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.

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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.

An Abundance of Katherines by John Green

Genre: social issues
Series and Book #: none
Pages: 215
Synopsis:

Katherine V thought boys were gross. Katherine X just wanted to be friends. Katherine XVIII dumped him in an e-mail. K-19 broke his heart.

When it comes to relationships, Colin Singleton’s type is girls named Katherine. And when it comes to girls named Katherine, Colin is always getting dumped. Nineteen times, to be exact.

On a road trip miles from home, this anagram-happy, washed-up child prodigy has ten thousand dollars in his pocket, a bloodthirsty feral hog on his trail, and an overweight, Judge Judy-loving best friend riding shotgun—but no Katherines. Colin is on a mission to prove the Theorem of Underlying Katherine Predictability, which he hopes will predict the future of any relationship, avenge Dumpees everywhere, and finally win him the girl.

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That smile could end wars and cure cancer.

-An Abundance of Katherines by John Green, pg 32

To start off on an off note, I hated the beginning of this novel. It was just like, BOOM, let's on a road trip, and Colin and Hassan (his best friend) went on said road trip and then stopped the road trip when they made it to Gutshot, Tennessee, home to the Archduke Franz Ferdinand and Lindsey Lee Wells. It was just a quick little chapter of Colin reminiscing about K-19. That was another thing that bugged me. I loved how John went into the different Katherine's that Colin had dated, but I hated that Colin would start the story and a couple chapters later finish it. It just made no sense to me.

Despite some of my *ahem* dislikes, An Abundance of Katherines was everything that I'd expect from John Green. Humor, meaningful passages, and a nerdy-ish boy and a girl. Really, it was the perfect John Green novel. Colin is my favorite of all of John's MCs because he wasn't obsessed with Lindsey, not even in the end. He liked her, sure, but unlike in Paper Towns and Looking for Alaska, he wasn't completely in love with her. Mostly Katherine XIX held his heart and the Theorem took up most of his time.

Overall, what a wonderful novel. I especially liked the little passages under the text that gave meaning to what Colin was saying and what he meant. It was fun to read the story of a prodigy longing to be a genius, and not realizing that you don't have to be an extraordinary person to make others lives better. Lindsey, Hassan, and Gutshot were all great to him in realizing that life wasn't all about him being a genius, but about others taking care of each other.

The Cover: Love it! I find it very hard to believe that there are nineteen different Katherines for Colin to date, but whatever.

Will Grayson, Will Grayson by John Green & David Levithan

Genre: social issues
Series and Book #: none
Pages: 310
Synopsis:

Will Grayson, meet Will Grayson

One cold night, in a most unlikely corner of Chicago, two strangers cross paths. Two teens with the same name, running in two very different circles, suddenly find their lives going in new and unexpected directions, culminating in heroic turns-of-heart and the most epic musical ever to grace the high school stage.

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John Green and David Levithan have created a story that is uniquely theirs, and has two different but alike characters, both named Will Grayson.

Will Grayson #1, or o.w.g, was confused and unsure about who he was and what he wanted. He was also mad at himself for messing up his relationship with his Group of Friends, and being stuck with Tiny Cooper (his not-so-tiny gay best friend), and Tiny's fellow Gay-Straight Alliance friends. Will Grayson #2 is seriously pessimistic and depressed, but he has Isaac, a boy he's met on the Internet, to cling to. And that's what's keeping him afloat, while o.w.g's float is Tiny. But when o.w.g and Will Grayson #2 meet, things start to come undone for them and the rules they've built for themselves start to become obsolete as they're lives smash together, and they stop not-feeling.

This book had many, many strengths (including the final chapters with the musical) but the swearing was overpowering, if not unnecessary. I understand that cursing is required to put a point across with more force than someone would usually use, but to use it as often as John and David did, I thought it was needless.

Overall, John Green writes in the usual, poetic way he has, and David Levithan (although I don't think I've read any of his previous novels) makes Will Grayson #2 come across as the person he thought he was, and the transformation was subtle enough that I thought it was nonexistent. Even though the beginning was rocky, and I had trouble looking past the constant swearing, I loved the end and the message it sent: be yourself, no matter who you are.

The Cover: I thought the lights catch the reader's eye, and the Will Grayson's were right to be nearly blending. 

Looking for Alaska by John Green

Genre: social issues
Series and Book #: none
Pages: 221
Synopsis:

Before. Miles “Pudge” Halter is done with his safe life at home. His whole existence has been one big nonevent, and his obsession with famous last words has only made him crave the “Great Perhaps” (Francois Rabelais, poet) even more. He heads off to the sometimes crazy, possibly unstable, and anything-but-boring world of Culver Creek Boarding School, and his life becomes the opposite of safe. Because down the hall is Alaska Young. The gorgeous, clever, funny, sexy, self-destructive, screwed-up, and utterly fascinating Alaska Young, who is an event unto herself. She pulls Pudge into her world, launches him into the Great Perhaps, and steals his heart.

After. Nothing is ever the same.

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John Green's first novel (I think) was stellar. His poetic writing, his choice of words, and his metaphors all collaborated to form this amazing story of a plain boy falling in and out of love with a colorful girl.

Miles (but I shall call him Pudge) was like an average kid with a unique hobby: reading the biographies of famous persons and learning their last words. But his life is terribly boring and he chooses instead to go to Culver Creek, where he meets the Colonel, Takumi, Lara, and, of course, Alaska Young.

Alaska was in my opinion the main character of this novel. She was wild, uncertain, emotional, funny, helpful, and she was extremely loyal to all of her friends. But she had ghosts in her past and she was a trainwreck from time to time, and Pudge's feelings for her change so often, but in the end he really loved her. Pudge himself was a great character, and he went with the flow, but it wasn't until After that he really stood up for himself. Alaska's world changes him in so many ways, taking him from this uncaring kid into a guy who's discovered so much, that it's unbelievable he's still a teenager.

Overall, Looking for Alaska is one of those books that you can read again and again but still be surprised and still be enlightened. Sometimes it felt as if John took some things over the top, but most of the time I thought and thought and thought. I didn't know books could make you think this much. If you haven't read any John Green novels, read them. And start with this one. Because as crazy and wild as it is, it's beautiful all the same.

The Cover: Once I finished the novel, I got the symbolizm of the cover more than I had. I like this cover. Very fitting for the book.

Author News: The Fault in Our Stars by John Green

John Green, the bestselling author of Paper Towns (read my review here), Looking for Alaska, An Abundance of Katherines, and Will Grayson, Will Grayson (along with David Levithan) has a new novel coming out in January 2012 called The Fault in Our Stars.

Now, there's no definete cover for The Fault in Our Stars, so I can't show it to you. But I can give you this: http://johngreenbooks.com/the-fault-in-our-stars/ It is a handy dandy link to John Green's website, taking you conviniently to a post about The Fault in Our Stars.

Now, I've only ever read Paper Towns by John Green, but I'm looking forward to reading his other books. He's an amazing author, whose writing goes to the heart of things and looks deeper than just the outside. So, I highly suggest you read his novels, and quick, because January's coming fast and that means so is The Fault in Our Stars.

Paper Towns by John Green

Synopsis: Who is the real Margo? Quentin Jacobsen has spent a lifetime loving the magnificently adventurous Margo Roth Spiegelman from afar. So when she cracks open a window and climbs into his life--dressed like a ninja and summoning him for an ingenious campaign of revenge--he follows. After their all-nighter ends, and a new day breaks, Q arrives at school to discover that Margo, always an enigma, has now become a mystery. But Q soon learns that there are clues--and they're for him. Urged down a disconnected path, the closer he gets, the less Q sees the girl he thought he knew....

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I read this book awhile ago, like, last year awhile ago. And I just pulled it off my shelf and thought, "Huh. This would be fun to blog about" because a) this is an amazing book and b) I'm currently reading a 454 page book that's going to take me awhile to finish, so...I don't have many books to blog about.

John Green is going down as one of my all-time favorite authors. His writing is funny, realistic, and it goes deeper than just the story. For instance, not only does he promote Margo's theory of "paper towns" with Margo herself, but he also ponders the question, "Is your town made of paper? Are you a paper person?" And even though this book was funny and awesome, it did have some more serious undertones.

Quentin is so funny. He's your average, teenage guy with average, teenage guy problems (although, I really wouldn't know, considering I am not a guy). His parents are pretty laid back and I thought that Green really focused on Q's problems with friends and Margo much more than his family problems. Quentin takes us back to when he was younger and growing up with Margo and how it all changed. He tells stories about Margo in childhood and how his admiration of her slowly grew throughout the years. I thought Quentin was a really well-written character because Green did look into his past and made him seem real, but didn't get too heavy on the details of his life. Like his parents; didn't really go there. His friends are oh-so-funny too, and I have to say, Ben and Radar (his friends) had a tie for one of my favorite side characters in this book.

Green doesn't really totally touch down on Margo, but he does have little sweeps. The first part of the book is the only really connection with Margo until the end, when she comes up again. Margo is a really static character throughout the book and I really didn't like the way Green ended this one. I loved her clues, thought, and it was really interesting to see where Margo led Q, Ben, and Radar and meeting all the people she knew along the way. The beginning was interesting, especially the all-nighter with Q. But in the middle, when she disappears, it got less interesting. Then it picked up again towards the end on their road trip (hint hint).

Over all, I thought this was really sweet book. I loved Q's perspective of the whole thing, starting with Margo and ending with his own life. Ben was hilarious and Radar was equally awesome. Margo wasn't all that cool to me. I thought she was somewhat selfish in the way she didn't really care about the people she left behind. I did not like the ending at all. I thought it left too much open for a single novel. I must caution, though, that they do swear a lot in this book, although it wasn't drowning in it. Mostly the swearing came from Ben.

The Cover: Goodness this has to be one of my most favorite covers. I love the push pin and how it stuck to a map, which really is in the book. It's simple but it also give you this "paper towns" feel, using the map and all. Over all, very nice. Simplistic and to the point.