Is it really 'The Fault In Our Stars?'

Do things get worse, or do they get better?

By Makayla F.

From The Notebook to The Twilights Series, The Fault In Our Stars sets a scene of a sad romance. John Green, the author, made the antagonists of the story a choice between Cancer and Love. The protagonist Hazel Grace Lancaster is diagnosed with Thyroid Cancer with mets in her lungs and goes to a support group. Through the support group she met the beloved Augustus Waters who is diagnosed with osteosarcoma.

Hazel was not your original 16 year old, she walked around with an oxygen tank and constantly had tubes in her nose but without it she could hardly breathe. On the other hand Augustus's osteosarcoma (a cancer that inflects the bones in your body, making them weaker than others) had disappeared, and he was cancer free. Between the two, they both end up sharing a great interest in each other. Hazel ends up sharing her favorite book with Augustus, An Imperial Affliction. The book ended up becoming the focal point of their relationship.

The book becomes the biggest part of the story, because as a dying child, you get one wish.(from the cancer society.) Hazel wasted hers on a trip to disney world, but Augustus still had his. Hazel wished, priar to knowing that Augustus still had his wish, that she could meet the Author of An Imperial Affliction who is Peter Van Houten, and that she could ask him all the questions he left unanswered in the book. Augustus, who is quite infatuated with Hazel, grants her his one lucky wish. They end up traveling to Paris, and meet the Author who turns out to be a total jerk. Augustus and Hazel return home, and Hazel finds out that Augustus's cancer has returned. At this point she wondered “do things get worse, or do they get better?”

Green's writing is fantastic. You end up never wanting to put the book down due to the way he set up his chapters and every page always leaves you wondering what is going to happen next. Myself, I could not put the book down. I am not going to lie and say the book is total perfection because the ending is a bit rushed. Everything ends up happening too fast, and leaves you sad when you reach the end of the book because you are wanting to find more.

This was the first full book by John Green I have ever read but I'm starting to look into reading his other novels. Currently I am reading Looking For Alaska, which won him a New York Times Best Seeling award. I’m happy to say that John Green had not disappointed me as much as other authors have. You should see for yourself.

The Fault In Our Stars, by John Green, Penguin Group, 2012, 313 pages.