Book Review: The Fault in Our Stars by John Green

I desperately need to catch your attention. I know that most of my readers look forward to my food and travel posts. But only very few people are interested when I post the books that I’ve recently read. Proof to that are the absence of comments and low traffic on my book-related posts. Because I know that the first paragraph of a story is very crucial, I’ll start by saying this.  

IF YOU CAN ONLY READ ONE BOOK THIS 2013, MAKE SURE IT WILL BE JOHN GREEN’S THE FAULT IN OUR STARS!

I’m serious.

The_Fault_in_Our_StarsImage taken from wikipedia 

Though a little late, I was really happy when I accidentally got the chance to read Paper Towns late last year. That book introduced me to John Green. Unlike Paper Towns, TFiOS has a heavier plot (at least for me). Hazel and Augustus are teenagers who happened to meet in a Support Group for cancer patients. So yes, the book talks about the horror of every cancer patient and their families. It talks about the pain of  leaving and being left behind. I can enumerate all the things why I love TFiOS, but I will just name a few.

1. It is very funny! You’re probably asking me, “How on Earth can a book about cancer become funny?” TFiOS is the kind of book that will make you laugh out loud after reading two sentences, reread those parts and laugh one more time. There were times when I had to do this cycle over and over again. I love the humor and the sarcasm. Although there are similarities among some of the characters from Paper Towns, I still enjoyed TFiOS.

2. It makes me think. I had a lot of AHA moments while reading. That was also the case with Paper Towns so I guess it’s consistent in all John Green’s books. I had moments when I needed to put down the book and digest what I just read. John Green is such a witty author. He’s so witty that I want to kidnap his brain and make IT my friend. I want to hang out and have coffee with IT!

3. It is a rollercoaster ride. Though the first 2/3 of the book made me laugh, I cried non-stop on the latter parts. It started with that weird feeling that I’m choking, like there was a big chunk of steak stuck in my throat. A tear falls. And it refuses to stop even after I finished the book. I can't remember the last time I cried this hard over a book. The Fault in Our Stars broke me. I'll probably be sad for a month! John Green should come up with a Support Group for readers who have been emotionally battered by The Fault in Our Stars.

I finished reading the book just before midnight. My husband woke up because I was crying! Though he was laughing, he was seriously trying to comfort me. You may say I’m overreacting. But the pain I felt after reading the book continues to linger.

4. It is an extraordinary love story. I already knew from the beginning that Augustus and Hazel’s love story will end that way. But as their story develops, John Green starts to bring something more out of it. I’ll tell you one secret. I have read a lot of love stories. But TFiOS is the first book which made me all so giddy and feel like I’m 15 once again. But more than that, he was able to explain love in the quirkiest way possible, very far from the love clichés that we all grew up with.

“There are infinite numbers between 0 and 1. There's .1 and .12 and .112 and an infinite collection of others. Of course, there is a bigger infinite set of numbers between 0 and 2, or between 0 and a million. Some infinities are bigger than other infinities. A writer we used to like taught us that. There are days, many of them, when I resent the size of my unbounded set. I want more numbers than I'm likely to get, and God, I want more numbers for Augustus Waters than he got. But, Gus, my love, I cannot tell you how thankful I am for our little infinity. I wouldn't trade it for the world. You gave me a forever within the numbered days, and I'm grateful.”

“But I believe in true love, you know? I don't believe that everybody gets to keep their eyes or not get sick or whatever, but everybody should have true love, and it should last at least as long as your life does.”

“I'm in love with you, and I know that love is just a shout into the void, and that oblivion is inevitable, and that we're all doomed and that there will come a day when all our labor has been returned to dust, and I know the sun will swallow the only earth we'll ever have, and I am in love with you.”

5. It is not just a love story. It is a story of friendship. I love how John describes the friendship of Isaac and Augustus. Again, the depiction was a bit similar to Q and his friends in Paper Towns, but it is still a very powerful story of friendship. It is a story of a parent’s love. I was crying on the love story part, but it was the parents’ grief that pains me. Even that douchebag Peter Van Houten left an impact when I learned about his backstory. It was Hazel’s dad (who was just probably on 0.01% of the book) who made me cry the hardest.

“He was such a bright kid. It’s bullshit. I hate it. But it was sure a privilege to love him, huh?”

I nodded into his shirt.

“Gives you an idea how I feel about you,” he said.

Mothers are naturally the comforting ones. So when a father tells something like this to his child, it will surely be a touching scene. I was already crying non-stop. But when I read this part, my tears started to flow at 200 kilometers per hour!

Some of you may actually say that reading is boring. I’ll assure you that John Green is a genius and knows how to entertain his readers. Some of you may actually not like to read books. But you have to give this book a chance. Go back to my highlighted statement above. :)

4 comments :

  1. Now I must buy this one! Been trying not to. But now I know I must. :)

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  2. My curiosity was piqued when you said it's a funny book about cancer, I'll try to read my e-book soon! I think I also have other books by John Green and based on your review, he seems like a good author. :)

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  3. Hmmm, may VERY pa talaga ha. Sige nga start ko na basahin ang book nya na yan this weekend. :)

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  4. One of the very few books to ever make me actually cry. Oh!

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