Reviews with content warning for Alcoholism - The Fault in Our Stars

People give John Green a lot of $#!+ but I genuinely think he's a great author and TFIOS is proof of that. This book is funny, sad, and incredibly insightful. The characters remain loveable and realistic all the way through - even when you read a line that leaves you thinking "no teenager today would speak like a walking thesaurus but ok." The plot is one of those where not much happens, which is part of what makes it feel realistic. It may not be everyone's cup of tea, but personally, I like books like that. And finally, I think this book has a great message. It gives the reader a lot to ponder when it comes to life and death and the fear of being forgotten and all that jazz. Green is great about inserting these little philosophical thoughts and conversations into his books - the sorts of things that we tend to obsess over, especially as we get older - and making them more digestible. It is interesting to read TFIOS through that lens, but also, I honestly think it makes this book that much more heartbreaking.

If there's one thing I wish Green had done differently, it's

remove that part when Hazel and Augustus kissed in the Anne Frank House and everyone clapped. Every time I read it, I get the worst secondhand embarrassment. If I had a time machine, the first thing I would do is go back in time and prevent Green from writing that part, I'm so serious.

Anyway, I wanted to share a not-so-fun-fact from Mr. John Green himself. Apparently,

Hazel died about a year after Augustus. Isn't that sad as hell?

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bookbird's review against another edition

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emotional hopeful inspiring reflective sad medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.75

I have to knock off a little something because this book is so pretentious and earnest it's frankly ridiculous, but I love it. So much. I first read TFIOS at around Hazel's age, and over a decade later, it's still special to me. Sometimes my brain doesn't let me see the beauty in this world, and John Green reminds me to look for it, even when it's almost unbearably hard and annoying to do so.

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allysm0llbean's review

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sad fast-paced

Loveable characters? Yes

5.0

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stuck_in_a_good_book's review

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emotional funny 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

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theelizabethjoy's review against another edition

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challenging emotional reflective sad fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

5.0

I haven't read this book in a decade and it hurts just as much now as it did then. It's a beautiful, heart-wrenching, gut-punch of a story.

It isn't a happy ending, it just is.

"Pain is like fabric, the stronger it is, the more it is worth".

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ellaticonstellation's review against another edition

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dark emotional funny hopeful informative lighthearted slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

5.0

This is my first re-read after years of reading it for the first time. I hate that people have to experience this in real life. That people die so young. It's so sad. To be honest, there are points in this story that are hard to read, but this story made me think a lot and feel for people who are sick. No offense meant to adults, but I hate when young people are sick, especially if it's not their fault. It sucks so bad. Overall, I loved this a lot. Thank you, John♥️

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lucyrudd's review against another edition

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challenging reflective sad medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

5.0

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nick13's review

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adventurous emotional funny medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

5.0

It's strange, I'm not a very emotional person and when thinking back on this story it feels like I shouldn't have enjoyed it whatsoever. But somehow I absolutely loved this novel (It even had to choke back some tears!).

This novel is just so much of everything I love in a story, it had people going through very rough times yet still able to have humor, it had great writing, all of the characters were good and human, and overall the story was just so good. Even some scenes that can be seen as a little bit cheesy -

The whole clapping scene at Anne Frank's house

- I think are actually well put together and if you delve deeper into the writing make sense.

There isn't one thing that I can point at to show it's a good story like I can with other books, this one has a bit of everything which makes sense as to why it was a massive hit. And, well, it deserves every bit of its success.

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