The YA Book Club discussion

What did you think about this book? Did you like it?

I absolutely loved it! I guess I'm slightly partial being a nerdfighter and all but I just adored it...
So this is going to be a pretty long rant and I don't want to feel responsible for any spoiling so I'll just hide it all in case.... (:
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I have a coupe different points to make so here it goes.

• First that damn John Green did it again.Made me fall madly in love with pretty much every character in the novel.Weather it was Hazel Grace, Gus Isaac or Peter Van Houten, I just loved them all.Each one was perfectly developed and real.They felt so complete and whole it just wanted to know them and if I'm honest I felt like I did.

•Amsterdam is one of my favorite cities in the whole world and the way John portrays it feels so true to me.Yes he did slightly fantasized it but that's they way I see Amsterdam,as this magical place of art and freedom and just loveliness.Even when I got there and I saw it for what it really was I still had the wonderful fantasy in my head that never went away.So when Gus and Hazel visit it I see my own little Amsterdam reflecting in them.Raining flowers and all.

•So then you get to actual story of Gus and Hazel well that's a love story that will stay with me forever.I've never felt that way towards two characters.I so badly want them to just be together.Just for them to be happy healthy and together but of coarse life doesn't work like that does it.

•It took all lot for John to make this book enjoyable.It's a book about to sick kids, not exactly rainbows and ponies.But even though the story does deal so much with life's hardships it's not depressing.It doesn't make me hate life and wish everything was different.Instead it made me look at my life and so how amazing it is.And not in that stupid cheesy way.In a one hundred percent genuine way.It made me take a moment to look around at this little corner of the planet I've taken up and appreciate it more than I have in a long time.

•Mr Van Houten.Oh Peter you wonderful little man.At first I hated you.How dare you crush Gus and Hazels fantasy!Everything was wonderful and you had to poison it.But then I understood.You didn't poison anything.You just did what was necessary.Van Houten didn't set out to ruin these kids lives he just said what needed to be said.He had his issues and they were a part of him.And Hazel and Gus needed to be deflated in a way.Because it allowed them to become closer.Van Houten is what brought them together in the end.Him and his wonderful book.Another reason I love Peter is that he is essentially John (Minus the alcoholism and frankly assholesism)It was John who first taught me that books belong to their readers and that you can find your own meaning in book. Something which is a huge part of my reading experience to this day.And Van Houten does that for Hazel and Gus, all be it in a rude, frank way.

•And to end my last point is that Hazel and Gus's relationship is just like all teens.It has it's ups and down.Towards the end when Gus was going through hell it felt pure and raw.John didn't try and make it seem all hunkey dorey because it wasn't.It was a horrible time.Everyone involved had it tough and there s no way of getting around it.And he didn't try to.He showed it for what it was.He took away the mask we put on sick people and showed the to be the human beings they are.That they can be loving and caring but also moody and angry and just, well normal.

So that's me done...Sorry for the rant but it's just my book of a lifetime.One that will stay with me forever so I guess I have a lot to say about it... (:
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you're right, that was a long rant. but i mostly agree. except for liking peter. i hated him. (view spoiler)[ but i really can't believe augustus died!!!! that was a book ruiner, even though i loved the book! i guess it just wouldn't have been as emotional or meant as much if he hadn't died, though. :( still... depression!!!!!!!!! (hide spoiler)]

mindblown because it is so darn depressing or because it is an awesome and super well written book?

yeah, that is a review. i haven't read any of his other books so i don't know. are they worth reading? i think the fault in our stars was definitely worth the read, no matter how depressing. (view spoiler)[ augustus! :( (hide spoiler)]

yeah, it does. i kind of wished i hadn't read it too. okay, i'll try it. well, you can just take a break from reading his books, so you might enjoy them when you eventually read them.

you will not be as sad soon, i think.
anyway, i wasn't as sad about it as i should've been, because my cousin told me that (view spoiler)[ augustus died before i had even started the book since he thought i had already read it. :( (hide spoiler)]

(view spoiler)[ if it hadn't been ruined for me, i'm not sure what i would've thought. maybe that hazel would die on the last page or something. (hide spoiler)]

this book made me cry....

saddest book ever! :(

One of them, but not sure EVER.....

okay, one of the saddest books ever. (view spoiler)[ i totally thought that they would both live! (hide spoiler)]

I thought so too! Was so crushed...

Would you recommend this book 2 me?

Yeah, if you like realistic fiction.

I luv it!

This book is one of the best books written in our century. You will immediately fall in love with the characters and it will break your heart! (in a good way... sort of) I LOVED IT (view spoiler)[I cried soo hard when Augustus died :'( (hide spoiler)]

I loved this book so much I was a little mad at the end but I would so read it again

I RECOMMEND THIS TO ANYONE WHO LOVES CONTEMPORARY!!!!

Thanks I'm buying it on my Nook right now!!

Enjoy ;)

Thanks!

Remember to tell us what you think!

I will!

I loved this book so much. While a few things were predictable, I didn't spend enough time thinking about it that when the time came, I was still surprised.
(view spoiler)[ As soon as Augustus had his prefuneral, I started crying, and I didn't truly stop crying until a few minutes after I finished the book. I started bawling when Augustus had died, and also when Hazel read the four missing pages. The "I like my choices. I hope she likes hers" part broke me even more. (hide spoiler)]
Even though I cried so much, it was such a beautiful story. It was a sad, beautiful tragic love story.

I think the metaphorical resonances of this book are endless and interesting. It is once again Mr. Green doing the best he can do, and I believe that it will be cherished so bountifully for many years on.

Please tell me I'm not the only one that cried like crazy at the end?

Arti wrote: "Please tell me I'm not the only one that cried like crazy at the end?"

I did too; s'all right to cry once in a while. I DO ALL THE TIME...

This was the first time I seriously crying while reading. Usually its one tear but this one was like CRYING

Haha, I usually cry like that. Am just unnaturally sentimental when it comes to books.

Loved it more then I can put into words! This book was beautiful in every way and I was crying so much while reading it. Defiantly the saddest book that I have ever read but also the one that changed me the most. After this book I kind of look at life a little differently and I'm not so fast to judge. Hazel and Augustus are the most adorable and mature for their age couple I have ever encountered in a novel and I was sad to see the end of it.

This book is so beautiful that it made me cry. After reading it, there are sme questions left in my mind... like what happened to Hazel?

Beatrice wrote: "This book is so beautiful that it made me cry. After reading it, there are sme questions left in my mind... like what happened to Hazel?"

Thats the best part... The fact that the ending wraps things up, but not so much that you knwo what will happen next... We will be left in the dark, but we can make up Hazel's future for her. I actually think that's a really main theme in the book.

I'm definitely in the minority when I say that I wasn't impressed with the book. Yeah, I cried at the end (A LOT), but it wasn't really that different from any other "cancer book." Making your reader cry is Cancer Book 101 stuff. I also feel like Green didn't really add anything novel in terms of theme and his characters were all recycled from past books. Personally, I thought the ending wasn't that ambiguous either. (view spoiler)[Hazel's obviously going to die within a few months after Agustus since the treatments weren't working as well as they used to by the second half of the novel. Call me a realist or pessimist or whatever, but I don't really see any other possible ending. (hide spoiler)]

Basically I went into it thinking it was going to be some great piece of literary fiction, but it was very commercial and very safe. I don't think it was a bad book, but I wish I hadn't heard to many good things about it or I might have not been so disappointed.

I agree Sarah. I heard so many amazing things about the book, so I felt s bit let down. Initially after I finished the last sentence, I was a crying mess and though the book was amazing because of the way it could make me feel. Then I realized that that was how I felt after every cancer book...

Abigail wrote: "Beatrice wrote: "This book is so beautiful that it made me cry. After reading it, there are sme questions left in my mind... like what happened to Hazel?"

Thats the best part... The fact that the ..."

I agree with you. :)

It was amazing but sosososososo sad

I personally loved this book, it is easy for people to say it's better than Looking For Alaska when that book was his first. For people out there who think it's cliche though, I'd like to inform you that Looking For Alaska is based on events that actually happened to John when he was that age. I thought The Fault in Our Stars was a great book, I never thought I could ever relate to a character with cancer but this proved me wrong. I really don't like cancer books, my friends love them but I do think they're all so similar and I just don't like it, but I thought John focused on different aspects, and his characters aren't the common "Oh i want to lose my virginity and do this and that before i die". I enjoy the fact that John Green's characters all have flaws, they're not the overused girl character who is pretty but doesnt realise and is super modest and has two close friends, one who's kinda nerdy and the other is kinda skanky and she gets good grades and some hot guy comes along and she's shocked that he'd want her blah blah blah. None of the main characters in his books are like that at all, and he makes a point of giving all his characters interesting traits or backgrounds, like Augustus with his cigarettes, radar with the black santas, etc. I find with John Green's books, especially The Fault in Our Stars, even if i'm not super keen on the story, I can always connect with his characters. And although the ending was spoiled for me by my friends, I still cried and it was still just as sad. It's not my favourite John Green book but I would still recommend it to people who like this genre because it's a great book and hopefully the movie will do it justice. Also, for people who have only read one or two John Green books and aren't sure about the rest, read them because you'll get something different out of each one. (An Abundance of Katherines isn't a depressing book, it's funny and lighthearted so if you want a break from sad books you should read it)

Can't wait for the movie!!
While were talking about John Green, What book by him should I read next? Which is your favorite?

This was my first John green and I loved it, I have since read all of his books.

This was the first book I read by John Green, too. I LOVED this book! After this I read Looking For Alaska and really liked that one, too. I tried to start An Abundance of Katherines but I didn't like that one at all... Are any of his other books any good??

I CRIED SO HARD!!!!! SOBBING SO MUCH!!!!!

@Emma, I actually didn't like Looking For Alaska, but I found all his other books okay at least. But I'd say this is definitely one of his best. Paper Towns was pretty good too.

I have enjoyed all of his books but my favorite is between the fault in our stars and paper towns. I also really enjoyed let it snow.

Fell in love with it right away! Can't wait for the movie!

I read the entire book today. I loved it. I cried a lot, but it was totally worth it. It was so sweet, and so touching. The characters were super easy to fall in love with.

So many tears!!! That was one of the best books I have ever read.

I'll have to take a box of kleenex to the movie.

Oh I know

I love love love this book. As soon as I finished it, I read it again and I then told all my friends to read it, which they did. I can't shut up about this book, but neither can my friends so that's a good thing, I suppose ;)
Everyone in the world should read this book, and I can't wait for the movie!

OMG have you guys heard the songs Ed Sheeran wekte for the fault in our stars???? It is sooooo amazing and simply just beautifull! It's called all of our stars.

The clip is also just perfection at its best!