From the Bookshelf of Book Riot's Read Harder Challenge…

The Fault in Our Stars

John Green

Start date: January 12, 2015

Finish date: January 15, 2015

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By Book Riot · 1 post · 5295 views

last updated Dec 16, 2014 09:22AM

Free copy of Proximity Factor this July, no reviews required. Just enjoy.
By S.S. · 1 post · 9 views

last updated Jul 18, 2024 06:08AM

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What Members Thought

Jan 26, 2013 Melle rated it it was amazing

Shelves: romance, ya, tragedy, family-dynamics, teen-romance, cancer, life-affirming

With apologies to John Green, I fell in love with this book slowly, and then all at once. I was skeptical of the book's popularity and prepared to be cynical and hypercritical. I cannot be. The characters are smart, funny, thoughtful, kind, and memorable, and even the secondary characters, even the ones spouting platitudes, are to be loved for their honest humanness. There is a beautiful subplot involving the love of books. Cancer sucks. And this review is entirely incoherent because I am trying ...more

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Apr 14, 2012 Erin rated it liked it

Shelves: 2012

Standard-issue John Green, plus lots (and lots) of tears. The way everything played out was not surprising, but it didn't feel emotionally dishonest the way a lot of predictable plots can. John Green seems like a nice guy, and I'm on-board with a YA author connecting with his readers via the internet, because that seems savvy, but his books just don't resonate with me (and I acknowledge that that's a personal thing - I don't think he's a bad writer, and I don't regret the time I've spent reading Standard-issue John Green, plus lots (and lots) of tears. The way everything played out was not surprising, but it didn't feel emotionally dishonest the way a lot of predictable plots can. John Green seems like a nice guy, and I'm on-board with a YA author connecting with his readers via the internet, because that seems savvy, but his books just don't resonate with me (and I acknowledge that that's a personal thing - I don't think he's a bad writer, and I don't regret the time I've spent reading his books, they just don't hit me in the feelings spot, you know?). I cried because I am human and everything makes me cry and I mean, look at the subject matter. God. I had some thoughts about what different books mean to different people, how my comparatively grief-free life shaped my reaction vs. how a person with first-hand experience in these matters might react differently &c &c, but I wouldn't be bringing anything new to the conversation, so let's just move on to the part where I rant about one tiny specific thing that hardly has anything to do with anything, yes?

So, no, I didn't love this, but I do have to roll my eyes at everyone complaining that "teenagers don't talk that way," for three reasons:

1) You don't actually know that? Teenagers are not, contrary to what the world would have you believe, a vast monolithic entity - they are not identical, do not all operate in exactly the same way. They're loud and silly and their brains haven't developed completely (scientifically true!), but they're still people, which means there is, shockingly, a large range into which their behavior/speech patterns can fall. So just because you personally don't know any teenagers who speak this way doesn't mean it's impossible that some do. And besides -
2) Lots of teenagers think they speak this way. I have always been sort of insufferable in that I think I am smarter than everyone in the world, and I definitely thought I was the wittiest, cleverest person I knew when I was seventeen. I'm sure I wasn't, but trust me, in my mind, I was blowing everyone away with my vocabulary and wit. So, I imagine a lot of kids read John Green's books and at least think they're recognizing themselves, which is fine.
3) I've only read 1.5 other John Green books (Looking for Alaska and Will Grayson, Will Grayson), but that is clearly his style, and it just seems silly to continue complaining about it (this assumes that the reader knows anything about JG; I guess if this is your first experience with him you are allowed to complain, but ONLY THEN. I have decreed it). ...more

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Oct 04, 2012 Jessica rated it really liked it

Shelves: young-adult-and-kids

A romance between teenage cancer survivors? You know from page one that this is going to be a tear-jerker. Learn from me and don't finish this book while sitting on a bench waiting to meet someone for the first time, or you will have to cook up some kind of story about allergies or the wind - or admit that you just finished having a good sob over the book you were reading.

Hazel's cancer is in remission, but she's stuck living in "the new normal," where her lungs barely work and she can't go to s ...more

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Mar 22, 2013 Sarah rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Too hard to write this review through my tears. Read it and weep, literally.

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Dec 20, 2012 Monica rated it really liked it

Shelves: teen, 2013

Another very strong entry in to the John Green collection. Not sure why it took me so long to read this, but once I got it I savored it. Green just knows how to write to teens - with fully realized, clever characters that make you fall in love with them. More than that, those characters really feel like TEENS. All the tears are earned. 4.5 stars.

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Apr 11, 2012 jenn rated it liked it

Shelves: 2012, fiftyfiftyme

More like 3.5 stars. I'm a little conflicted. ...more

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Sep 21, 2012 Kerry rated it it was amazing

Fantastic, charismatic, insightful and heart-wrenching. This book was just great for a person with a penchant for reading books with smart, realistic, funny main characters. Hard to put down.

Gives you lots of food for thought on what it is like to live with cancer and love people fighting the disease.

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