The Fault in Our Stars in Pick-a-Shelf

May 12, 2012 Jodie rated it really liked it

Shelves: 2012

This story line is not new, when a kid has cancer and dies of it, of course that is sad, of course we will cry. The thing that makes this book stand out against all the other YA novels that have been written and likely will still be written on this plot, is that this one is good. Maybe it is because I don't typically read alot in this genre that I am not put off by the tried and true plot of this novel, I mean basically all stories are esentially the same aren't they? Love, loss, death, colour, ...more

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Feb 05, 2014 Erin Ashley rated it it was amazing

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here. Sheer curiosity is what got me to read this book. I kept seeing all the hype and the quotes and then it is going to be a movie now, so I thought I should give it a read, seeing as how the movie trailer intrigued me, and after reading the book I realised that the trailer didn't give anything major away. In a way I wish it had cause then it could have spared me THE GODDAMN HEARTBREAK FROM READING THIS BOOK!

So, to review this book is one I find hard because I gave a 5 star rating to a book about ca Sheer curiosity is what got me to read this book. I kept seeing all the hype and the quotes and then it is going to be a movie now, so I thought I should give it a read, seeing as how the movie trailer intrigued me, and after reading the book I realised that the trailer didn't give anything major away. In a way I wish it had cause then it could have spared me THE GODDAMN HEARTBREAK FROM READING THIS BOOK!

So, to review this book is one I find hard because I gave a 5 star rating to a book about cancer. Yepp, feels strange to say that a cancer book is worthy of 5 stars but in all honesty it isn't really about that at all. I mean, being sick in this book is a huge focus, don't get me wrong, but these characters face the world the only way they can. These are the cards they have been dealt, they know their lives suck in terms of how long they get to be alive but they make it count and they make it not about dying.

If there is only one fault I could possibly give this book, besides killing one of the best fictional characters I have ever read about, it is that sometimes the way these kids talked was so damn pretentious. I get it coming from Van Houten, but these are teenagers who appear to have swallowed a dictionary and various other literature and spew it up on a daily basis. At times they just did not seem plausable as actual teenage human beings to me, I barely know many adults who talk with this much wisdom and words that I have to sound out out loud and google the meaning of. Maybe that says something about me, I don't know or care for that matter, all I know is that even though these kids seemed this way to me, in the end they really are just those type of people. They are smart and wise and clever because they just are. They have seen too much bad in the world already that it must be hard not to want to know more, be more and say more. So, I guess I can get over the way they talk, because in the end it is just the way they are. I've probably been reading too many stories with stupid teenagers in them.

There really is a lot I can say I love about this book but if you read it you will see just what everyone else, and now I, are loving about this book. Hazel and Augustus are two characters who have left an impression on me, not to mention Issac also. They all overcome so much and then deal with so much and really, it isn't fair, but they know that and yet they go on with life anyway. It is inspiring and without being all cheesy with my words, but it does make you see that whatever normal life you are living, it could always be wayyyyy worse.

I 100% recommend reading this book, but I will leave my recommendation with a warning: have tissues on standby and know that your heart will break for these fictional characters. ...more

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Oct 30, 2013 Jayme(theghostreader) rated it it was amazing

Shelves: 5-star-books, young-adult

I really enjoyed this book. I found out about this book last year. I didn't know much about it. I loved how the book was about two teenagers going through the same diagnosis of cancer and how they lived for today and fell in love. I really felt they loved each other. I thought it was sweet of Augustus to use his wish to take Hazel to Amsterdam to meet the author of their favorite book. What I didn't like was the author of the book they were reading. He is a jerk. He didn't want to answer their q ...more

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May 21, 2013 Susan rated it really liked it

Shelves: young-adult, fiction

I hadn't been looking forward to reading this. I guess I expected it to be a bit grim. But it's not. It's funny and sad and realistic (I think) and hopeful. And while a number of the main characters are struggling in one way or another with cancer, the book is really more about friendship and young love. That makes it a terrific young adult book. ...more

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Sep 04, 2013 Serenity rated it liked it

Shelves: ya, audiobook

I would never have picked this up if there hadn’t been so much fuss over this book and the author all freaking year. Cancer books and YA realistic fictions are not really my thing. But I kept seeing it everywhere and gah I just need to change that green button underneath to say “Read” or else it will keep bothering me. At least it didn’t seem as offensively unpalatable as Twilight or 40 Shades.

Still don’t really understand why everyone has been flipping out over this book. Yeah, it is cute and f I would never have picked this up if there hadn’t been so much fuss over this book and the author all freaking year. Cancer books and YA realistic fictions are not really my thing. But I kept seeing it everywhere and gah I just need to change that green button underneath to say “Read” or else it will keep bothering me. At least it didn’t seem as offensively unpalatable as Twilight or 40 Shades.

Still don’t really understand why everyone has been flipping out over this book. Yeah, it is cute and filled with one-liners, but it is far far from spectacular in the wit, plot, or characterization departments. I can point out things like how all of the characters, from adult to too-smart-by-half-teen, speak in THE SAME way. Or how Augustus’s entire arc, but especially the ending, is predictable and just…trying too hard.

But you know what, all of that doesn’t matter. The heart loves what the heart loves, and if people love this book to pieces, I’m not going to rain on anyone’s parade. And not living up to hype is not the same as bad; in fact, I could see my high school self really loving this book. So yeah, 3 stars.

Also, kudos to quoting my favorite poem in the entire world. Although I do feel a bit sad now that EVERYONE is in on what used to feel like my own little secret.

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The following is a status update from about 25 pages into the book. It was too long for the status box, so I put it here, because I felt that it really needed to be said.

(view spoiler) ...more

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Feb 02, 2014 Meg rated it it was amazing

Shelves: 2014-books

Amazing Amazing Amazing!!!

I really liked this from the start. The language is so upbeat even though the topics are depressing. You fall in love with Augustus and Hazel not because you feel sorry for them or because they are tackling their disease with bravado, but because of who they are separate and apart, and who they are are pretty cool :)

From the beginning you have an idea of the turn it's gonna take eventually so you read with a sense of despair. I sensed the twist before it was revealed an ...more

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