The Fault in our Stars review

Book Review

Title: The Fault in our Stars

Author: John Green
Main characters: Hazel and Augustus
My rating: 4 ½ / 5

 

Hazel Grace Lancaster is seventeen and living with terminal lung cancer. Her mother is convinced that Hazel is depressed as she reads the same book over and over again and almost never leaves the house. Because of this her mother sends her to a weekly support group at their local church.

Hazel cannot stand it until Augustus Waters begins to attend the same support group. Augustus is a one-legged recovered cancer patient and the complete opposite of terminal Hazel. The two become very close friends and Augustus manages to make contact with Peter Van Houten. He is the author of Hazel’s favourite book who became a recluse in Amsterdam shortly after publishing the book.

Hazel desperately wants to meet Mr. Van Houten so she can ask him what happened to the characters in his book at the end and whether he wrote a sequel. Augustus organises a trip to Amsterdam, but Hazel becomes very sick and the chance of her being well enough to fly to Amsterdam is very slim.

After spending a week in ICU, Hazel is able to return home. Her mother tells her that her doctor has managed to convince her medical team to let her visit Amsterdam. Augustus, Hazel and her mother fly to Amsterdam where Hazel and Augustus finally get to meet Mr. Van Houten.

He turns out to be a drunk who wants nothing to do with the pair. The only reason he met them was because of his assistant, who thought it would be good for him to meet some of his fans. Augustus promises Hazel he will write her a sequel for the book that is better than anything Mr. Van Houten could write. They visit the Anne Frank house together and it is there that Hazel realises that she loves Augustus.

In the last few days of their trip, Augustus tells Hazel he has had a recurrence of cancer all over his body.  He was diagnosed while she was in ICU.

 
As soon as they get back to America Augustus has to start with the cancer drugs. Hazel helps his family take care of him but each day his state deteriorates. On his last good day Augustus calls an emergency support group meeting for Hazel and his friend Isaac where they read eulogies for him.

A few days after this, Augustus dies in hospital. Hazel is devastated. At the funeral she sees the Peter Van Houten and is appalled he would dare attend. He tells her that Augustus said he would forgive him if he attended his funeral.

Hazel stays in contact with Augustus’ parents and they help her look all over their house for Augustus’ sequel. Hazel wants something of his to hold onto but finds nothing. She believes he got too sick to write anything. 

Hazel’s state begins to deteriorate towards the end of the book. She receives an email from Mr. Van Houten’s assistant with a letter Augustus sent to Mr. Van Houten attached. In the last few paragraphs of the book Hazel reads the letter and then it ends. The ending is an awakening reminder about the nature in which cancer affects people.

The Fault in Our Stars is a cancer book but does not glamorize having cancer. It also does not make the reader so terribly unhappy that illnesses such as cancer exist that they cannot go on with normal life. It is beautifully written and has you hanging on to every word. I hate to be cliché but in this instance the pages do turn themselves. I would recommend it to anyone who enjoys realistic fiction because it is a highly relevant book as it is written in our time period and is very true to how cancer and illness can affect people’s lives emotionally and physically. It also makes the reader realise that, as terrible as it is, not every story has to have a happy ending. This is a book that will keep you thinking about it long after you have read the last words. I would expect nothing less of John Green.

I hope you guys enjoyed that. Please comment on whether I should post more reviews

Izzy