The Fault in Our Stars

by John Green

I fell in love the way you fall asleep: slowly, then all at once.

Despite the tumour-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.

Insightful, bold, irreverent, and raw, The Fault in Our Stars brilliantly explores the funny, thrilling, and tragic business of being alive and in love.

Praise for The Fault in Our Stars:

Sunday Times (Culture)
'A touching, often fiercely funny novel'

The Sun on Sunday (Fabulous Magazine)
'So good I think it should be compulsory reading for everyone!'

Daily Express
'John Green brilliantly captures the voices of a young generation while instilling it with the wisdom of a life that has lived too much yet will never live enough'

The Metro - 2013 Best Fiction
'The love affair of two terminally ill teenagers could be mawkish. In fact, it's funny, clever, irreverent and life-affirming.'

Grazia
'So good!'

Good Housekeeping
'As funny as it is heartbreaking... we defy you not to fall in love with its main characters, Hazel and Augustus.'

The Tablet
'A humourous and poignant love story... It's terrifically funny... as well as a moving exploration of loss and grief. And no, it's so much not just for teenage cancer sufferers... it's for everyone.'

Bliss
'If you need inspiration when it comes to making the most of a moment, this one is for you'

Mizz
'Insightful, bold, irreverent and raw, if this doesn't make you cry, it'll definitely make you think, laugh and maybe even fall in love yourself!'

• ISBN10: 0141345659
• ISBN13: 9780141345659
• Publish Date: 3 January 2013 (first published 1 January 2012)
• Publish Status: Active
• Publish Country: GB
• Imprint: Penguin Books Ltd
• Format: Paperback (B-Format (198x129 mm))
• Pages: 352
• Language: English

Reviews

[Jo]

Disclaimer: Since writing my review, I have discovered that John Green is a problematic author - you can find more info here, here, and here. Because of this, I can no longer promote her books in good conscience. I'm leaving my review here as it is for the sake of transparency.

Originally posted on Once Upon a Bookcase.

After reading Will Grayson, Will Grayson - which John Green co-wrote with David Levithan - I knew I wanted to read more by Green. On hearing all the hype surrounding The Fault in Our Stars, I knew this was the book to start with. And it was such a good book!

The Fault in Our Stars is a Really awesome novel. It made me cry, and I enjoyed it so much. Augustus was such a beautiful guy, just the sweetest and he made my heart ache in all the right ways. He is exactly what Hazel needed, and brought her so much joy! He loved her, and did so much for her, and it was just so beautiful seeing the two of them together. I would quite like an August of my own.

There was a twist! And oh my god, what a twist! I did not expect it at all, and it left me reeling!And once the twist hit me, I knew, I just knew. The anticipation of pain the twist left me with was actually more painful than the upcoming event. I was completely bawling at the twist, but not what came later.

Which shows how crappy hype can be. Because of the hype, I expected to be completely heartbroken. But it didn't break my heart as much as I expected it to. I finished the book feeling a little disappointed, despite the fact it was such a beautiful and sweet novel. Once the big event happened, I couldn't help thinking, "Is that it?" There was the hype, and after the twist, I just expected so much more than I got. It fell kind of flat for me.

However, The Fault in Our Stars is beautifully written. As I said, it's the first solo Green novel I've read, and definitely looking forward to reading the rest of his books in the future. Really recommend it. Just ignore all the hype!

Thank you to Penguin for the review copy.

[celinenyx]

To be honest I think it was just a bit boring. It's been called "so much more than a cancer book", but it's not. It's a cancer book with romance, and that's it. It's not a bad book , just not one I was invested in.

I mostly got annoyed by the characters. August and Hazel are some kind of uber-nerds that talk as if they swallowed a dictionary. I was okay with that, although I did skip plenty of parts when they went off on some existential discussions. Basically any part written by Van Houten (the writer guy) I completely skipped, because his writing was completely obnoxious.

In the end I quite disliked Hazel, and I wasn't convinced their romance was more than a crush.

[Ashley]

Nose Graze — Young Adult book reviews

It took me a million and one years to finally pick up The Fault in Our Stars. Honestly, I think I put it off for two main reasons: 1) I thought the cover was boring, and 2) I just wasn't into cancer books. But after reading and LOVING Maybe One Day (an amazing and heartbreaking cancer book), I knew I had to give The Fault in Our Stars a chance.

I love how such a big part of this book was the characters connecting with a book. It's like a book inside of a book! Hazel and Augustus really bond over her favourite story and dream about meeting the author. I didn't quite expect that element and I love how it turned out (not well, because the author they admired was a dick). It gave Hazel and Augustus something to enjoy and strive towards together, and that really helped them build their relationship.

Isaac actually ended up being one of my favourite characters. He's Hazel and Augustus's friend and he had to get his eyes removed because of his cancer. I just wanted to hug him so many times throughout the book! He's such a sweet guy and I felt so bad for him because he had to suffer the pain of teenage relationships that think they'll last forever, but they don't.

I kind of feel like an idiot for not guessing the ending (because in hindsight I guess it's obvious), but man, that shit hit me like a freight train. That's when the tears came! I won't say I was drowning in tears, because I wasn't. I've cried harder over other books. But a few tears did some and I was laying in bed sniffling somewhat pathetically. I think part of me is a little disappointed that I didn't cry more (which might be weird), but oh well. Not every book can turn you into an ugly cryer.

I think the one thing things I didn't love about this book were the characters. Both main characters (Hazel and Augustus) were a bit... pretentious. They're the kind of people that over analyze everything and meticulously pick apart common slang, phrases, and traditions. It was a bit funny at first, but it got a tiring after a while, and in general, I'm not crazy about people like that. I've encountered a few before and they drive me a bit nuts with their, "Oh you poor, naïve mortal, you can't speak as well as I can" attitude. I found myself skimming a few of the long, pretentious, "let's analyze the shit out of this" paragraphs.

And, similarly, I never really saw Hazel and Augustus's relationship as love. Hazel and Augustus had a great, great relationship, but I mostly saw it as friendship. I didn't see a lot of sexual chemistry there. They were definitely two people of the same mind, and in that sense they fit together wonderfully, but that was kind of it. No sexual tension, no chemistry, no romance. And I would have been totally okay with that, had Hazel and Augustus not constantly called their relationship "true love" and "an epic love story" and things like that. I think I would have clicked with it better had it just been a wonderful friendship, rather than forced into a romance.

"Everybody should have true love, and it should last as long as your life does."
Page 75

I didn't completely hate the characters though. I loved how kind and selfless Augustus was. If you remove his pretentious side, he's really an amazing guy. He goes above and beyond for his friends, and that really shined throughout the book. And it just made the ending even harder to deal with! I don't think I would have cried as much as I did (which still wasn't a lot) had Hazel died instead.

"That's the thing about pain," Augustus said, and then glanced back at me. "It demands to be felt."
Page 63

Also there was one thing that totally had me WTFing. I guess the circumstances surrounding the annoying line are spoilery, so I'll put the whole thing in spoiler tags.

The circumstances are: Hazel and Augustus are from America (Indiana), but in this passage they are in the Netherlands. The time is probably... 7 or 8am.

"Would you care for some breakfast?" asked Lidewij.

I started to say that we'd already eaten when Peter interrupted. "It is far too early for breakfast, Lidewij.

"Well, they are from America, Peter, so it is past noon in their bodies."

Errm.. "It is past noon in their bodies." Did this book totally just screw up time zones? If it's 8am in the Netherlands, it would be like 2am in Indiana. The wording makes it sound like Lidewij thinks it would be 1pm in America (and thus lunch time).

Or am I being stupid? I think I read that passage like 5 times trying to figure out if I was missing something obvious. HELP!



Overall I do think that The Fault in Our Stars is a great book, and it's easy to see why so many people adore it. It's not one of my favourites, but it's certainly worth a read and I recommend that everyone give it a shot!

[inlibrisveritas]

After seeing so many people rave over The Fault In Our Stars I finally decided to take the chance on it and see what it was that had everyone so in love with the book. I have heard so much about it that I went into with a sort of preconceived notion as to what I was going to be given. I was almost completely wrong. I now understand why so many reviews seem to skim over what exactly is in it…and I feel like I should do the same. It’s a book that you need to experience on your own to full appreciate and I don’t want to rob anyone of that experience.

The Fault In Our Stars is a book that deals with cancer, but Green has written it in such a way that you don’t really feel that gloom and depression the way you would with a “normal” (what Hazel would call) ‘cancer book’. It’s a book filled with hope, humor, snark, and sadness; and I don’t see everyone who reads this reacting the same way. I’ve read very few books that have managed to make me laugh and then crush my heart with expert precision, but this is definitely one of them.

When I first picked this up I wasn’t sure if I was going to like it, the style and voice is rather distinctive and it definitely didn’t fit into the shape I had made in my head. Hazel has a very unique voice and personality, and it took some getting use to but once the story got moving I was hooked. The flow of the story is quick and I loved the realness of the conversations which are not perfect in form or generic. The conversations have character and you really can see their personalities hinging through in their wit and charm. The characters are really well developed and surprisingly I loved them all, and even though the cards are stacked against them I found myself rooting for them from the very beginning. If I had to choose one thing that I loved the most from this book, as impossible as that feels, I would go with the fact that it is not a book centered around death but instead it’s centered around life. There is something really raw about the hope and love in this book and it just settled into my heart.

The relationship between Hazel and Augustus is hard to explain. It’s not a whirlwind romance and it’s not some flat thing produced on a whim, it just feels real. There is a sort of unique bond that forms between them, and some of their conversations are my favorite parts.

The Fault In Our Stars is not an easy book review and it’s certainly not one I could accurately describe to someone quickly. I had so much trouble trying to find the right words while at the same time leaving out spoilers, and I still don’t think I managed to quite capture it. It’s my first John Green book but it certainly won’t be my last.

[Rinn]

I was all 'This is so cute! The characters are adorable!'



and then

it started

[Whitney @ First Impressions Reviews]

"The fault, dear Brutus, is not in our stars,
But in ourselves, that we are underlings."

Interpreted to mean that fate is not what drives men to their decisions and actions, but rather the human condition.

At first, my lack of Shakespeare knowledge just assumed it was meant literally, but after further examination (and a little help) realized it was the complete opposite of said quote as cancer is unfortunately in our main characters stars.

Is it wrong to laugh while reading a book about Cancer? Because I was. John Green took a serious topic and made it uplifting, inspirational and eventually heart-breaking. Hazel has cancer of the lungs. Her mother, feeling that Hazel is depressed over her condition forces her to go to a support group, with Hazel going grudgingly. On one such meeting her friend Isaac, who has eye cancer, eventually going blind brings a friend Augustus Waters, who has bone cancer. Like a good young adult novel there is an instant spark between the two, with Hazel thinking support group many not be so bad after all.

Hazel and Augustus become enamored with the novel An Imperial Affliction written by Peter Von Houten. They feel that he real fits the Shakespeare quote written above and dedicate themselves to meeting him. Hazel has foolishly used her Make A Wish to go to Disney World by Augustus has been holding out on his. Thus using it to go to Amsterdam to meet Peter Von Houten. It turns out that he is a complete ass. Showing that life as a cancer patient does not always fill your wish and gives a taste of other harnesses outside of the cancer ward.

Strangely, while reading this novel I was reminded of one of my favorite movies, 1939's Dark Victory starring Bette Davis. What you say? Let me explain.

Firstly, I will note that the two main characters persona's are completely different, Hazel is a realist understanding the gravity of her condition, where as Dark Victory's Judith Traherne lives a carefree throws it into the wind.

Now for the comparisons. Despite knowing that they will someday meet their maker Judith and Hazel go about as normal as possible and also meet their true loves through the medical field, Judith falls in love with her brain surgeon and I have listed Hazel and Augustus' star-crossed eyes above. While throughout the novel/movie everyone has a hopeful facade but on the inside are trying to cope with the reality of it all. There cannot be a happy ending, Judith loses her sight and battle with her brain tumor and Hazel someone very close to her.

As I began with a quote from Shakespeare, I feel this quote from Dark Victory sums The Fault in Our Stars.

"Nothing can hurt us now. What we have can't be destroyed. That's our victory - our victory over the dark. It is a victory because we're not afraid."

[clementine]

RE-READ, MAY 2013

I liked TFiOS less the second time. I read it more slowly and critically, and without the excitement and anticipation of the first time.

I really admire John Green as a person, and there are certain aspects of his writing that are very inspiring to me. But, overall, I'm pretty conflicted about his books. I think he does what he does very well, but there are always fairly sizeable issues, and I find that my opinion changes quite a bit when I re-read.

I was very underwhelmed by the first half of the book, before they get to Amsterdam. This time around I did actually find the dialogue a bit unrealistic, and I thought that Hazel and Gus were too wise, even allowing for the fact that their life experience probably gives them a certain amount of depth. I really like that John Green doesn't underestimate teenagers, and I don't think any of the individual lines are unbelievable - I just think that people being that snappy and deep all the time is kind of hard to stomach. Honestly, I felt distinctly aware that they were characters, where as in his other books the characters feel quite real, witty dialogue and all.

I also found Gus quite insufferable upon re-reading. I fully understand that he's supposed to be that way, and that it's one of the things that makes Hazel wary of him. The thing is that I didn't feel like there was a lot of development in that area. He kind of remained a pompous asshole the entire time. My sympathy for him increased, and of course his circumstances were terrible and elicited a lot of emotion, but he was a tricky character for me. I wish he'd been explored a bit more, because a not totally likeable character doesn't have to imply anything about the enjoyment of the book. Alaska Young is a very flawed person, but I still felt more of an emotional response to LFA, maybe because I felt like John Green did a better job of allowing the reader to understand where she was coming from. Of course a lot of Gus's personality can be explained as a coping mechanism, or as him just being a stupid teenager, but I felt like there was actually a shocking lack of exploration of his character overall.

This is really critical, but I by no means disliked the book. It was the right mixture of funny and touching, it wasn't overly sappy or sentimental, Hazel was a good narrator, and the plot had the whimsical, ridiculous elements I've come to expect from John Green. It really is an overall enjoyable read, but there's just something about it that I didn't find quite as immersive as his other books. I couldn't really dive in all the way. There was some measure of distance created for me.

I actually love engaging with John Green's books, because my opinions on them are really complex and I find myself changing my mind a lot. I like things that aren't straightforward. I'd give TFiOS 3.5 stars this time around, but I'm rounding up since half stars still aren't a thing on this silly website.

---
ORIGINAL REVIEW, JANUARY 2012 (*****)

I enjoy everything [a:John Green|1406384|John Green|https://d.gr-assets.com/authors/1353452301p2/1406384.jpg] writes because I feel like he really understands teenagers in a fundamental way. However, I definitely enjoy him best when he's being serious. [b:Looking for Alaska|99561|Looking for Alaska|John Green|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1394798630s/99561.jpg|919292] was an incredibly inspiring book to me because I felt like he tackled death from a very interesting perspective, and TFiOS is no different. The subject matter is pretty heavy, but with the usual John Green touch, it is hilarious. The characters are three-dimensional, realistic, and likeable, flaws and all. Of course, a book about cancer can't be happy forever, and TFiOS definitely isn't. The book is very emotional and beautiful without becoming contrived or obviously trying to solicit some kind of emotional response from the reader.

I'll need more time to sit and think about this book to form more coherent thoughts about it (I literally JUST finished it), but, ahh... it's beautiful. I was not at all disappointed.

[anne]

This is an amazing book, but so sad. It is about teenage cancer sufferers. It is brilliantly written and actually says more about living than dying, but be warned,death is a main concern of this book.

[nitzan_schwarz]

For this review and more, pop by my blog - Drugs Called Books

Do not read this book. Not if you don’t want to have your heart broken and shattered to million pieces, your eyes swollen with tears and your throat choking down in your sadness. But other than that, this is a great book.

I knew a person who lost a family member to cancer, after a long battle. He was my best friend. He stopped being my best friend after that; he changed, became someone I didn’t know, someone I couldn’t stay by his side, or I was in serious danger of breaking apart and losing my mind, maybe even hurting myself.
So, I may not know how it feels to lose someone directly to cancer (and I pray every day I never will), but I do know how it feels to lose someone to cancer, because I lost him. That’s why, this book scared me. Scared me shitless (forgive my words).

I wasn’t sure I was ready to read it, to read of cancer, to live it through the book and to lose people through the book, because in a book about cancer, you can’t expect everyone to be fine and happy. You know whatever Happily-Ever-After you’ll get—IF you get it—will not be perfect. It will not be for forever, because even if the character doesn’t die in the time span of the book, she’ll die after. And at least for me, who get sucked into books, that matters.

But when I found it on a shelf in a bookstore, I decided to get it. So many friends of mine read and loved it. I even started it the very same day, before I could chicken out.
This book was filled with good surprises and bad surprises; Most of the book was unbelievably funny, which is about the last thing I expected. I thought more along the lines of “sad and depressing” (and there was plenty of that, but even more hilarious moments).
And the characters were stunning.
And the heartbreak came from an unexpected direction, and the ending did nothing to help that.
But, let’s rewind a little bit and start again…

Late in the winter of my seventeenth year, my mother decided I was depressed, presumably because I rarely left the house, spent quite a lot of time in bed, read the same book over and over, ate infrequently, and devoted quite a bit of my abundant of free time to thinking about death.

--First paragraph of The Fault in Our Stars

I love Hazel, and her story-telling voice. She was just so funny and hilarious, realistic and yet also a bit of dreamy in the way she was attached to the characters in a book and had to know what happens to them. Also, she’s deep. The things she says sometimes are like… whoa.
It’s amazing how the thing that sticks in your mind the most is how funny she is, when she’s a terminal cancer patient. There lies the genius of John Green, in my opinion.
The quote I remember most in the book, because I laughed so hard my stomach hurt, is this one:

“I told Augustus the broad outline of my miracle: diagnosed with Stage IV thyroid cancer when I was thirteen. (I didn’t tell him that the diagnosis came three months after I got my first period. Like: Congratulations! You’re a woman. Now die.)”

Augustus is the guy that takes Hazel out of her secluded shell. He’s kind of amazing; he’s funny and charming and hot, he knows what it’s like to be sick and he isn’t afraid to go after what he wants. He does everything in his powers, and I do mean everything, to make Hazel fall for him and make her dreams come true. I don’t think there is a single person in the whole wide world who won’t want a guy like him as her boyfriend.

The romance… well, good thing this book, for me, is so much more that a romance story – or I would’ve been forced to lower the start. For me, I felt like they fell in love way to fast (especially on Gus’s side), and did the “deed” much too quickly from the moment of accepting their feelings. I can understand that, I guess, because she’s sick and all—but for me those kind of stuff always grate on the nerves.

Aside for that, though, I love the content of their relationship; their banter and their talks and their deep conversations and the ways they seem to fit with each other and all that jazz. It was really quite remarkable. I wish it would’ve just stay like that, and save me the heartbreak.

Now comes the crying part.

I think it was maybe 75/80% into the book when everything kind of crumbled to pieces. I won’t tell you exactly what happens. You’ll have to read for yourself.
All I will say is that the heartbreaking part come from a place I didn’t see coming. It’s not that John Green didn’t leave hints. While writing this review, I suddenly noticed all the hints he gave us as to what to come. I just didn’t see them while reading. Maybe I didn’t want to see them.

All I will tell you is that it will make you finish rolls of tissue and that your eyes will get puffy and you’ll scream at the world WHY!? And then wonder where John Green lives so you can convince him to re-write the whole thing and mend your heart together.
If anyone actually want to talk to me about the whole thing—rant together with me, cry together with me, and all that—I’ll be happy to do so on my Goodreads version of this review, where I can put spoiler tags.

And if all that heartbreak wasn’t enough, there’s the letter at the end…

I know friends who told me they were heartbroken but didn’t regret reading this book. I do regret it, somehow. It hurt so much to read this book, even more so because it’s so funny, you forget the inevitable pain is going to come.

But it’s a good book. That I can say.

For this review and more, pop by my blog - Drugs Called Books

[Linda]

I just need to stop crying, and maybe get over my fangirling a little, then I'll write a proper review. *sniffles*

This and other reviews can be found at (un)Conventional Bookviews.

The Fault in Our Stars was recommended to me several times during the past year, and I just never really got to it. I’m really glad I have now, though, I loved it! Every single word on the page made sense to me.