Book review: The Fault in Our Stars

I recently finished all 313 pages of John Green’s The Fault in Our Stars and I must say, I was completely satisfied with this book. Hazel Grace Lancaster suffers from stage 4 thyroid cancer with metastasis forming in her lungs, but can manage her disease using Phalanxifor, a fictional experimental drug. She attends a cancer support group for the first time and meets Augustus Waters, who suffers from osteosarcoma which resulted in losing his leg. Gus only came to the support group to support his friend Isaac, who has osteosarcoma, a rare from of cancer that forms in the retina. He will eventually have to lose his eye because of it, leaving him completely blind. But enough about Isaac. The two immediately became inseparable and eventually, confessed their love for each other (which, frankly, was my favorite part). The two bonded over Hazel’s favorite book, An Imperial Affliction, by Peter Van Houten. Hazel made a dying wish years ago to meet the author of her favorite book and find out what happens at the end of this book. Hazel and Gus love this book because the main character, Anna who is Peter Van Houten’s daughter in real life, also suffers from cancer. When Hazel tells Augustus about her dying wish, he decides to take her on a trip to Amsterdam to meet Peter Van Houten and find out what happens at the end of this book. Unfortunately, she doesn’t get what she wants when she goes to Amsterdam and finds out for herself that Van Houten is a narcisstic “douche pants”, as she says. He even insulted her cancer. HOW RUDE. After they leave and go on a date in Amsterdam, Augustus reveals to Hazel that he is in love with her, which is the best part of the book (and movie), IMO. Before they leave Amsterdam, Augustus tells Hazel that his cancer has spread all over his body and that he will die soon. Poor Hazel. When they return to Indianapolis, Gus’s health worsens and he ends up in the ICU for a few days. While he is afraid of his death, Augustus invites Isaac and Hazel to his pre-funeral, where they give eulogies. I’ll stop there because I’m sure we all know what’s going to happen next.

 

“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.”
― John Green, The Fault in Our Stars