The Fault in Our Stars by John Green
Rating: 4/5
I honestly don’t even know what I can say about this book. Every time I try, I can’t really articulate what it made me feel.
I’ve found few authors that can so perfectly portray something that’s impacted my life so heavily. John Green got so many things right, things that played out before my eyes as I lost my own loved ones. That is what made reading this book so emotionally painful for me. Periodically I had to stop reading and pull myself back together to continue. But there was a big difference between the events of this book and my own experiences: this time I got to be inside the head of someone with cancer.
I honestly don’t really know what I can say about the book itself, as I still don’t think I’ve been able to process the events of the novel very well. Hazel’s voice was a strong, funny, and an understandably, humanly flawed one. One complant I can make about the writing, and most assuredly there are few to be had, is that Hazel’s narrative tone is at times a little unrealistic. Her voice was absolutely real to me, but sometimes the word choice was a bit off for someone that spends much of her time marathoning ANTM, even if she also has a love of literature.
As for whether I’d recommend the book, it’s honestly a bit hard to say. I can’t really give a blanket “thumbs up,” only because there are a few people in my life that I think would find this book hurtful rather than helpful—the subject matter hits far too soft a spot. The book was a struggle for me to read, precisely because it was so well written. However, there are others in my life that I think would find the good in Hazel’s story, and I will absolutely be telling them about it.
