Thursday, March 22, 2012

The Fault in Our Stars by John Green

Genre: social issues
Series and Book #: none
Pages: 313
Summary:

Despite the tumor-shrinking medical miracle that has bought her a few years, Hazel has never been anything but terminal, her final chapter inscribed upon diagnosis. But when a gorgeous plot twist named Augustus Waters suddenly appears at Cancer Kid Support Group, Hazel’s story is about to be completely rewritten.

--------

I am a huge, huge fan of John Green's. I've read all his books (from Looking for Alaska to Will Grayson, Will Grayson) and this one was completely different. It was much darker than the others. There wasn't as much witty humor--it was all dark and depressing and centered around death. Although this is pretty much the central theme of the novel. Hazel's dying, Augustus had cancer, and everyone she knows has had cancer. She's been surrounded by death her entire life and she knows it's coming for her, so there's not much to laugh at. But Augustus was this bright figure that showed up and she learns that even through cancer and death, there can be laughter and happiness.

My favorite thing about John Green is that he takes these random, obscure things and puts them into his writing. Like the addition of An Imperial Affliction and Peter Van Houten. I mean, it doesn't exist, but I've never read another author who creates a fake book and makes it a central theme of his novel (unless you count books of spells from witch books, or encyclopedias of demons, etc). At first it was just an obsession of Hazel's but in the end it morphed into this connection between her and Augustus.

Overall, another excellent addition to John Green's writing. As always, his writing is thought consuming and real, and he creates characters that naturally draw you in. No matter what genre you like, I strongly suggest you read his books.

The Cover: This one's very plain. I like the one with all the writing surrounding the clouds better. But simplicity is key here, and the cover is spunky and clean.

No comments:

Post a Comment