The Fault in Our Stars

The Fault in Our Stars

by John Green

Genre: Young Adult Fiction

Synopsis: Diagnosed with Stage IV thyroid cancer at 13, Hazel was prepared to die until, at 14, a medical miracle shrunk the tumors 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 tumors 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.

From GoodReads

Review: This is going to be a hard book for me to review without giving details away.  This book was recommended to me by two different people and I have to say even though this is an incredibly sad book, I'm glad that I read it.  Hazel and Augustus are two very likable characters and you really feel for them in their struggles, chuckle at their cancer jokes, and cry with them when cancer gets in the way of life.  This is definitely a tear jerker!  You should know going into this book that there can't be a happy ending.  When you have a book about kids with terminal cancer, it's hard to end the book with a happily ever after. The ending was not what I expected though.  There was quite a turn of events that I didn't not suspect.  This book is beautifully written and is also quite quirky probably because Hazel and Augustus are quite quirky themselves.  My only complaint with this book was the Hazel and Augustus didn't talk like teenagers.  Their vocabulary was quite impressive (much more impressive than the vocabulary I understand) and their thoughts where quite deep and symbolic.  Perhaps they talked this way because of their illnesses but at times it was hard to think that they were teenagers.  Overall this was a fantastic book albeit quite tragic.  So grab your tissues and start reading!

Rating: 4 1/2 stars