Book Review: The Fault in Our Stars by John Green

Title: The Fault in Our Stars 

Author: John Green
Series: Standalone
Pages: 313
Publisher: Dutton
Date of Publication: 10th January 2012
Source: Bought
Synopsis from Goodreads: Diagnosed with Stage IV thyroid cancer at 12, Hazel was prepared to die until, at 14, a medical miracle shrunk the tumours in her lungs... for now.

Two years post-miracle, sixteen-year-old Hazel is post-everything else, too; post-high school, post-friends and post-normalcy. And even though she could live for a long time (whatever that means), Hazel lives tethered to an oxygen tank, the tumours tenuously kept at bay with a constant chemical assault.

Enter Augustus Waters. A match made at cancer kid support group, Augustus is gorgeous, in remission, and shockingly to her, interested in Hazel. Being with Augustus is both an unexpected destination and a long-needed journey, pushing Hazel to re-examine how sickness and health, life and death, will define her and the legacy that everyone leaves behind.

Apologies in advance for the rambliness and the jumpiness of this review... It's not going to be structured all that well. Sorry ;P There may also be a couple of EXTREMELY OBVIOUS spoilers. Spoilers you can guess from the synopsis, so this is your only warning.

My Thoughts:
I don't really know where to start with this review. I have nothing to work with, apart from the jumble of feelings and emotions that are currently floating around in my head, so I don't really know what you're going to have read by the time you get to the end of this post. Sorry about that.

I guess I should start by saying this: I've read Looking For Alaska and John's short story in Let It Snow, and if I'm being perfectly honest, was a little bit disappointed by both. Not that they weren't good reads or anything, they just weren't mind blowing and not nearly as good as I expected them to be, having heard all the hype surrounding them on the internet. So I was SUPER excited for TFiOS, but I also wasn't expecting AMAZING things (but you know, I also kind of was... MAKES NO SENSE, I KNOW). I think this is one of the main reasons why I loved TFiOS SO much - because I had NO IDEA that what I was reading was going to be as good as it was.

I think one of the things that really stands out for me in John's books (especially in this one) is that he is SO good at writing extremely real and believable characters. There's nothing really special or extraordinary about them - they are just normal people. And yeah, OK, some of them have weird 'talents' (like Pudge in LfA's obsession with last words or they are really nerdy (but come on, it's John Green - do we expect anything less? ;P )) but they still seem like real people... Anyway, John is amazing at really getting into his characters, I have no idea how he managed to get into the head of a teenage girl so well and so accurately, but it was awesome. It was as if it actually was the diary of a terminally ill teenage cancer patient.

The Fault in Our Stars broke my heart. I have NEVER cried so much at a book before, and a book has certainly never ever made me sob. Like, I know I said this in my last review but I don't cry at books... I feel heartless and cold, but I just don't. And I don't LIKE crying because someone just died, I mean, that's not fun, right?! But I loved that it made me feel so much that I couldn't hold in my tears - it takes a lot for that to happen, so it must be something special.

I don't really know what else to say. It made me feel so much, and being not that great with words, I don't know how to explain. Just know that it was awesome, as in, the proper sense of the word. It's incredible - moving but also ridiculously funny in the most inappropriate of times. It's definitely John Green's best work, (and I know I haven't read all of them so I can't really say that, but I WILL!) so whether you've read any of his books before or not, read this one. Or at least give it a chance, because I honestly don't think you'll be disappointed.