The Faults In Our Stars

From the book blurb

The Fault In Our Stars is inspired by the author’s experiences while working with children suffering from life threatening diseases in a hospital. It is a witty, thrilling and heartbreaking story of a sixteen year old girl, Hazel, who is a cancer patient, and is forced by her parents to attend the Cancer Kid Support Group. Through her friend Isaac, she encounters Augustus Waters, an amputee and ex-basketball player. After the support group ends, Augustus suggests that they watch a movie at his house. There, they talk a lot and he gets to know of her favorite novel, An Imperial Affliction.

After reading it, he too gets as obsessed with it as Hazel is. They begin to spend a lot of time together and soon fall in love. Augustus decides to use his wish from ‘The Genies’, a fictionalized version of the Make a Wish Foundation, to fly Hazel and himself to Amsterdam to meet the author of the book, Peter van Houten. What happens next is a funny yet touching tale of two young lovers, fighting a life threatening disease against all odds. It promises to touch the heart of the readers and show them the true meaning of being alive and in love.

The Fault In Our Stars was a number one bestseller as per The New York Times and The Wall Street Journal. It has been translated into numerous languages such as German, French, Chinese, Dutch and Portuguese. A film based on the book is slated for release in 2014 by Fox 2000, a division of 20th Century Fox. It is going to be directed by Josh Boone and will star Shailene Woodley and Ansel Elgort.

Author

John Green is an American author and educator.

A few other books authored by him are Paper Towns, An Abundance of Katherines and Looking For Alaska.

Green was born on August 24, 1977, in Indianapolis. He spent his growing years in Orlando, Florida, and completed his schooling from Indian Springs School, after which he graduated with a double major in English and Religious Studies from Kenyon College in 2000. He and his brother host VidCon, a yearly conference dedicated to the online video community. In addition, they also founded the Project for Awesome, a project aimed at creating videos that promote charities or non-profit organizations. Green also hosts a video blog, VlogBrothers. He currently lives in Indianapolis, Indiana, with his wife and children.

Characters

Hazel Grace, likes watching reality shows and prefers to stay at home. She is a bookworm.

Augustus Waters, likes playing video games and loves to socialize. He longs to leave a mark in this world.

What I think

To begin with, the vibrant cover page will attract anyone. It is really cute with nothing but the title. The title, on the other hand, gives away the plot – Misfortune! It clearly states that no matter how we receive life or how we choose to live, there is little that we can do to change the stars aka destiny. The book blurb elaborates on why the title is what it is and leads the reader to read the story!

The narrative is very lucid with some interesting dialogs, both smart and philosophical. There are several lines that remain in our hearts. The premise is sweetly developed and so is the budding love between Hazel and Augustus.

What I really loved about this book is the positivity. The book might be about a deadly disease like cancer. Each page might take you closer to the death of protagonist with whom you have fallen in love. Yet, their acceptance of the fact and the surrender to the destiny makes us rethink. It makes us realize that life is indeed too short for everything – EVERYTHING! The book also puts the cancer inflicted patients as warriors who battles with themselves. It requires a higher level of courage – to fight with oneself.

In short, this book is about living and making as many good memories as possible. It is also about accepting your stars regardless of whether it is faulted or praised!

Should you read it?

Indulge yourself in the world of Hazel and Augustus.

They will help you improve and help you see the world differently.

Rating

3.5/5

Some words that stole my heart

©       “My thoughts are stars I cannot fathom into constellations.” 

©       “It seemed like forever ago, like we've had this brief but still infinite forever. Some infinities are bigger than other infinities.” 

©       “What a slut time is. She screws everybody.” 

©       “The marks humans leave are too often scars.” 

©       “You gave me a forever within the numbered days, and I'm grateful.” 

©       “You have a choice in this world, I believe, about how to tell sad stories, and we made the funny choice.”

©       “You say you're not special because the world doesn't know about you, but that's an insult to me. I know about you.” 

©       “Nostalgia is a side effect of dying”