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I feel like shaking things up a bit for this review, because this is an exceptional book, and John Green’s work is beginning to hold a special place in my heart, so I’m going to start by telling you how I came to read The Fault In Our Stars.
1.) Pre-order The Fault In Our Stars in July, despite having not read any of John Green’s books. Justify it by saying that his stuff is supposed to be great, plus all pre-orders will be signed.
2.) Read Looking for Alaska in August and immediately add it to my ...more
1.) Pre-order The Fault In Our Stars in July, despite having not read any of John Green’s books. Justify it by saying that his stuff is supposed to be great, plus all pre-orders will be signed.
2.) Read Looking for Alaska in August and immediately add it to my ...more
I wanted to give this book three stars, and I thought I would throughout the first half/three quarters of the book. I am NOT a John Green fan. I understand why his writing is appealing to some, but I tend to find it pretentious and filled with characters that I can't relate to. But SO many people urged me to read this one and ultimately it got to me. There was one laugh out loud moment when Hazel and Gus place an online ad to giveaway her old swing set (I was hoping for more): (view spoiler)
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Sometimes John Green just knocks it out of the park and this book is perhaps his best. You wouldn't think that a book about living with cancer would inspire such heady praise, but Green creates miraculously potent and memorable characters that just take over your heart and won't let go. Green is unsparing in this story about cancer, but the wit and humor for which he is justifiably celebrated, keep the story from sagging into sentiment.
Main characters Hazel has cancer, and it's terminal. But at ...more
Main characters Hazel has cancer, and it's terminal. But at ...more
How about a bazillion stars. So. Freakin'. Good. I'm just so bummed that I don't get to hang out with Hazel and Augustus anymore.
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This one hardly needs more buzz, and books with buzz often end up being disappointing - but this is the exception. The buzz is not wrong, but it's still best if you can set it aside and enjoy the book on its own merits. It's funny and raw.
Some readers have accused the book of doing exactly what the characters hate - somehow romanticizing kids with cancer or turning into entertainment - while others wonder whether teens actually talk and think this way.
The second question bugs me because I want ...more
Some readers have accused the book of doing exactly what the characters hate - somehow romanticizing kids with cancer or turning into entertainment - while others wonder whether teens actually talk and think this way.
The second question bugs me because I want ...more
A support group for teens with cancer may seem like an odd place to find true love, but that’s how it happens for Hazel and Augustus. The cancer that started in Hazel’s thyroid and moved in to her lungs is terminal, and before she started taking a new drug, it looked like the end was coming sooner rather than later. Augustus had what he describes as “a little touch of osteosarcoma about a year and a half ago” that took the bottom half of one of his legs. A girl who needs an oxygen tank to breath
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April 2014 COTC Book Club selection
Just managed to delete my entire review. Take 2.
Enjoyed this more the second time around, but I still felt like it was just a touch manipulative. What's really well done is Hazel's relationship with her parents - that's what made me cry more than anything with her or Gus and I must remember this the next time someone asks for a YA book with good parents. Long-term terminal illness isn't a type of grief I've personally dealt with, but much of the general grief s ...more
Just managed to delete my entire review. Take 2.
Enjoyed this more the second time around, but I still felt like it was just a touch manipulative. What's really well done is Hazel's relationship with her parents - that's what made me cry more than anything with her or Gus and I must remember this the next time someone asks for a YA book with good parents. Long-term terminal illness isn't a type of grief I've personally dealt with, but much of the general grief s ...more
I tried to read this book a year ago and I put it down because it was too sad. Reading about young people with cancer is really difficult. My mind just starts imagining all sorts of terribly depressing and difficult situations: what if my kids had cancer? What if I had cancer? What if my husband had cancer? How would we get through it? How could I go on? etc., etc.
I tried again, this time with the audiobook version, and I finished it! I enjoyed it. John Green is always reliable for a good read. ...more
I tried again, this time with the audiobook version, and I finished it! I enjoyed it. John Green is always reliable for a good read. ...more
Made it to page 260 before needing the box of tissues. So glad I finished this before going to work tomorrow. Would have needed more than one box of tissues.
Brilliant, absolutely brilliant.
Brilliant, absolutely brilliant.
3.5 I think if I read this again I wouldn't like it as much. It just doesn't seem realistic. If I tell more about it, I'll give spoilers which I don't do.
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I liked this muchly. But not as much as I expected to. And I cried some tears. But not my typical deluge. I think I expected too much (that's the problem with reading such a crazy-hyped book so late). This is a quirky, intelligent, moving book with characters I fell in love with -- but I don't think it's ground breaking. Of course, I'm not saying it has to be; that's just what I expected from all the hoopla. Where did I read someone say that it's practically illegal to not have this book on your
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OK, people. This is one of the best YA books I've ever read. I took one reviewer's advice, and read it slowly. As she said, "I can read it again, but it won’t be like the first time." This was excellent preparation for the funny, sad, poignant, immersive story that followed. I fell in love with Augustus AND Hazel. Don't read any spoilers or find out much of anything else about the story before you read it. It's brilliant.
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... couldn't put it down, read it straight through, 3 hours.
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This one will stay with me for awhile. I have to say that I haven't really liked his books as much since he wrote Alaska, but this one was amazing. A moving love story (that guys would like too, I think). He totally gets the teen mind and all its snarkiness. LOVED it!
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This book is just beautiful. I was crying one minute and laughing the next. And then it was over and the weight of it hit me and I cried because of everything that happened and because it was over.
This is the best thing John Green's ever written. It's not my favorite of his books, but it's a beautiful book.
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