Book Review: The Fault in Our Stars

Every few years there comes a book that manages to capture the attention of readers of every age group. There comes an instant classic that will burrow a nest in your memory and stay lodged there for a very long time. There comes a book that will move everyone who reads it and take them on a wild roller coaster ride, one that will bring them from tears to smiles to laughter.

The Fault in Our Stars is definitely one of the few works of art that have managed to do so. This book has also encouraged older people to start reading young adult novels again. It tells the story of a sixteen year old girl with terminal cancer, Hazel Grace, whose mother convinces her to join a cancer support group for teenagers. Though reluctant at first, she is soon glad she agreed after meeting a witty and charming boy named Augustus Waters, one of the fortunate patients who manage to beat cancer. They have an immediate connection and become fast friends, embarking on a whirlwind of emotions such as anguish, happiness and, most importantly, true young romance. In managing to portray all this realistically, John Green has managed to make what was previously known as ‘young adult fiction’ appealing to a broader audience.

The author does this primarily by exploring universal themes such as isolation in Hazel Grace’s story. Throughout the book the author shows us how isolated these teens are. Hazel’s parents pulled her out of school three years before the story takes place and though she’s kept in touch with her best friend, we can sense the distance between them. At one point in the story her friend says “Is it even possible to walk in these? I mean, I would just die—” [says Kaitlyn, Hazel’s post-cancer friend, as she examines a pair of shoes] and then stopped short, looking at me as if to say I’m sorry.

All her friends want to help her through cancer but the disease proves to be a pretty thick barrier and the others obviously don’t really get it so over the years, they drift apart. Hazel often says how distant she feels from everyone else because of her “crap lungs”. She even has to wear tubes to help keep up the oxygen supply in her lungs. The tubes make her stand out in a not-exactly-good-way which makes us realize that her world can often be a very lonely place. One of Hazel’s friends she met in support group, Isaac, has a girlfriend at the beginning of the story but once the going gets tough and after they realize he will walk away blind from the eye surgery needed to remove his cancer, his girlfriend, Monica breaks up with him. Then while Hazel and Augustus are in Amsterdam they go visit the Anne Frank house. The only problem is that Hazel’s lungs can’t manage all the steps in the old house and Augustus is still struggling with his prosthetic leg. At the top of the stairs, she collapses from light headedness and he from exhaustion. They are alone despite being ogled at by other tourists in the Anne Frank house. Again, the cancer and physical limitations separate them from the rest of society. The concept of solitude – despite being surrounded by others – speaks to a wider audience than traditional young adult fiction.

The Fault in Our Stars debuted as number one on the New York Times bestseller list in January 2012 and was such a success that later that month, Fox 2000 even got the film rights to the book though everyone knows the book is always better than the movie.