is a drunk loser who tells them nothing they want to know.  And Good because finally Hazel relents to loving Gus back.  But just when happiness seems possible for the two, Gus finds out his cancer has spread.  Now it’s just a matter of time before one of them dies.

The first few chapters were hard to process.  It felt like I was watching Joey and Dawson in the 90’s TV show Dawson’s creek in the way they talked to each other.  As if existentialism is a part of their daily discussion.  But slowly I fell in love with Hazel and Gus.  So much so that I almost bawled at the pre-eulogy.  But that’s getting ahead of the book.  

One thing about both is that they are brave, they fight to live and to love. Gus is a sweetheart.  His sunny disposition and love for Hazel breaks down her walls.  But the tables are turned past half of the book.  And you’ll see Hazel come into her own for Gus. To help him accept the hand they’ve been dealt. 

This is a great book that will squeeze you dry of tears.  Your heart will break. And you will be devastated.  But you will also appreciate that life is a gift, and that loving, no matter how short it may be, is always worth the eventual heartbreak.  
Read it and weep.

Out now in NATIONAL BOOKSTORE branches nationwide


4 comments:

  1. So excited to read this. I'm still stuck on reading Looking for Alaska. hahaha. :)

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  2. Looks like a good tearjerker :) Thanks for the review!
    lemonade-lagoon.blogspot.com

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  3. It makes me want to read it more. great review ms. Lyn. -Book Hoarder-

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  4. This book is (in my opinion) John's best book yet. At one point I was literary laughing out loud only to turn the page and start sobbing (Like Hazel's dad, I'm a bit of a crier). I have never been so emotionally moved by a book and the writing style and dialog is fantastic. Everything was natural and fluid. I would recommend this book to anyone from the cynical to the hopeless romantics.

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