Really Ravishing Review (The Fault in Our Stars)

Hello there, what's this? A REVIEW!

First, I want to say that I'm a huge John Green fan. I mean, come on, who isn't? (If you answered, "Me", then I suggest you stop right now and go read one of his books. Because if you're not a fan, you clearly have not read a book by him.) Being a declared fan, I have to warn you that this review will be biased. He is an extremely talented writer, my favorite nerdfighter, and he graduated from Kenyon College. I went to elementary school on the same street that he honed his literary brilliance. I also ate in the same cafeteria on many occasions, know a number of the faculty, and generally used the campus as my own personal lounge. For all I know, I sold him Girl Scout cookies.

Title: The Fault in Our Stars
Author: John Green

Hazel is a normal 16 year old girl. She wants to make her parents happy. She likes to observe and offer her unique point of view on all things. She has stage IV thyroid cancer, complete with a mobile oxygen tank she has named "Philip." And she will die. Sooner rather than later.

I will admit I was apprehensive about reading TFiOS. Everyone I knew said it was a guaranteed tear jerker, but brilliant and moving and fantastic and inspirational. True, all. I don't make a habit of reading books that seem to be super depressing. Before its fame, I picked up The Hunger Games, read the synopsis, and set it back down. It sounded horribly depressing. On both accounts, I'm glad I muscled through the sadness and read the books.

The Fault in Our Stars was, in no exaggerated terms, phenomenal.

When I read the last of it and closed the book, I wasn't sure how I felt. The whole book had been amazing, but I just didn't know how I felt. I wanted more closure. But then, that's the whole point, isn't it? And it's the brilliance.

I continued not knowing my own feelings about it until I was discussing a cancer-ridden cousin of my mother-in-law's with said mother-in-law and my grandmother-in-law. This cousin's end seems near and we were discussing the whole thing, and the sadness. She has young children and a husband and no one knows what to do, how to help, what to feel. This made me instantly think of the book, so I brought it up. I explained the whole thing, how the characters dealt and related and lived their lives. How Hazel's chief worry was what would happen to her parents after she was pushing up daisies. Would they come together and be stronger, or become one of the more common couples that file for divorce not long after their child's death because they can't even look at each other, the pain is so great?

My mother-in-law is, of course, very distressed about her cousin. After I had said my piece about the book, we all just sat there, mulling. I offered to loan The Fault in Our Stars to her, and she gladly accepted. This, my friends, is the power of books. I have no doubt that this book will help my mother-in-law to understand better what her cousin might be feeling. Especially the worry her cousin is probably feeling about leaving her family to live on. How will they cope? I told her to read it and loan it to whomever she pleased.

I glanced (I say glanced because I didn't waste my time reading) at a negative review for TFiOS, saying that they couldn't believe that an author would choose to write about, of ALL THINGS, CANCER?!?! My thought was, why the flip not? GOOD FOR HIM, I thought. He's got GUMPTION, I thought. He is taking a "whisper" topic and talking about it in frank, normal, honest terms. This, I love. More people should do this.

It should come as no surprise then, that I give The Fault in Our Stars

5 out of 5 beautiful, faultless stars.

*second cover is not a published cover, it was made by Kaiasaurus on deviantart. I thought it was a lovely cover. :)