Book Review | The Fault in Our Stars by John Green

I'm late to the John Green party, but at last I've arrived. I've been wanting to read The Fault in Our Stars for several months now, and knew I had to pick it up before the movie came out this June. I'm drastically afraid of being spoiled (for any book, TV show, or movie), and I knew the TFIOS ending was in my near future whether I read the book or not. Well, I zoomed through TFIOS as soon as it arrived to my mailbox, and it was a roller coaster that only goes up.

Okay, that's not entirely true, this book was a roller coaster of emotions for me (but snaps for you if you caught that reference). I laughed, I cried, I had all the cliché emotions. Why? Because TFIOS is the story of Hazel, a sixteen-year-old girl with cancer. The book opens with Hazel at her support group, where we meet Augustus – the love interest. TFIOS is told through Hazel's point of view, as she and Augustus join forces to create a new kind of dream team.

I don't want to say much else about the plot, as the book is a short 313 pages, and I think it's best discovered on your own. In fact, I found TFIOS an intellectually troubling read. Green left hints, or so I thought. Every time I thought I had the ending figured out, things changed. I liked that; it kept things interesting. And at one point I exclaimed "Oh my God!" out loud while reading. I was never disappointed, and loved the twists and turns even though I needed to keep the tissue box within reach.

As for the characters, I loved them all. It's quite rare that I genuinely think all of the characters in a story are great. Here, they just were. My favorite was Peter Van Houton, even though I know that's probably an unpopular opinion.

There is so much I could say about TFIOS, but I'll stop by emphasizing the magic in John Green's writing. This book is going to be one that I reread sometime soon, as I want to relive the metaphorical goodness. I highly recommend TFIOS, and gave it a 4.5/5 stars on Goodreads, docked for a couple things that bothered me in the first two chapters. There is no reason not to read TFIOS. Grab your copy on Amazon HERE, and please share your thoughts on the book with me in the comments, as I'm sure many of you have read it already.

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