Review: The Fault in Our Stars (John Green)

So far, I've read about three new novels since summer. Right, I know that's a pretty slow pace but hey, it's summer and people are supposed to be frolicking under the sun going from one beach to the next. I didn't have too much time to sit down and read a book in one sitting (which I always did until summer when I had no choice but to settle for the electronic books that always were interrupted by rotating black outs). I've read a series of amazing books, this time. And this, I must say, is a huge improvement on my part as I often had read shallow novels that I only managed to scavenge from Booksale, the only decent (not really, even) bookstore Iligan City is probably going to get for the next several decades. Sad, but true.


I haven't been writing as much lately too and I figured writing reviews of the books that I've read would keep me from being entirely unproductive as I had not been taking summer classes anyway. I do not know whether or not I should have a separate blog for this, but I think it would be safer to stick to this blog for the mean time. Tell me if I should.

I am supposed to be reading The Diary of A Young Girl by Anne Frank right now, but I didn't want my high for The Fault in Our Stars by John Green to wear off until I finished writing about it, so here I am, fingers ready for this "review". The word "inspiration" couldn't have been more meaningful to anybody than to writers who struggle oftentimes for creative juices. Get what I mean?

This is a story of Hazel Grace Lancaster, a sixteen year-old cancer-stricken girl, and how she faces subtle realities only she seems to care about. Except for Augustus Waters, of course, that one person (also has cancer, unfortunately) who randomly shows up one day at Support Group and changes her in ways I couldn't even put into words. It was beautiful, their story.

Honestly, I didn't always notice cancer patients the way most people in the world wide web would. They were almost everywhere, I thought, that my mind didn't really sympathize like the rest as much as I sympathized with those people from the third world who had AIDS, or polio, or any incurable disease for that matter.

Maybe this was the first time I have had a glimpse of what it would be like to be there, in a way helpless. Even if you do act tough and even when you think you could get through it, escaping by numbing from the pain, you just couldn't. That's the thing about pain...it demands to be felt, Augustus had said. All you do everyday then, even with cancer written all over your body, is just convince yourself you're better than yesterday when in fact every part of you is dragging you closer to your funeral. The saddest part is, you couldn't do anything about it. Not even with medical help.

It was too painful, even for me. Augustus and Hazel were so real, I almost believed they exist somewhere, waiting for me to fly to wherever they are. But of course, fiction tends to disappoint you at some point. After you read every word of the story and after you close the book, shedding a few tears, you realize none of it had been real, none of it is real, and it was just that, fiction.


I didn't really like Hazel, to be honest. She cusses too much and is way too skeptical for my liking. She's a deep thinker. That I admire. Plus she reminds me a lot of my serious self. She doesn't believe in God though, and she's too cynical towards almost everyone around her. She thinks nobody really cares, and all they do is show up at your funeral and remark on how "great" you have been. It sickens her. She does have a point, but sometimes I think her thoughts are too much, she might need a few lessons on being appreciative.


“I'm in love with you," he said quietly.

"Augustus," I said.

"I am," he said. He was staring at me, and I could see the corners of his eyes crinkling. "I'm in love with you, and I'm not in the business of denying myself the simple pleasure of saying true things. I'm in love with you, and I know that love is just a shout into the void, and that oblivion is inevitable, and that we're all doomed and that there will come a day when all our labor has been returned to dust, and I know the sun will swallow the only earth we'll ever have, and I am in love with you.” 

This is what Augustus is like. He has a way with words and I, although not Hazel, found myself falling for his character. Yes, I'm pathetic like that, temporarily falling for a fictional character. It was his charm and wit that didn't let me get off the book, really. And his name. There was something about Augustus and Waters that created that tingling feeling in the pit of my stomach like it just knew he would be my fictional soul mate.


Overall, I find the plot okay and not really extraordinary. With its witty humor, I laughed a good couple of times, yes. And although I did cry towards the end of the story, I'm kind of wondering now if it had something to do with the pressure of being moved by it as most of the readers I knew did say it did move them. Unlike the other excellent novels I had read, The Fault in Our Stars didn't really have the activity that I had expected. It was like a birthday present, wrapper ripped slowly in a sentimental manner enough to make you wonder about the 'truth' it offers and enough to stir your emotions. It was never the plot but the genuine characters and the art of putting the right words together that made the novel gripping and yes, beautiful.




Overall Rating: 4 out of 5 stars

I could've just rated it an easy 3 stars had I been too critical about it. However, you couldn't really rate a book without including your own feelings, so, because I was moved (and I admire how Green could create such endearing characters) and it managed to purge out those tears that weren't really that hard to do, I decided it deserves one more star.

Will I recommend this book?

Why not? If you love to read, then go ahead. I have to warn you, however, that there are philosophies thrown by Hazel, especially, that might push you from the track if you aren't strong enough. I, however, did not mind reading over them because as I've mentioned earlier, I didn't like her (and most of her ideas) as much as I liked Augustus (who, by the way, is more optimistic than she is).


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I almost didn't write this review because I felt like I was pressured to write with so much passion and logic to match the other good The Fault in Our Stars reviews I had read earlier. But I already told someone I'd do this and I didn't want my yes be no, so here you go, Ruth! Haha. Now off to my next book. :)