By Victoria S.
The Fault in Our Stars is a novel that is filled with emotions that often bring either tears or smiles to the face of the readers. It is a book that is not afraid to allow the reader to see the gloomy part of life along with the happy side, after all isn't that what real life is made of? The author, John Green, knows how to write a story that acts upon the feelings of his audience, in both a positive and a negative way. Early in his life he worked as a publishing assistant and production editor for a firm in Chicago. While there he wrote his first book, Looking for Alaska. Since then he has written An Abundance of Katherines, Let It Snow (with coauthors: Maureen Johnson and Lauren Myracle), Paper Towns, and Will Grayson, Will Grayson, (with coauthor David Levithan) (Lit Lovers, 2015). He has achieved several awards such as the Michael L. Printz Award Honor Book in 2006 and again in 2007. He also won the Edgar Award for Best Young Adult Novel; The Corine Literature Prize, and he made the New York Times Best Seller list as a number one author for The Fault in Our Stars (Lit Lovers, 2015). Green is also a "vlogger" with his brother Hank of the video blog, Brotherhood (Lit Lovers, 2015). Currently he lives in Indiana with his wife, Sarah, son, Henry, and a dog. The dog is called Willy; however, his full name shows us some of Green's humor as it is Fireball Wilson Roberts (Lit Lovers, 2015).
Green is a Young Adult Fiction writer. This book, The Fault in Our Stars, is about a young girl and boy who meet and become attracted to each other. The girl, Hazel Grace, is just seventeen years old, yet cannot live without the oxygen tank attached to her that helps her breathe. She is suffering from Cancer that has spread to her lungs. Her attraction is to a boy, Augustus Waters, who is also a cancer sufferer. He has already lost a leg to bone cancer, but is in the beginning of the book he is cancer free. A friendship begins for these two at a meeting where they each suggest, to the other, a book for review. Hazel recommends An Imperial Affliction for Augustus, and Augustus mentions The Price of Dawn to Hazel. Green's ability to keep his readers interested in the story shows here when An Imperial Affliction becomes a major part of this story. While the story tells of the death of a character, it never fully states whether the family can cope, in the end, with the death. Through Augustus' help Hazel gets the chance to finally meet the author, who lives now in Amsterdam, and discover his intended ending to the novel. After Hazel suffers a bad setback, Hazel, her mother and Augustus head for Amsterdam to meet the author, to finally receive some very much needed solutions to her unanswered questions. What Hazel receives there is not comfort and answers, but rather she finds the author to be someone she wasn't expecting. Upon her return home she faces another devastating situation, one that includes Augustus.
Hazel's short-lived love for Augustus ends when he dies from the bone cancer that had re-spread throughout his body. At his funeral she again encounters the author of the book An Imperial Affliction, Peter Van Houten. Although she is surprised with his behavior, she is better able to understand his way of life as she gets to know him better. The story continues to unfold with a mystery of missing pages to a manuscript that is connected to Hazel and Van Houten. Even though she is suffering from cancer and has lost her one true love, she is the one who tries to guide Van Houten into a better life style. The merging of the lives of Hazel, Augustus and Van Houten give the readers a story filled with many emotions. From their hopes and a reality of life's problems to the comfort in the strength of those who can see the value in the lives that they were given, this book is very revealing. The ending may not have been the one that the readers expected, but it is a true one. The readers get what the author wanted them to get from his book; a realistic look at life and people and how they react to everyday situations.
This book was very hard to read as it was filled with death and sorrow. Even though it is what life is really about, it is still hard to read. There were some parts that were funny and good, but as usual the sad parts are the ones that make you feel the most. It is a book that you want to close and forget about, but it is also one that will drive you to continue reading it through to the end. You want the characters to live on, but you also realize that the reality of life shows that this is not always possible when cancer is involved. The reason why Van Houten is wasting his life and talent is another hidden secret that the author will reveal to his readers in time. Green is trying to show his audience of readers that life begins in happiness, but does not always continue or end that way. How we live it and what we do while we are alive is what life should be about. He is giving us a lesson, and one that is really hard to miss.
The story for me was a confusion of feelings. The death of a main character does not often happen in novels. Usually someone or something arrives in time to save these characters. Even though this was a book of fiction, it really was filled with many true facts about real life. From the suffering of the cancer victim to the suffering of the surviving family members, this story showed the readers a look at people and how they respond to their situations in life. It is one that does not leave out anything from anger and sadness to happiness and hope, all these emotions are there.
I would recommend this book to a mature reader. The overwhelming sadness can be depressing for those who do not see the other side of this story. While death is final and very sad, there is always a part of each one of us that will live on. It may be through something we wrote or said, or a feeling inside a family member or friend, we all will live on after we die. How Hazel went on after Augustus' death, and how Van Houten continued on after his sorrowful situation, shows the readers that we have choices and we need to use these choices wisely. This book can be found in local libraries and book stores, and it is one that I will highly recommend to anyone who is thinking of his life's worth. It may make us all realize that we should hold tight to our lives while on earth and do this is a good and happy way.
Reference
Lit Lovers. (2015). Fault in Our Stars (Green) - Author Bio. Retrieved from http://www.litlovers.com/reading-guides/15-young-adult-fiction/8711-fault-in-our-stars-green?start=1.
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