Book review: The Fault In Our Stars by John Green

First, let me say, even before I started The Fault In Our Stars, I knew how it was going to end, and I thought perhaps in some way that would help brace me for it. No. I’m a sniffling, snotty mess just now. But I think it’s best to get my thoughts out now, while these feelings are fresh and raw rather than wait until morning when they will probably start to feel a bit dream-like.

From the start, I liked Hazel and her realistic cynicism. I liked Augustus and his charming sarcasm. I think there was only one early scene that I couldn’t connect with, where Hazel and Augustus are sitting with a wailing, sobbing friend, and they’re talking to each other about a book while acting oblivious to his suffering. I think I had trouble feeling that scene because I could not do that to my friends when I was a teen. I’m not saying “I don’t believe it,” or “teenagers don’t act like that.” I’m sure some could. I just didn’t feel it.

But that’s a tiny, minor thing, not even really a complaint. The rest of the book is just so…words fail me, and the only thing I can come up with is perfect.

Hazel and Augustus go to Amsterdam to meet with the author of the book they’ve both become emotionally attached to. They could have gone anywhere, but they went to Amsterdam, the city I’ve been to three times, and the one place I wish I could live in, even though Milan is totally cool as a consolation prize. And the thing is, the story really captures that atmosphere that makes Amsterdam so beautiful and peaceful and perfect.

And then the author turns out to be less than they were expecting, and even in this seemingly perfect place, along comes a douche to remind them that life isn’t fair. And for me, this was also perfect. It is to me the only way this story could have gone without wandering too far into a fantasy.

Hazel and Augustus go to the Anne Frank house, and the story quotes a video of Otto Frank that plays at the end of the tour. The line that Hazel quotes Otto on is about parents not knowing their children, and it tore me up when I saw it in person, and it tore me up again when I read it this time. I know I’m going to sound like a broken record, but it’s a perfect moment of connection for me, of knowing the location because I was there, of knowing exactly the sound of Otto Frank’s voice, even his expression. I could see this scene in my mind so clearly because I’ve been to the location. I’ve struggled with the same stairs that Hazel had, seen the same pencil marks under glass. It’s what made this story so real for me, actually being in the same rooms and having seen them for myself.

And then, after climbing to this beautiful perfect peak, the story sends Hazel and Augustus crashing back down into painful reality, and oh, my, God, I knew it was coming, and I still couldn’t keep myself from crying and sniffling, and crying some more. I mean, there were still some cute things to laugh at, too. But mostly it’s just sad and unfair, just like real life is sometimes.

Still, it’s good to cry sometimes, and I loved this book in a way that I haven’t loved many others in a while. It made me laugh and cry with equal amounts of intensity, and it touches on a sentiment that I wished books would acknowledge more often, that the world is unfair, and it’s not a wish-granting factory. Which seems terrible, but recognizing that means appreciating those few good times when everything does go right and it feels like our wishes can be granted after all.

So yes, I totally loved The Fault In Our Stars, and I give it 5 stars and recommend it to everyone who is not afraid to shed a few tears in the course of a story.