Review: The Fault in Our Stars by John Green

The Fault in Our Stars by John Green

Genres: Young Adult, Contemporary Romance

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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.

  Honestly, I struggled for a few days on how to review this book. I can't review it. Instead, I offer you my honest thoughts. I think too many people interlace Hazel's story with Esther's. (If you don't know who Esther Earl is, please visit her foundation's website.) Yes, John Green was undeniably inspired by Esther. But The Fault in Our Stars is Hazel's story. And it's a story that I loved. It's a story that needed to be told.

  This review will be personal. It will be emotional. It will be tear filled. I understand if you pass it up.

  My grandmother, referred to as Mamaw from here on out, raised me. My father was a single parent, and my grandmother was always there to be my mother and selflessly help him and me. She explained tampons to me. She made me comfort foods whenever I was sick. She, along with my sweet grandfather, showed me that true love existed and could thrive. This woman is the one person that I will forever look up to and model myself after. Whenever I was fifteen, I watched this beacon of life and love deteriorate because of thyroid cancer, the same that Hazel had. I know cancer. I know how it feels to watch the person so important and integral to your own life fall prey to this monster.

I was mad at the universe.
-The Fault in Our Stars

  I am so happy that John Green wrote The Fault in Our Stars. For people who haven't witnessed cancer, they need this inside look. Sure, it comes from a work of fiction. But it resonates with the harshness of reality. Cancer is never pretty. Some of the things that happened in this book I have been through with my grandmother. The scene whenever Hazel is in the ICU? It was so real and raw to me that I weeped over my Kindle. I've been in that moment with my Mamaw. Everything in this book, the fear, the humor, the relationships, it needs to be read.

"It's bullshit. I hate it. But it was sure a privilege to love him, Huh?"
I nodded into his shirt.
"Gives you an idea how I feel about you," he said.
My old man. He always knew just what to say.
-The Fault in Our Stars 

  I hope that none of you ever have to experience the pain of cancer. For those of you that don't, this book shows you what life is like with it breathing down your neck. Fiction may be fake, but that doesn't mean that you can't learn from it. You can, and you should. Read The Fault in Our Stars. Learn from it. It isn't a story about teenage love. It's about finding a light in the dark. That's something we all need.

"Hazel, you deserve a life."
-The Fault in Our Stars