The Fault in our Stars
By John Green
This book is about two young, sick teenage kids’ story of falling in. Hazel was diagnosed at 13 with stage four thyroid cancer. She was prepared to die. At 14 a miracle shrunk her tumour. At 16 she lives. Just tied to an oxygen tank keeping her from dying. As you would Hazel fell depressed and her mum insisted, she went to a cancer kid support group to try keep her hopes high. This is where sparks flew as she met the love of her life Augustus Waters. This book takes you on the journey and the up and downs of Hazel and Augustus exhilarating love story.
An aspect of the book that really grabbed me was that the perspective of the book is told by Hazel. Something that really grabbed me was her on going witty and funny narrative. She constantly cracked jokes that only a cancer survivor could say and made you feel really in the story.
Another aspect of this book that grabbed me was the romance between Hazel and Augustus. I felt they really cared about each other, and you could feel the chemistry through the pages. This story reveals the complexities of each character and shares their personality beyond their illnesses that people usually define them by.
Another aspect of the text which grabbed me was that they never let their illness limit them. Throughout the book these to experience things not many kids with cancer could do. If you saw past the oxygen tank and the prostatic leg of Augustus, they would just seem like normal kids in love. “As he read, I fell in love the way you fall asleep: slowly, and then all at once.” this means she wasn't thinking about how much time they would have left, if they would beat the cancer, she just thought about their and how powerful it is.
What I have taken away from the book is I realised that cancer not just touches victims, but it also touches all those who love. This book shows how not just Hazel's but everyone close to her life’s was flipped upside down once she found out she had cancer. I also feel someone’s illness does not define them. This book shows the raw love of two teens who see past each other’s illness.
I would recommend it to young adults who mind going a roller-coaster of emotion, believe love is magical, and love a good page turner because this book is all this and more.
Book review written by Rylie McBride (Year 10, 2022)
