Scan barcode
mscvw's review against another edition
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
reflective
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Cancer and Death
chickennoodlesoup's review against another edition
challenging
reflective
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
john green has yet to disappoint me.
aclypse's review against another edition
emotional
lighthearted
reflective
relaxing
sad
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.5
I guess romance really isn’t my thing. Especially young adult romance. A controversial opinion: I don’t understand why this book is a bestseller and why so many people like it.
To point out the good points first, I really enjoyed the uniqueness of the language. The kids are using quite a lot of sarcastic phrases, and expressions and joke about serious topics. I did find the humor quite witty. I haven’t encountered any books about cancer (because I’ve never searched for them), and I cannot appreciate enough the chosen topic.
I also find it wholesome that Hazel has a favorite book in which the main character resembles her to a decent amount. There is little doubt that many readers might find Hazel relatable. Some struggles are just… persistent.
And I was so elevated to read about Hazel’s and Augustus’s trip to Amsterdam. I was glad it didn’t turn out to be a McGuffin and the trip did frankly happen.
But there are far more bad parts than the good ones.
At first, I was a little pleasantly surprised by the language they use in the book. It seemed fresh and new after reading a bit of intellectual prose. But a few pages in, and it started getting on my nerves. Do people actually talk like that? Have American teens used to talk like that in the 2010s?
And although I found myself relating to Hazel in a few passages, I just couldn’t grow to like her. In fact, I believe I kind of despise her. In the beginning, she seems to be depressed, but then I assume she is trying to be portrayed as ‘smart’ due to her passion for reading, but being ‘smart’ isn’t defined by your love for reading and reciting ‘intellectual quotes’. She quite often acts like a typical maximalist teenager whose only purpose in life is her love. And dare I say the stars had aligned for her as Lidevij Viegenthart (who also feels like a cardboard character to me) made such a trip to deliver her Augusts’ writings. All the way to America! (if I understood correctly)
Augustus did appear a little more interesting, but he’s still quite a blank person I can’t describe properly. And his “dramatic moments” did piss me off quite often (like when he was telling Hazel about his virginity, or when he was acting all suspenseful when the plane was taking off). I only enjoyed the ‘cigarette metaphor’, but even then I didn’t comprehend its purpose.
There was a moment when Augustus’s parents searched the whole house for his writings, and at that moment I wondered, “Would any parents do that? Really?” To that, all I can say is that Gus either has(d) awesome parents or they are this nice only because the author needed it for the plot. And the rest of Augustus’s family… I don’t even remember their names nor their ages nor what purpose did they serve. Only as filler characters, I believe.
Catherine appeared there only twice for the sole purpose of talking about boys.
Literally the only character I found appealing was Peter Van Houten. I knew he was my character right from the start. Peter feels like a real person, one who has lived through a lot and acquired extensive amount of knowledge. I feel like I can understand him.
And he is completely justified for not telling Hazel the stories of his characters, for this, I have to use his quote: "But to be perfectly frank, this childish idea that the author of a novel has some special insight into the characters in the novel . . . it’s ridiculous. That novel was composed of scratches on a page, dear. The characters inhabiting it have no life outside of those scratches. What happened to them? They all ceased to exist the moment the novel ended.”
This book raises the topic of the toughness of living with a deadly and debilitating disease. My (controversial) opinion? If every day of your life is only about surviving or trying to extend it, just die. If someone would want to object, I’m quoting Hazel on this:
> “There will come a time,” I said, “when all of us are dead. All of us. There will come a time when there are no human beings remaining to remember that anyone ever existed or that our species ever did anything. There will be no one left to remember Aristotle or Cleopatra, let alone you. Everything that we did and built and wrote and thought and discovered will be forgotten and all of this”—I gestured encompassingly—“will have been for naught. Maybe that time is coming
soon and maybe it is millions of years away, but even if we survive the collapse of our sun, we will not survive forever. There was time before organisms experienced consciousness, and there will be time after. And if the inevitability of human oblivion worries you, I encourage you to ignore it. God knows that’s what everyone else does.
To point out the good points first, I really enjoyed the uniqueness of the language. The kids are using quite a lot of sarcastic phrases, and expressions and joke about serious topics. I did find the humor quite witty. I haven’t encountered any books about cancer (because I’ve never searched for them), and I cannot appreciate enough the chosen topic.
I also find it wholesome that Hazel has a favorite book in which the main character resembles her to a decent amount. There is little doubt that many readers might find Hazel relatable. Some struggles are just… persistent.
And I was so elevated to read about Hazel’s and Augustus’s trip to Amsterdam. I was glad it didn’t turn out to be a McGuffin and the trip did frankly happen.
But there are far more bad parts than the good ones.
At first, I was a little pleasantly surprised by the language they use in the book. It seemed fresh and new after reading a bit of intellectual prose. But a few pages in, and it started getting on my nerves. Do people actually talk like that? Have American teens used to talk like that in the 2010s?
And although I found myself relating to Hazel in a few passages, I just couldn’t grow to like her. In fact, I believe I kind of despise her. In the beginning, she seems to be depressed, but then I assume she is trying to be portrayed as ‘smart’ due to her passion for reading, but being ‘smart’ isn’t defined by your love for reading and reciting ‘intellectual quotes’. She quite often acts like a typical maximalist teenager whose only purpose in life is her love. And dare I say the stars had aligned for her as Lidevij Viegenthart (who also feels like a cardboard character to me) made such a trip to deliver her Augusts’ writings. All the way to America! (if I understood correctly)
Augustus did appear a little more interesting, but he’s still quite a blank person I can’t describe properly. And his “dramatic moments” did piss me off quite often (like when he was telling Hazel about his virginity, or when he was acting all suspenseful when the plane was taking off). I only enjoyed the ‘cigarette metaphor’, but even then I didn’t comprehend its purpose.
There was a moment when Augustus’s parents searched the whole house for his writings, and at that moment I wondered, “Would any parents do that? Really?” To that, all I can say is that Gus either has(d) awesome parents or they are this nice only because the author needed it for the plot. And the rest of Augustus’s family… I don’t even remember their names nor their ages nor what purpose did they serve. Only as filler characters, I believe.
Catherine appeared there only twice for the sole purpose of talking about boys.
Literally the only character I found appealing was Peter Van Houten. I knew he was my character right from the start. Peter feels like a real person, one who has lived through a lot and acquired extensive amount of knowledge. I feel like I can understand him.
And he is completely justified for not telling Hazel the stories of his characters, for this, I have to use his quote: "But to be perfectly frank, this childish idea that the author of a novel has some special insight into the characters in the novel . . . it’s ridiculous. That novel was composed of scratches on a page, dear. The characters inhabiting it have no life outside of those scratches. What happened to them? They all ceased to exist the moment the novel ended.”
This book raises the topic of the toughness of living with a deadly and debilitating disease. My (controversial) opinion? If every day of your life is only about surviving or trying to extend it, just die. If someone would want to object, I’m quoting Hazel on this:
> “There will come a time,” I said, “when all of us are dead. All of us. There will come a time when there are no human beings remaining to remember that anyone ever existed or that our species ever did anything. There will be no one left to remember Aristotle or Cleopatra, let alone you. Everything that we did and built and wrote and thought and discovered will be forgotten and all of this”—I gestured encompassingly—“will have been for naught. Maybe that time is coming
soon and maybe it is millions of years away, but even if we survive the collapse of our sun, we will not survive forever. There was time before organisms experienced consciousness, and there will be time after. And if the inevitability of human oblivion worries you, I encourage you to ignore it. God knows that’s what everyone else does.
vampire_mother's review
5.0
This is the saddest book I have ever read. It broke my feelings more than The Infernal Devices series, more than any book I have ever ever read.
When Augustus died, I had to stop reading for few minutes to try not to cry that much.
My grandad died few months ago of lung cancer. And this book just brought that back. But now I know what's all the fuss with this book. And I really really loved every word.
"Okay?"
"Okay."
When Augustus died, I had to stop reading for few minutes to try not to cry that much.
My grandad died few months ago of lung cancer. And this book just brought that back. But now I know what's all the fuss with this book. And I really really loved every word.
"Okay?"
"Okay."
missyjohnson's review
3.0
I found this to be a lovely book. I think that Mr. Green did a good job of writing in the voice of the teenagers. Hazel Grace was wise beyond her years and Augustus was funny, and smart and loving. I picked this book up after hearing a podcast on which Mr. Green was featured. The podcast was Heavyweights. Mr Green was a chaplain in a hospital and either attending or going to attend seminary when he had a young patient who was burned come into the hospital. The encounter caused him to quit his job as a chaplain and to not go to seminary. After hearing that story, I was curious about this book. I knew what it was about due to the attention that had been surrounding it after publication. I am glad that I knew this background on the author before reading as I think that the extra insight made me the book more. Hazel Grace is 16 and uses supplemental oxygen due to her cancer affecting her lungs. She meets Gus at support group after he has had his leg amputated from osteosarcoma. They also have another friend from support group named Isaac who has to have his one remaining eye removed due to Ca and is now blind. Gus and Hazel become a couple and their conversations concerning life, love and cancer are funny and educational. They make a trip to Amsterdam to meet the author of Hazel’s favorite book and he ends up being an old, angry alcoholic but the trip is nice otherwise. Gus’s cancer returns with speed and ferocity and dies. Hazel dealing with her grief completes the story.
kippersandjam's review
5.0
An epic tale of love, humanity, destruction and an allusive novel. A wondrous piece of creative ingenuity.
magencorrie's review
5.0
5 stars
My Thoughts:
There are really no words for this book. And I know that I cannot capture in a few words, or sentences, the way this story affected me. And it affected me intensively. I knew that it would, but still, it really touched me. And though it made me cry, those big fat ugly tears, I am so happy I finally read it!
This book deals with some tough and very sad situations. So of course it made my heart ache and break and cry, but it also made me smile. But what I loved so much about this is the characters. I really adored getting to know Hazel and Augustus. They made the story fun to read and, well, I got really attached to them.
Hazel was unique, to me at least. I think I enjoyed her more cynical view of life, which was very strong at the beginning of the book. Which was understandable, having to deal with cancer in all forms, day in and day out, does make some cynical. But Hazel was extremely likable. She is very smart and a bit cocky, and she really pulled me into her story. I wanted to see what happened to her. Her personality is very strong and watching everything she goes through.. well.. it was just wow.
And I feel so hard for Augustus. I can’t really say just how wonderful this character was. I loved that he was so odd and he talked so much. But he had this really big heart and he saw the world really differently. And like Hazel he has been through quite a bit, so he too had a strong personality. One I really loved!
I loved how Hazel and Augustus’s personalities mixed. They were a great combination together and they were so cute together. I loved watching them grow and develop, and they really did grow so much during this book. I can’t write how much I just loved these characters!
Another thing I just loved was John Green’s writing style. I felt he really capture his characters and their uniqueness and of course their situations. I also loved the underlining humor of his writing style. He captured such a beautifully tragic story so well.
The pacing and the building of the plot flowed well. I felt that everything just fit in this book. The characters were unique and interesting and I couldn’t help but love them and feel for their situation. Even the side characters crawled into my heart. The love that developed between Hazel and Augustus just stole my breath away. And though I did figure out the twist, it still shook me; shocked me.
I enjoyed everything about The Fault in Our Stars. It made me cry and it made me smile. It broke my heart yet made me feel wonderful. And though it was such an emotional read, I loved everything about it. I highly recommend this one, even if you don’t read emotional books such as this one. I feel everyone should give this book a try.
My Thoughts:
There are really no words for this book. And I know that I cannot capture in a few words, or sentences, the way this story affected me. And it affected me intensively. I knew that it would, but still, it really touched me. And though it made me cry, those big fat ugly tears, I am so happy I finally read it!
This book deals with some tough and very sad situations. So of course it made my heart ache and break and cry, but it also made me smile. But what I loved so much about this is the characters. I really adored getting to know Hazel and Augustus. They made the story fun to read and, well, I got really attached to them.
Hazel was unique, to me at least. I think I enjoyed her more cynical view of life, which was very strong at the beginning of the book. Which was understandable, having to deal with cancer in all forms, day in and day out, does make some cynical. But Hazel was extremely likable. She is very smart and a bit cocky, and she really pulled me into her story. I wanted to see what happened to her. Her personality is very strong and watching everything she goes through.. well.. it was just wow.
And I feel so hard for Augustus. I can’t really say just how wonderful this character was. I loved that he was so odd and he talked so much. But he had this really big heart and he saw the world really differently. And like Hazel he has been through quite a bit, so he too had a strong personality. One I really loved!
I loved how Hazel and Augustus’s personalities mixed. They were a great combination together and they were so cute together. I loved watching them grow and develop, and they really did grow so much during this book. I can’t write how much I just loved these characters!
Another thing I just loved was John Green’s writing style. I felt he really capture his characters and their uniqueness and of course their situations. I also loved the underlining humor of his writing style. He captured such a beautifully tragic story so well.
The pacing and the building of the plot flowed well. I felt that everything just fit in this book. The characters were unique and interesting and I couldn’t help but love them and feel for their situation. Even the side characters crawled into my heart. The love that developed between Hazel and Augustus just stole my breath away. And though I did figure out the twist, it still shook me; shocked me.
I enjoyed everything about The Fault in Our Stars. It made me cry and it made me smile. It broke my heart yet made me feel wonderful. And though it was such an emotional read, I loved everything about it. I highly recommend this one, even if you don’t read emotional books such as this one. I feel everyone should give this book a try.
agrotera's review
4.0
I owe the Tumblr girlies an apology. Good book. The audiobook really does the story justice.
nahlaaly56's review
4.0
I loved it. It's funny, it's sad, it's deep... it's really genuine and real.