A review by lmckensie
The Fault in Our Stars by John Green

5.0

Let me preface my review with this: the time I received this book in the mail to the time I finished it (albeit including a short interruption for essay-writing and the like) amounts to approximately 5 hours. Give or take. Take this as a testament to the fact that I could not put it down.

Mr. Green's book is not overly complex, nor is it unpredictable, but that REALLY, with as much emphasis as I can put on that word, does not matter. Because this is one of those books that you read and, as countless other reviewers have noted, cry and laugh, and occasionally do so simultaneously, because the writing is just good. It's witty without trying too hard to be funny, it's emotional without being melodramatic, and most of all, it's impactful. The Fault in Our Stars is the kind of book that makes you want to be a better person and stop feeling sorry for yourself for trivial things, because there cannot always be happy endings, and there are not always happy endings, as this book proves so well. I fell in love with the character of Augustus Waters a little, not for myself, but for Hazel. I think the chief strength in this book lies in the fact that, even though you know the inevitable will happen, you're still hoping for it not to, just because it's so relatable.

I'd not recommend this book to someone who is too worried about needing to search intensively for hidden meaning in a book, because in this particular book, the message is forthright and doesn't try to disguise itself behind any unnecessary complications. It's just there, and that's the beauty of it.