By the time I read the first few pages of The Fault in Our Stars by John Green, the only thing I could manage to feel was utter pity. Imagining living with terminal cancer knowing that you would indefinitely lose the battle is something that is almost impossible to imagine. For Hazel Lancaster, fighting lung cancer had been her number one occupation for many years. An absolute tragic romance filled with electrifying emotion, Green’s The Fault in Our Stars is sure to capture the hearts of all readers of all ages.
Not only is the storyline unique and captivating, but every page takes you further along the journey of Hazel’s astounding life and encounter with the unlikely and beautiful, Augustus Waters. Together, two adolescent, cancer warriors experience a love that is even stronger than the very thing that kills them. Capturing the essence of simple yet sophisticated love, John Green features poems such as T.S. Elliot’s “The Love Song of Alfred J. Prufrock” and William Carlos William’s “The Red Wheelbarrow”. Reading the poems in the context of the story enhances the raw emotion, almost enabling you to reach out and feel the passion and pain from Hazel.
Showing a talent for character building, John Green has made Hazel and Augustus’s lives simultaneously riveting and tragic, causing readers to feel empathy and joy for their dynamic relationship. Each of them equally brings words and lessons of true sentimental value to the table. For example these lessons include valuing the time given to live life and making the best of what is handed to you in life. Their relationship sets an exemplary model of strength in love and positive outlooks towards life.

The simple and quaint setting of a small town in Indiana sets the mood for an average everyday life of a cancer patient. However, Hazel’s life is anything but normal. The setting also takes place in Amsterdam providing romantic scenery where Augustus and Hazel get to know each other even better through their unique adventures.

A novel set to pull the strings of reader’s emotions, this story pulls in readers for a good laugh, heartfelt tears, and tumbling waves of bitter-sweet love. By the end of the story, the reader will have felt a wide range of emotions; from fear, to love, to hate and joy in journeying through the lives of innocent Hazel Lancaster and bold Augustus Waters. Missing out this true eye-opening literary experience would be missing out on valuable life lessons in faith, love, and perseverance. As I read the last few pages of the book, with tears welling up in my eyes and a hard pain in my chest swelling up, somewhere in my heart and mind, I know that although life is the ultimate test of faith, The Fault in Our Stars has shown the true value of love and how it will always prevail over the difficulties in life.