Book Review: The Fault in Our Stars by John Green

"You read a lot of capital-G great books, don't you?" - Augustus Waters

Premise: Girl has cancer. Goes to Support Group. Meets Boy who had cancer. He stares at her. She stares back. They become friends. Girl is hesitant, doesn't want to scar Boy. Boy seeks her out anyways.


Why I finally read this book:

Two things led me to read this book. First of all, I might as well be honest. I am intrigued by the roles in which Shailene Woodley chooses to play. I haven't yet seen much of a trend (meaning, limited genres) with her movies, which is refreshing since she is so young, could still potentially be easily typecast, and is choosing a variety of characters to play.  I saw a preview for The Fault in Our Stars but somewhat wrote it off thinking, "It'll be way too sad. It's still awhile before it comes out. I'll think about it."

The second reason is a text conversation with my cousin Elizabeth. It went something like this:

Me: You need to tell me the books you read as you read them so I'll know [what I should be reading]!

[after Cousin Elizabeth listed off roughly 30 books, complete with comments like "NY TIMES BEST SELLER NOT WORTH THE HYPE"]

Cousin Elizabeth: Fault in our stars. My heart. I can't. So good


Although Elizabeth literally told me nothing about the book, something about her disconnected fragmented text sentence oozed appreciation for what she read and it grabbed me in a weak moment. I ordered it with Amazon Prime 2-day shipping within a few days.
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Why I enjoyed this book:

Since I finished The Fault in Our Stars  last night at 11pm after binge reading it off and on in a 30 hour period, I realized I should probably type down some thoughts. I have three reasons why I liked this book:

1. The main character Hazel, an incredibly pensive young girl. I really came to love her as she worked through the war that was quietly playing out within her. She was the perfect combination of angst-y, insecure teenager, and "had-to-contemplate-issues-like-death-and-dying-too-soon" cancer patient. 
2. Hazel is a huge reader (see Augustus' observation of her in the quote at the top) and embeds many insightful quotes, lines, and allusions into her conversations with others and as she tries to reconcile her role as a terminally ill person among the healthy. 
3. Families. Lately, it seems that many books and story lines eliminate the need for the support of a family. I really appreciated that although minor characters, Hazel and Augustus' families were there for them. By using the families in the supportive role, the reader was able to get a taste of the suffering they experienced at being unable to do so much for their children, and that both Hazel and her parents and Augustus and his parents wanted to do what they could for one other, usually through the desire to help lessen probable future pain.

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Why you should read this book:

It is healthy to read something that causes us sadness. It is cultural for westerners to avoid sadness, which is why we (i.e. I) squirm when pictures of starving children appear on the screen and why I try to make my husband forget that he suggested watching whichever foreign film he wants to see where everyone dies in the end.

But the truth is, I didn't cry when or after reading this book for whatever reason and I'm okay with that reality. I feel confident that John Green didn't wake up and say, "I'm going to write a book that will make thousands of people cry!" This is a book that should make you ponder the meaning of life, how we view others, and how we treat others and the world around us.

Green seems to make the argument that it's important that we stop worrying about making a lasting mark on the universe and instead, to deeply consider the likely effect we will have on people (and consequently, the universe) upon forming relationships with others. Although I did not agree with all of the eclectic philosophical views mulled over throughout the book, I did appreciate the message that was being sent about how we, as a society, should take more thought into how we affect others rather than falsely believing the notion of "I am the center of the universe; look at me! Look at me!"

Overall, The Fault in Our Stars will make you consider if there's any "fault...not in our own stars, but in ourselves" (Shakespeare).