Am I the only one who hates this book with burning passion? Showing 1-50 of 1,640

[A]

I happily bought the hardcover of The Fault in our stars back in December 2012 after seeing the high average GR ratings and raving reviews saying how beautiful, life-changing, thought-provoking and blah blah it is. Surprisingly, this book was so special that it became the first book that I slammed on the wall twice after reading it. It didn’t only disappoint me but also angered me. I'm surprised to find that harsh critics are swallowing up this trash and calling it a masterpiece. I absolutely hated Augustus and Hazel, the writing, plot and everything about this book. TFioS is a terrible book and its not worth the hype. Before you start calling me a cold-hearted bitch for hating and criticising this book, let me tell you that if you think you have every right to go around fangirling how wonderful this book was then I believe that I have every right to express my hatred for it whether you like it or not.

[Morgan]

I really loved it... No hate here for your opinion, but may I ask why you hate it?

[A]

Morgan wrote: "I really loved it... No hate here for your opinion, but may I ask why you hate it?"

You can read my review.

https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

[Leona]

I'm right with you. I'm not sure what the author was trying to do with this book. Frankly, I think that was mostly the problem...was this supposed to help bring brevity to tragic situations? Was this a love story? Was this an attempt at philosophy? In all cases, I think it missed the mark, at least for me.

Given all the GR reviews, I was waiting for some insight or incredible depth. Instead, I got cardboard teenagers spousing nonsense that most of the time I didn't really understand and tasteless jokes about people tragically suffering.

As a reader, I felt that I was supposed to sit on the sidelines and laugh at his jokes about people that lose their eyes and limbs to cancer, have their lungs flood with fluids and watch their parents tear their hearts out for the loss of their child.

[[deleted user]]

I've read some bad books, but never have I read such utter pretentious nonsense as this.

[Leona]

I'm so glad, I'm not alone and that there are others that feel the same way I do. Given all the glowing comments, I was beginning to worry.

[Jackie]

I wouldn't say hate…but I this was not my favorite John Green book. The characters just didn't pull me in. Looking For Alaska, on the other hand, was beautiful. That last paragraph ugh.. so great

[Sandy]

Loved it. Loved the honesty of young people dealing with cancer. sure, some of it was a little far-fetched. It didn't stop my affection for the characters.

[Celeste]

I'm sorry it didn't meet your expectations. I often fear reading very popular titles for this particular reason. Fortunately for me this novel delivered and I thought it was wonderful. It could be that I grew up around someone dying from cancer, or because I had one of those cheesy, we're never going to last romances as a teen. In your review you said "Augustus's death wasn't powerful enough, if Green would've shown his death I would've understood why the world cried a whole bucket over him." For me the death wasn't the part that made me hurt for him. It was the humiliation of soiling himself, of becoming completely helpless and losing his sense of dignity.
You have every right to hate this book, and to do so publicly. I dislike my fair share of well loved classics. I thought the Book Thief was meh and not at all memorable. Fortunately there's an awful lot of books out there for us to choose from.

[Celeste]

Marija wrote: "I liked this book, but I wouldn't tell it is life-changing and/or thought-provoking... o.O
I am sorry you hated it. I was in the same situation a couple of times. Everyone was dying about how aweso..."

That's the second reference to a disappointing book purchase in this thread. Libraries people! use them!!! Your local library probably offers more services and titles then you realize.

[A]

Brooke wrote: "I've read some bad books, but never have I read such utter pretentious nonsense as this."

Agreed.

Celeste wrote: Libraries people!"

Unfortunately, there are no proper libraries in the country where I stay.
So the only option is either a kindle or a bookstore.

[Amanda]

Unlike you I liked the book, but I can see your points. There were definitely things that I had to "forgive" in it.

And I did, maybe because I have this prejudice with YA and I never take them seriously.

[Chalo]

you're not the only one

[Neats]

I wasn't blown away by this book either. It was my first John Green novel and I'm not sure that I would choose to read another one in hurry.

[Sophie]

I really, really liked this book. I wouldn't say that it changed my life or anything, but it was such a refreshing break from some of the bad post-apocalyptic YA books I have read recently. I personally connected with both Hazel and Augustus, and I didn't find them unrealistic at all. I did not think that they sounded like adults stuck in teenaged bodies; they actually both reminded me of my sister and some of our friends. Also, as an Indiana resident, I can say that the setting was described perfectly. I can understand why some certain people thought that Augustus's death wasn't powerful, but isn't a teenager dying of cancer tragic enough without being described in graphic detail?! It made me cry, that's for sure. I don't call this book great because it made me cry. I call it great because it also made me laugh, and think. I'm sorry that you didn't like it, but it is not my place to try to change your mind. I would (and have) recommend(ed) this book wholeheartedly. I also would (and have) recommend(ed) John Green as an author.

[Zoë⋆]

I must say that this book is not my favourite either; I don't know what it was about the book it just wasn't interesting for me at all. I would say it had a lovely, and heart breaking plot line. Yet, I just found it to much of an easy read and I did not find it all to much interesting even with the good plot. I will give John Green credit though because he did come up with realistic characters and a good plot. But, this book just was not for me.

[Sara]

Can't say I hated it with a burning passion, but it definitely didn't live up to all the hype. It was just ok to me.

[Ilyah]

You are definitely not alone in this. I hated it. It is definitely overrated.

[John]

Back in message #5, the messenger used the word "pretentious" and I think that is a good word to describe the characters, like "You need to feel this way about the characters in the book or you are judgmental."

Not sure, but the moment when some people, including me, will get that "pretentious" feeling is when Hazel goes to Holland and "gives it up" for Augustus.

They are both sick, and they are both nearly adults, so I am not "judgmental" that they were together physically; just don't attempt to use this singular situation to manipulate that what they did was "OK" for most of society.

The author is a pretty droll, smart-alecky guy. Very talented I think, but I don't agree with his political leanings, so I withheld a star ... it's the fault in my stars.

[Sammy]

I thought the book was okay, it for sure did not live up to the hype but I did find it addictive. I thought that certain parts of the story were slightly unrealistic, obviously not the characters or their illnesses but basically every part with the author of "An Imperial Affliction" (I think that's what Hazel's favorite book was called) seemed unrealistic and kind of thin to me. As well as this I found the writing to be immature and the plot to be somewhat underdeveloped. I think the book is similar to Jenny Downham's novel "Before I Die" in terms of the plot but the writing is more mature and the characters are a lot more developed, at least I think so anyway. So you can always give that a try if you liked the idea of The Fault in Our Stars :) I'm sorry if any of my comments insult fans of the book that wasn't my intention, I'm just trying to share my opinion of the book :)

[Kate]

I didn't hate it but it definitely didn't blow me away. It was seriously overhyped and for no good reason. I watch the vlogbrothers channel and I like John Green so I really had high hopes for this book but it was just meh. I didn't really care about the characters and I didn't cry at any point during the book. It just wasn't that good.

[Kaitlyn]

Everyone is entitled to their opinion, but I 100% disagree with you in every way. I'm not saying that your opinion isn't fine for what you think, I just do not support it.

[A]

Sammy wrote: "I thought the book was okay, it for sure did not live up to the hype but I did find it addictive. I thought that certain parts of the story were slightly unrealistic, obviously not the characters o..."

Before I die is on my to read list. I would like to read it but I'm not going to keep high expectations from it.

[Lena]

I really love this book, it's amazing. But it comes in a different way to everyone, I guess.

[Leigh]

Well, I liked it very much but not everybody does. Some found the adolescent, snarky humor hard to take, some found the plot difficult to work with. Personally, I thought the book was very good but not flawless. I think there are readers who find any sad book to be perfect. iow, if it made them cry, they think it's a great book. Weird, but true.

[Rachel]

I enjoyed the book, it made me cry. To me, that is the mark of a good book. However, I didn't like it as much as I thought I would. From what I had heard, I was expecting it to blow the Harry Potter series off the face of the earth because it was too awesome. Boy, was I wrong. It was talked up to much for what it was. It was a good idea, but written very mediocre. Plus, it was downright depressing. Not to mention, it made me feel a bit stupid with all the complicated sentences in it.
Overall, it was ok.

[Sammy]

Ayesha wrote: "Sammy wrote: "I thought the book was okay, it for sure did not live up to the hype but I did find it addictive. I thought that certain parts of the story were slightly unrealistic, obviously not th..."

I thought it was really good, I definitely wouldn't describe it as "life-affirming" or "ground-shaking" but it's definitely a good read and I would recommend you read it without a second thought, it's a bit darker and more mature than TFIOS and it definitely put me through a range of emotions. I wouldn't say have high hopes for it though in case it turns out to not be your kind of thing but I doubt it will disappoint if you enjoy that type of book :) I hope you enjoy it when you get round to reading it.

[Veronica]

Okay so I read your review and I wanted to response to it more directly, I've read the book a few months ago and I enjoyed it, it had it's problems but on a whole it was enjoyable. And I just wanted to talk about a few of the points you mentioned in your review

You say Hazel and Augustus and gender switched version of each other, and I have to say I kind of agree a bit but that can also be argued that their similiar people and so thats how they grew close. I mean your usually friends with people with similiar ideas. Then you make fun of a quote from the text where Hazel makes one of her odversations, (breakfast foods) and that's not really fair, I mean she saying stuff like that because she's young and just kind of sick of everything. Then you point it's stupid for her to be mad at her parents for being worried and I just need to point out that Hazel has been sick since she's been born. She's never been well. She's always at the edge of death and so her parents are always in this state. And ungrateful, hell yes she is, don't you know plently of kids who are ungrateful, hell being a child means being ungrateful every now and again, I felt that if she was completly kind and nice and grateful that that would have made her a boardcard character.

Romance, yes it was a love at first sight type of thing but the difference is, these kids are on a countdown and at any moment they could die. That is the reality they live and so they jump into things much quicker, call it 'cancer perks'. And have you never been in love has a kid? If you have, you felt it very intensely, you felt as though it would never end, that it is everlasting, and even though everyone around you is rolling their eyes, you defend it. That's what happened here.

Next you talk about the writing, throwing out quotes that had a lot of meaning and your making comedy out of them by taking them literal. I won't defend them one by one, I'm just saying that the ideas and concepts behind these quotes have meaning. But I do want to address this. "Woah, slow down! That was mouthful. Obviously, he wouldn’t have said that without rehearsing it. It sounded so fake and clichéd. Ever heard of lovers confessing their love by reciting so-called long, beautiful and heart-wrenching monologues? " This is what you said. And it was implied -at least to me- that he did rehearse it because he knows he doesn't have time because he wants everything to be perfect and when you do want things to be perfect they come out awkward and it was treated as awkward in the text.

I'm not saying it's the best book ever but I do believe in giving credit where's credit due.

[Zyair]

Over hyped and wasn't very interesting

[[deleted user]]

Zyair wrote: "Over hyped and wasn't very interesting"
Agreed.

[Rhiyaah]

Ayesha wrote : "I happily bought the hardcover of The Fault in our stars back in December 2012 after ......
I'm surprised to find that harsh critics are swallowing up this trash and calling it a masterpiece. ..... "


ouch . yes , you have the right to your opinion .. yet don't you think it's a bit too harsh ? you see, i respect every , uh , hmm , decision , and i guess everyone should too. not everyone can please everybody , and i guess that goes the same for books .

[Amanda]

Aly wrote: "This book made me so angry. Like, I can't even explain. I think AIA would make a better book than this.

Fair enough, there are those who like this book, and I don't blame them, because in itself, ..."

I liked this book at first, but then I read Paper Towns by the same author, what made me put my thoughts on John green into perspective and say now that I agree with you.

John Green is just so full of shit. And worse, it tries to pose like a great philosical jibjab, but it's just cheap and pretentious.

[Amanda]

all John Green's characters are carbon copies of each other. GET SOME IMAGINATION, MAN. "

Amen to that. he puts zero work in composing his characters.

Honestly, I needed two books to get John Green, and I'm not well-impressed.

[Danielle]

John wrote: "Back in message #5, the messenger used the word "pretentious" and I think that is a good word to describe the characters, like "You need to feel this way about the characters in the book or you are..."

Wow, you disagree with the politics of someone, so you judge their work based on that and not the merit of the book itself? Bravo, sir, you're an asshole.

[Dylan]

I actually really enjoyed this book despite how much I cried. But why didn't you like it exactly? Did you dislike Hazel and Augustus as CHARACTERS or in a relationship? And did you hate the book itself or its ending? (I'm not going to be rude just because you don't like the book. That's ridiculous.)

[Ilyah]

Wow, reading this thread almost makes me want to burn my John Green boxset. ALMOST. Seriously though, are ALL his books like The Fault in Our Stars? Ugh.

I completely agree with Lorenzo. Peter Van Houten was the only thing decent in the entire book.

[Lisa-Anne]

I admit that I am only currently reading it, and not finished. However, I am really liking it so far purely for the fact that I can connect to the situation. Not from a cancer perspective, but from the serious medical issue, feeling like a grenade, and knowing the pain of not being able to have your lungs or body work the way you want, and just yearning to feel normal (whatever normal is). To be completely detached from your friends that the only friends you can find are the characters in a book.

I won't hate you on your opinion, as everyone deserves to have their own. I honestly have only heard negative things about the book, and can't help but admit it was the reason why I wanted to read it. I wanted to know what angered people so much.

[Kayla]

I personally enjoyed the book, though I will say that I liked Looking for Alaska so much better. But who in the world is comparing it to The Book Thief?!? For one, they are both completely different books. I own both, and where as I think I might re-read TFioS just because it's sitting on my shelf collecting dust, I KNOW I'll re-read The Book Thief. You can tell that TFioS was written for teenagers. It's a teenager book. But The Book Thief doesn't have a YA feel, though it is considered YA. I want to know who's comparing these two, I'm gonna slap them with The Book Thief.... Ok, not really cus I don't want to ruin my book, but you can see my love for The Book Thief over my enjoyment over TFioS haha.

[Sarah]

Yes - I hated it too.

[[deleted user]]

I liked it. I thought it was very good. I think John Green is a real talent. He reaches his audience (YA)Looking for Alaska, that was amazing!

[Kayla]

I honestly didn't like this book as much as everyone else in the world, it didn't exactly live up to my expectations, but I really loved the writing and characters,

[A]

Veronica wrote: "Okay so I read your review and I wanted to response to it more directly, I've read the book a few months ago and I enjoyed it, it had it's problems but on a whole it was enjoyable. And I just want..."

Sorry for the late reply, I'm busy these days.

When I said that Hazel and Augustus are similar to each other, I also clearly mentioned that they are copies of each other. They have no difference in their personality and voice. I'm pretty sure that if this book was from dual pov, several readers wouldn't be able to distinguish their voices.
I know that teens are ungrateful, disrespectful etc. but there is a limit to everything. Hazel is extra ungrateful and obnoxious. She's a brat who needs a good slap from her parents. I hated and couldn't stand her. No one is perfect and I'm not telling Hazel to be perfect either but she could atleast respect her parents who are so considerate, in that way she wouldn't be a cardboard cut out but a likeable character.

No. I'm sorry I don't see this insta-love to be beautiful. Thier relationship came out of nowhere. Augustus loves Hazel just because she's beautiful and he clearly gives her that reason when she asks him why he loves her.

As for the quotes, they are all garbage. Quoting from in my review-
Genuinely sick teenagers don’t have the luxury to be so witty and clever every single time. One thing I don't buy is that teens with cancer suddenly become magically wise. They become terrified, confused, depressed and angry. They DON’T magically gain great insight in life and go around puking long monologues about the meaning of life.

I'm not saying that you've bad taste if you loved this book and I won't stop you from fangirling over it but please don't stop me from expressing my hatred.

[A]

Rhiyaah wrote: "ouch . yes , you have the right to your opinion .. yet don't you think it's a bit too harsh ? you see, i respect every , uh , hmm , decision , and i guess everyone should too. not everyone can please everybody , and i guess that goes the same for books . "

If this thread is hurting your fangirling feelings, please stay away from it. Thanks.

[A]

Aly wrote: "This book made me so angry. Like, I can't even explain. I think AIA would make a better book than this.

Fair enough, there are those who like this book, and I don't blame them, because in itself, ..."

Ilyah wrote: "Wow, reading this thread almost makes me want to burn my John Green boxset. ALMOST. Seriously though, are ALL his books like The Fault in Our Stars? Ugh.

I completely agree with Lorenzo. Peter Va..."

Lorenzo wrote: "No, Ayesha, you’re not the only one who didn’t care for this novel. It’s far overrated and not really worth bothering with. But I would not have known that had I not read it. The Fault in Our St..."

Thank goodness I'm not alone!

[A]

Amanda wrote: "John Green is just so full of shit. And worse, it tries to pose like a great philosical jibjab, but it's just cheap and pretentious."

Aly wrote: "He's still considered a hero.

NO. JK Rowling is a hero. JRR Tolkien is a hero. YOU, sir, are not."

I AGREE!!! John Green is not only a shitty writer but he's also a shitty person and the following link proves that-
http://dearauthor.com/news/friday-new...

Wth? Green suggested that readers are "wrong" when they hate a book! I refuse to see Green as a genius as everyone calls him. An author who denies the rights of readers to criticise any book is nothing but a nutcase to me.

[Sophie]

@Ayesha-I applaud your willingness to vocalize your opinion but dang! Let's not forget that this is a work of fiction based on fictitious characters. The only semi-real thing was the setting, and even that was interspersed with made up details. ( I'm from Indiana) let's all remember that this is a friendly debate between book lovers about a BOOK, and not take it so personally. We all knew what we were getting into when we clicked on a thread called ' Am I the only one who hates this book with a burning passion'

[A]

Sophie wrote: "@Ayesha-I applaud your willingness to vocalize your opinion but dang! Let's not forget that this is a work of fiction based on fictitious characters. The only semi-real thing was the setting, and e..."

I know that this a work of fiction but I'm not the kind of reader who'll swallow any shit an author writes. I need some logical foundation or explanation behind a work of literature. I'm saying this politely, I hated this book and as a reader I can express my anger and hatred publicly. If you loved it, it's good and I'm not having anything against you.

[Sophie]

You know, this book was good, but it wasn't one of my favorites. My earlier post was written by my sister. I didn't care what you said about the book or author. I only commented when I felt that some of your posts were unnecessarily harsh about some of the other people who also voiced their opinions. Keep expressing your opinions about the book, ya'll. Far be it from me to interfere with someone's freedom of speech. :)

[Prema]

If I wanted to indulge in the lives of obnoxious teenagers, I would have watched an episode of Dawson's Creek (which I would have enjoyed a lot more than this book). I hated all of the teenage characters. The plot was painfully predictable. I am really at a loss as to why this is so acclaimed. I also think it is insulting to draw parallels between this book and The Book Thief. TFioS is absolute drivel.

[Meg]

If you "hated" this book so much I am not sure why you would choose to post about it in a forum created by and for people who did like it.