Thursday 29 March 2012

Mini-review: The Fault In Our Stars, John Green

 Despite the tumor-shrinking medical miracle that has bought her a few years, Hazel has never beenanything 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. (cover blurb) 
The Fault in Our Stars is one of those intensely human books that make you laugh even while your eyes are full of tears and you can't read any further. Hazel and Augustus are clever, witty teenagers, quirky thinkers that you can't help loving immediately. Their relationship is fun and natural, and made me really believe in love again. By 200 pages in, I just couldn''t imagine the world without them. But this book is about both life and death, with two teenage cancer sufferers falling in love even while facing their own mortality, and it's not fair.

How can any single book be so funny, so uplifting and so heartbreaking all at once? I guess that's what life is. With a few, well-chosen words in the right order, John Green makes poetry of simple prose and helps to bring understanding of the incomprehensible almost within reach. Green is without doubt one of the cleverest writers for teens out there. He knows.



Special kudos to Green for his correct identification, use and strategic abuse of the word "literally," and for his understanding of what star-crossed lovers really are.

2 comments:

  1. Funny, uplifting and heartbreaking - in my opinion three of the things that make a good read. Thanks for your review, I'm hoping our library will be able to get hold of a copy of this.

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  2. Special kudos to Green for his correct identification, use and strategic abuse of the word "literally," and for his understanding of what star-crossed lovers really are.

    Haha, those are two of my pet hates. I've been known to scream at the TV whenever 'literally' is used incorrectly. 'She was like, literally kissing her ass.' Yeeaahh... but she wasn't LITERALLY, was she? Argh.

    Sorry, I'm ranting. Anyway, I really want to read this. I'd never heard of him until the hype about The Fault in Our Stars started, but now I'm desperate for it :)

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