Reading Level: Young Adult
Hardcover: 318 pages
Series: not a series
SummaryReview
Diagnosed with Stage IV thyroid cancer at 12, Hazel was prepared to die until, at 14, a medical miracle shrunk the tumours 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 tumours 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.
:'( I have read a lot of sad books but this has to be the saddest novel I have ever read, before even reaching the last chapter of this book I got tremendously mad at cancer, John Green, and even god for allowing things like cancer to even exist in this world. I'm glad that this novel is fictitious, but the sad thing is that kids with cancer live lives like the ones shown in this book everyday.
I can't say that I enjoyed this novel. It has a little too much heartbreak for my taste but, The Fault in our Stars is very well written, considering that it is a middle aged man who writes from a sixteen year old girl's point-of-view.
I loved Hazel and Augustus. Hazel Grace, for being so strong and keeping herself together most of the time, and Augustus for always looking at the better side of things. This book has taught me to be thankful for what I have and for what I don't. Most people don't stop to think about how much they have to be thankful for. Parents living in rural countries don't even have a slice of bread to give their children, and here, in most every household we complain when our parents force us to eat. This novel really humbles you, because when you think about it our lives are super easy compared to Hazel and Augustus's.
Someday when I'm smarter I would like to read this book again. I believe that there is more to be learned from this novel. If you plan on reading this book, I advise you to keep a box of kleenex near you. I recommend this book to those of you that like contemporary fiction.
Favorite Quotes:
- “Sometimes, you read a book and it fills you with this weird evangelical zeal, and you become convinced that the shattered world will never be put back together unless and until all living humans read the book.”
- “That's the thing about pain...it demands to be felt.”
- “What a slut time is. She screws everybody.”
- “Without pain, how could we know joy?"
