【Book Review】The Fault in Our Stars

The Fault in Our Stars

       Hazel Grace Lancaster, a 16-year-old girl who was diagnosed with thyroid cancer at the age of thirteen, is the protagonist of this book. She continues to live with her tedious and monotonous life until one day she meets a boy with osteosarcoma called Augustus Waters at the cancer support group. They gradually fall in love with each other, but their fatal illnesses keep warning them of their despairing future. However, they are determined to live on their lives and, therefore, begin a journey that they will remember forever.

-OMG, I’m really bad at plot summary-

    The Fault in Our Stars can definitely be one of the most famous Young Adult fictions in the history. If you haven’t heard of this book, then you must be new in this genre. I can draw a firm conclusion that this is a popular and well-acclaimed book even just from the rating on GoodReads. With nearly 2 million ratings, The Fault in Our Stars can still achieve an overall rating of 4.33 stars which I dare say can be able to compare to the rating of Harry Potter series. I have to confess that I watch the movie before I read the book. Some book lovers may consider this as an unforgivable crime, but I have an explanation for that. My first John Green book is Looking for Alaska, and I don’t like it at all. I have tons of problems with it, and I remember that I gave this book two stars on GoodReads. After hearing all the buzz about The Fault in Our Stars, I want to give it a try. I then decided to watch the movie first because it’s obvious that the time spent on watching the movie is obviously shorter than on reading the actual book. My idea is that if the movie is something that I like, I will then purchase the copy and read it. And since I am writing this review, the result should be evident now.

-Spoilers Alert!-

This book is a very tragic story. Nearly every single character suffers from different kinds of pain. Hazel suffers from the difficulty of being able to breathe; Augustus suffers from not only his painful illness, but also the fear of oblivion and the inability to achieve his goal; Isaac suffers from blindness and the brutal break-up between his girlfriend and him. Even Hazel’s favorite writer, the one who writes the novel An Imperial Affliction, has to bear the death of his beloved daughter. After reading this book, I realize that pain is inevitable.

I enjoy the fact that the book An Imperial Affliction can have such a great significance in The Fault in Our Stars. In my eyes, the reason why Hazel loves so much about this book is that she feels she can be related to the main character, the girl who has cancer and ultimately dies at the end of the book. Hazel’s eagerness for the explanation of the ending enables her to travel to Amsterdam with Augustus, even she is well aware that there exist many potential risks through their journey. She considers the main character of the book (Yes, yes, I forget the girl’s name.) a representative of herself. Hazel is curious about what impact will the girl in the book leave to her mother as she dies just like she is curious to know what will happen to her mother when she dies. I wasn’t aware of this until I re-read the book.

Now, as for the character of Hazel, she is a very thoughtful teenager. Probably due to her past experience of fighting with cancer, she is mentally older of her age compare to her friends, such as Kaitlyn. She regards herself as a grenade which can explode at any minute and harm everyone around who loves her. That’s the reason why she doesn’t want to have a further relationship with Augustus initially, she fears that she will leave a scar on Augustus’s heart. Then, when Augustus’s emergent cancer situation is revealed, their roles are reversed. Now Augustus becomes the grenade and can explode in the next minute. But Hazel discovers that she doesn’t fear to be harm at all, instead, she just wants to love Augustus as much as she can while he is alive. This shift of perspective facilitates Hazel’s self-development.

I have never thought that a Young Adult book can have such a diverse and deep meaning. This book is definitely one of my favorite books I have ever read. Besides, the movie adaptation is also quite impressive, though not as good as the original book. I cannot recommend it more to everyone who hasn’t read it. Anyone who loves simple relationship development, raw emotions, love, and self-discovery books will sure adore this book.