The Fault in Our Stars by John Green

Well, this book really did achieve everything I thought it was going to - it has an amazing storyline, believable characters, a setting that is realistic, emotions that tug at your heart, wit that has you laughing out loud, and an ending that is filled with real and raw emotion.

I was laughing, I was crying, and I was wondering how in the world I would survive once I turned the last page.  These characters became my friends, my closest pals while I was reading and I didn't want their journey to end.

The emotions dealt with in this novel are real and it is refreshing to see an author portray such an honest and heartfelt approach to cancer and all of its terrible side effects.  I thought his treatment of a delicate topic was such a good approach.

Beyond the obvious issue of cancer and sickness the underlying theme here is friendship, love and how when we least expect it our lives can be interrupted in a great or sometimes not so great way - Hazel Grace sure found that out when she met Augustus.  Issac sure found that out when he had his sight taken from him and Hazel's parents realized that as they watched their daughter deal with her own limitations as well as those of Augustus.

I can't recommend this book enough, it will really be worth your while to pick it up - I would however say that I think it is appropriate for high school students and adults.

About the Book:

Diagnosed with Stage IV thyroid cancer at 13, Hazel was prepared to die until, at 14, a medical miracle shrunk the tumours in her lungs... for now.

Two years post-miracle, sixteen-year-old Hazel is post-everything else, too; post-high school, post-friends and post-normalcy. And even though she could live for a long time (whatever that means), Hazel lives tethered to an oxygen tank, the tumours tenuously kept at bay with a constant chemical assault.

Enter Augustus Waters. A match made at cancer kid support group, Augustus is gorgeous, in remission, and shockingly to her, interested in Hazel. Being with Augustus is both an unexpected destination and a long-needed journey, pushing Hazel to re-examine how sickness and health, life and death, will define her and the legacy that everyone leaves behind.

About the Author:

John Green's first novel, Looking for Alaska, won the 2006 Michael L. Printz Award presented by the American Library Association. His second novel, An Abundance of Katherines, was a 2007 Michael L. Printz Award Honor Book and a finalist for the Los Angeles Times Book Prize. His next novel, Paper Towns, is a New York Times bestseller and won the Edgar Allen Poe Award for Best YA Mystery. In January 2012, his most recent novel, The Fault in Our Stars, was met with wide critical acclaim, unprecedented in Green's career. The praise included rave reviews in Time Magazine and The New York Times, on NPR, and from award-winning author Markus Zusak. The book also topped the New York Times Children's Paperback Bestseller list for several weeks. Green has also coauthored a book with David Levithan called Will Grayson, Will Grayson, published in 2010. The film rights for all his books, with the exception of Will Grayson Will Grayson, have been optioned to major Hollywood Studios.

In 2007, John and his brother Hank were the hosts of a popular internet blog, "Brotherhood 2.0," where they discussed their lives, books and current events every day for a year except for weekends and holidays. They still keep a video blog, now called "The Vlog Brothers," which can be found on the Nerdfighters.