The Fault in Our Stars

John Green

You know those books that, when you finish reading them it takes you awhile to start reading a new book because you become so involved in the characters and the story that you can't bring yourself to meet new characters or discover a new story?  I knew from the first chapter that this would be one of those books.

Hazel Grace Lancaster is a 16-year-old girl who had previously been diagnosed with Thyroid cancer.  That cancer metastasized into small tumors in her lungs which force her to be on an oxygen tank all the time, which she cleverly names Philip, "Because it just looks like a Philip."  Augustus Waters is 17-year-old boy who struggled briefly with osteosarcoma which took one of his legs from him, but at the time of the book is a healthy young boy.

The two leading characters meet in a support group one day, that they have both been involuntarily brought to, and their story begins.  The novel is filled with laugh-out-loud humor which, though it is often aimed at cancer, is never insensitive or callous.  This I had not expected, I went into this book thinking I'd be crying the whole time, but it is not until the end, after you are fully engrossed in the lives and love of these two individuals, that you are brought to tears.

The book is filled with too many quotes to possibly try and include in this blog post, all of which are unforgettable, and make me dream that someday I could be as brilliant of a writer as John Green.  The Fault in Our Stars was also recently made into a major motion picture, it comes out in a few months and I cannot wait to relive the story again on the screen.