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3.99 AVERAGE
3.99 AVERAGE
challenging
emotional
lighthearted
reflective
relaxing
sad
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
La primera palabra que se me ocurre para este es HORRIBLE. Pero xq es muy intenso. No fue de mis lecturas preferidas porque es muy triste. No me gustó por eso, pero lo mismo lo leí porque te interesa leerlo.
No creo q lo haga de nuevo, no quiero soportar tanta tristeza al leer algo.
No creo q lo haga de nuevo, no quiero soportar tanta tristeza al leer algo.
-CONTENT WARNING: Sexuality, language-
........
That's all I can really think of to say about this book. And for once that's a good thing. For those (most likely rare) people not "in the know," the book is narrated by a sixteen year old girl named Hazel who falls in love with a fellow cancer patient named Augustus Waters. It's hard to describe the rest without spoiling anything, but suffice to say that you should be prepared to have your heart swell, and then utterly shatter, and then be somewhat patched back together again (but not really).
I picked up this book not really knowing what to expect. Being written by John Green, I figured it would be good. I assumed I would laugh out loud, think a little, go "awww" every now and then. I expected it would follow the usual John Green format - Manic Pixie female lead, plays-it-safe male lead with an acerbic wit who needs to be drawn out of his shell, a surrounding cast of similarly snarky supporting characters. All typical John Green fare, all highly enjoyable, even if not terribly innovative by this point.
What I wasn't expecting was to end the book curled up in my car, leaning my forehead against my steering wheel and sobbing inconsolably, but that's what happened. It was every bit as overdramatic and ridiculous as it sounds.
You're probably assuming that it's sad, heart wrenching, oddly sweet, etc. The usual formulaic words used to describe what typifies a, as Hazel calls them, a Cancer Book. And yes, it is all of those things, but it's more than that. (Cliched phrase is cliched.) It doesn't serve up a beautiful, glittering, cleanly-packaged story of cancer being cured by The Power of Love, or a cancer-stricken character who triumphs over their disease and gets better off of nothing but their own willpower. And personally, I love that.
It's a very "real" book, populated by real characters with emotions and hopes and fears that we as readers are made almost uncomfortably privy to. It's the kind of book that doesn't demand to be felt or appreciated; it just is. I didn't even realize the emotional effect the book was having until the thought crossed my mind that I had tears running down my face and the air was somehow becoming less easy to breathe without sounding like iron claws were clamping down on my windpipe. It worms its way into your mind and makes itself at home there.
Near the beginning of the novel, Hazel describes the kind of euphoria that sometimes seizes you when you read a particularly good book. The way you become filled with a fervor for it, and a desire for everyone you know to read this book so they can all experience the same wonderful things that you did. Oddly enough, I feel like that description is perfectly fitting of the book in which it was written.
........
That's all I can really think of to say about this book. And for once that's a good thing. For those (most likely rare) people not "in the know," the book is narrated by a sixteen year old girl named Hazel who falls in love with a fellow cancer patient named Augustus Waters. It's hard to describe the rest without spoiling anything, but suffice to say that you should be prepared to have your heart swell, and then utterly shatter, and then be somewhat patched back together again (but not really).
I picked up this book not really knowing what to expect. Being written by John Green, I figured it would be good. I assumed I would laugh out loud, think a little, go "awww" every now and then. I expected it would follow the usual John Green format - Manic Pixie female lead, plays-it-safe male lead with an acerbic wit who needs to be drawn out of his shell, a surrounding cast of similarly snarky supporting characters. All typical John Green fare, all highly enjoyable, even if not terribly innovative by this point.
What I wasn't expecting was to end the book curled up in my car, leaning my forehead against my steering wheel and sobbing inconsolably, but that's what happened. It was every bit as overdramatic and ridiculous as it sounds.
You're probably assuming that it's sad, heart wrenching, oddly sweet, etc. The usual formulaic words used to describe what typifies a, as Hazel calls them, a Cancer Book. And yes, it is all of those things, but it's more than that. (Cliched phrase is cliched.) It doesn't serve up a beautiful, glittering, cleanly-packaged story of cancer being cured by The Power of Love, or a cancer-stricken character who triumphs over their disease and gets better off of nothing but their own willpower. And personally, I love that.
It's a very "real" book, populated by real characters with emotions and hopes and fears that we as readers are made almost uncomfortably privy to. It's the kind of book that doesn't demand to be felt or appreciated; it just is. I didn't even realize the emotional effect the book was having until the thought crossed my mind that I had tears running down my face and the air was somehow becoming less easy to breathe without sounding like iron claws were clamping down on my windpipe. It worms its way into your mind and makes itself at home there.
Near the beginning of the novel, Hazel describes the kind of euphoria that sometimes seizes you when you read a particularly good book. The way you become filled with a fervor for it, and a desire for everyone you know to read this book so they can all experience the same wonderful things that you did. Oddly enough, I feel like that description is perfectly fitting of the book in which it was written.
My complaint remains from his last book: teens don't talk like this and, I'm fairly certain, don't think at the level of zen-master-self-awareness. But aside from this, this novel was really enjoyable to read, affecting, and thoughtful. Also, not predictable in the way I thought it would be. a good read.
This book was truly fanstasticly amazing.
It has now quite possibly become my favorite book.
It has now quite possibly become my favorite book.
I read the book in about 48 hours, believing the hype. The most enjoyable part of the book to me was the language, which was beautiful and quotable. However, I had trouble getting past how juvenile the book felt. Admittedly, it is written for a teenage audience.
Also, I feel like the smitten dying teenager was merely a trope used by the author. I think Crutcher did a better job with the same trope in Deadline, published around the same time.It was still enjoyable, just not the blockbuster book it was made out to be.
Also, I feel like the smitten dying teenager was merely a trope used by the author. I think Crutcher did a better job with the same trope in Deadline, published around the same time.It was still enjoyable, just not the blockbuster book it was made out to be.
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
N/A
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
I loved it. I really did. Actually with the first sentence I was already hooked. I think John Green's really an amazing writer, and I immediately fell in love with Augustus the moment he came in the picture. I also like Hazel as a character. it does break your heart though
I never read this book or saw this movie. Was I living under a rock? Maybe. I knew the plot going into it (inescapable as that is for a book that became a huge part of pop culture when it came out). Two cancer kids fall in love with terrible consequences. I’ve read John Green before; he seems to like the manic-pixie-dream girl thing. This book had a boy playing that role. I don’t know how to describe my reading experience here other than to say that I was always aware I was reading a book John Green had written. I didn’t really lose myself in it. An easy read, not bad, but didn’t knock my socks off. No tears were shed here.