The Fault In Our Stars by John Green
Book Jacket: Despite the tumor-shrinking medical miracle that has bought her a few years, Hazel has never been anything but terminal, her final chapter inscribed upon diagnosis. But when a gorgeous plot twist named Augustus Waters suddenly appears at Cancer Kid Support Group, Hazel's story is about to be completely rewritten.
My synopsis: There's nothing suspenseful, we know from the beginning that the book is about some terminal teenagers, which is heartbreaking enough. I really hesitated reading this one to be honest. My step-mom just got a terminal diagnosis earlier this year and no one has really found out how to deal with it yet. I've heard such wonderful things about this book, especially it's author, that I dove in. It was next in our book club selection so I didn't hesitate.
I don't know too many child/teen cancer fighters. If I did, I'd hope that they all had the courage to take the humorous approach to things as the characters Hazel and Augustus have in this book. I'm sure reality stings much more, it's just the way Green gives these two the ability to make jokes while still being scared.
My favorite part about the story of course, is that Hazel and Augustus decide to make their last wish any book lover's dream. They get a trip to Amsterdam to meet the author of their favorite book. Hello, awesome kids! Two teenagers, destined to fall in love, alone in a foreign city. Use your imagination. Or don't, it's risque for a young adult book, but come on...we all know they're doing it. The trip isn't all champagne and sweet nothings though. Did I mention that they do have an adult chaperon, Hazel's mother comes along to help medically.
Overall, everything is pretty predictable. About 200 pages in, I started marking some great quotes. I'm sure there others earlier in the story, but at this point I was vested and the words seemed to take on more meaning. Here are some of my favs:
- "They will robot-laugh at our courageous folly," he said."But something in their iron robot hearts will yearn to have lived and died as we did: on the hero's errand." "Augustus Waters," I said, looking up at him, thinking that you cannot kiss anyone in the Anne Frank House, and then thinking that Anne Frank, after all, kissed someone in the Anne Frank House, and that she would probably like nothing more then for her home to have become a place where the young and irreparably broken sink into love.
Later that afternoon she writes the best love letter I could ever imagine on a hotel napkin and slips out of his room to slip into her her own room with her mother. Why I love this letter...you'll have to read the book to find out. This one I'm not telling.
-"Some war," he said dismissively. "What am I at war with? My cancer. And what is my cancer? My cancer is me. The tumors are made of me. They're made of me as surely as my brain and my heart are made of me. It is a civil war, Hazel Grace, with a predetermined winner."
That's were the book hit home for me. That's where I became vested in accepting that the cancer is going to win (in my personal situation, at least).
In the heart to heart Hazel has with her father after things have taken a turn for the worse..."I believe the universe wants to be noticed. I think the universe is improbably biased toward consciousness, that it rewards intelligence in part because the universe enjoys its elegance being observed. And who am I, living in the middle of history, to tell the universe that it-or my observations of it-is temporary?" "You are fairly smart," I said after a while. "You are fairly good at compliments," he answered.
Recommendation: I would definitely recommend this book. It's a story that you'll never forget. It's not overly emotional considering the nature of the subject. It's humorous and witty.
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