The Fault in our Stars

The Fault in Our Stars by John Green
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

"Late in the winter of my 17th year, my mother decided I was depressed, presumably because I rarely left the house, spent quite a lot of time in bed, read the same book over & over, ate infrequently & devoted quite a bit of my abundant free time to thinking about death"

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Hazel Grace. 16 years old & living with thyroid cancer that had gone to her lungs. We meet Hazel as she's going to a Support Group in the "Literal Heart of Jesus". She sits next to her friend Isaac with cancer in his eyes. Before long, Isaac bring his friend, Augustus to the support group. Augustus had Osteosarcoma & had lost a leg with his cancer.

You'd think its a depressing book, which it does have its moments where it tugs at your heart, but you see how it is to live young with cancer. How families that love you live with it.

Augustus & Hazel develop a relationship even though Hazel doesn't want to be a "grenade" to Augustus by destroying everything around her when she leaves. Gus has other thoughts on that idea.

Hazel has one book she reads over & over again because she can relate to the young girl who has cancer in the story. The way the books ends, Hazel wants to know more. Once she has Augustus read the book, & he too becomes enthralled in it, they just want to know more about the characters after the story ends...

A "Cancer Perk" is to have a wish fulfilled. Hazel, already using hers on a Disney trip, is shocked when Gus uses his to go on a trip across the ocean to meet the author. Not the trip you would expect... horrible & sweet all in one.... people not being who you'd expect, things happening that make you remember young love, & news that is revealed that will break your heart...

I loved Augustus so much... the way he thought & said things. The way he felt about Hazel. The way he would say, "Hazel Grace". The way he told her he loved her. He was the perfect love for our main character.

I loved the side characters - the parents of Hazel & Augustus. Isaac, who ends up having another round with cancer & the devastating way he has to handle it. Even the author that Hazel has longed her life to meet.

We know how this book is going to end, but you don't really know... all I can say is your heart gets a little torn because you love these characters... but you learn a little bit about life, & how to look at it. How life continues on.

In the end, I felt like Hazel... I want to know more at the end... how the characters carry on... what does the next year look like for them all?...the signs of a good book.

My favorite line of the book: "What a slut time is. She screws everybody"

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I do, Augustus. I do.

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