“The Fault in Our Stars” is winning over teen readers
Sammy Gibbons, News Anchor
February 13, 2013
Filed under Reviews
I have always loved reading, especially somewhat dramatic books with stories of unpredictable lives and clever, witty main characters. I read “The Perks of Being a Wallflower” by Stephen Chbosky and fell in love with the story and style of writing. When I looked up similar books, the author John Green came into my life. Having never heard anything about this novel, I judged it by its brightly colored cover and decided to read it, having no idea what I was getting myself into. Little did I know it would turn out to be one of the greatest books I have read.
“The Fault in Our Stars” is told from the point of view of Hazel Grace Lancaster, a sixteen-year- old girl living with thyroid cancer. Diagnosed when she was thirteen, Hazel has come to terms with her inevitable death. Hazel is a sarcastic, intelligent, and extraordinarily thoughtful character, living her life knowing she doesn’t have much time left. When attending her weekly support group, she meets an attractive boy named Augustus Waters. The two become fast friends and you travel down the road of their continually deepening relationship throughout the novel. Hazel has grown so attached to her favorite book, “An Imperial Affliction,” that she proclaims the author, Peter Van Houten, her best friend even though they have never met. After introducing this book to Augustus, opinions of the supposedly ingenious Van Houten change, adventures occur, and their love continues to grow. The book twists and turns through remarkable moments of a finally perfect life for the duo and tragedies that shake their world.
This is John Green’s sixth novel, released in 2012, making it his newest work. His other books include bestsellers, “Looking for Alaska” and “Paper Towns.” The book reached the #1 spot on the Wall Street Journal Bestseller list as well as hitting the top spot on the New York Times Best Seller list for children’s chapter books. It remained there triumphantly for seven consecutive weeks. It received mostly positive reviews, including a particular one from NPR.org that stated, “Green writes books for young adults, but his voice is so compulsively readable that it defies categorization. He writes for youth, rather than to them, and the difference is palpable…You will be thankful for the little infinity you spend inside this book.”
“The Fault in Our Stars” is not a romance novel. It does have love in it, but there is so much more to it. The struggles that come with living with cancer are brilliantly illustrated and help you feel what Hazel and the other characters are going through. The complexity of the main characters, Hazel and Augustus, is described in such detail it makes them relatable and makes you feel as though you are living in the story. This book is a massive page-turner. Every page makes you feel the need to keep reading; it is a struggle to put down. It bounces between making you laugh hysterically to having tears rolling down your face with each chapter. It is unpredictable and thought provoking. Green’s words are intelligent, yet easily understandable. I am not an emotional person and books rarely make me cry, but I must say this book had me nearly in tears on a few occasions, one of these times being when the book ended.
A quote from the novel that Hazel narrates as she talks about her love for “An Imperial Affliction,” describes my exact feelings toward “The Fault in Our Stars:” Hazel says, “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. And then there are books like “An Imperial Affliction”, which you can’t tell people about, books so special and rare and yours that advertising your affection feels like betrayal.” I can barely put into these few words how I felt about the book. I give it a whopping 4.8 out of 5. Make a quick pit stop in the library to pick up this read!
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February 20th, 2013 at 11:49 am
SHAILENE WOODLEY SHOULD NOT BE HAZEL NO NO NO NOT OKAY
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