Hearth and Pages: The Fault in Our Stars

“My thoughts are stars I cannot fathom into constellations.”

The Fault in Our Stars is my first John Green book, and boy how head-over-heel was I with this book. The story revolves around Hazel Grace Lancaster, a 16 years old girl with lung cancer. Hazel believes that she knows what will happen to her by the end of her life. She believes that she’s chaotic, she’s a burden to her parents, she believes that she’s a grenade, that’s why she keep her distance from other people so they won’t get hurt when she dies. But, one day, the universe sent Augustus ‘Gus’ Waters to her. Gus is an ex-basketball player, osteosarcoma survivor, who has an attractive physique, beautiful blue eyes, unique personality (just like Hazel), and a big believer in metaphors.

If you think that this book is about girl surviving cancer, or about dying than you’re wrong. In my opinion, this book is about one thing: young love. The Fault in Our Stars are one of those little books that convinced me that both sides are smitten, and so deep in love with each other. What makes me so in love with their love (ha!) is because of the way John portrayed it, he described it in such a beautiful way that most YA book just not did. Most romance YA books hasve characters that are just too sugar-coated, too childish and angsty, it’s sickening. The Fault in Our Stars has angsty side in it, but in a level that’s not over the edge that I still can enjoy it without getting annoyed.

I know that some people thought that Gus and Hazel didn’t talk in the way more teenagers do. I found this interesting, because on contrary this is exactly why I fall for TFiOS. Sure they didn’t talk like most teenager, but I think that’s because they’re not most teenagers. The force of nature made them grow up faster than other kids around their age. And the way they talked is actually beautiful, really, I fall in love with John Green’s words on this book. There’s so many lines that I highlighted, I’ve lost counts. Being a hopeless romantic I am, I too have a soft spot for beautiful words. For example, my favorite killer line:

“I’m in love with you, and I know that love is just a shout into the void, and that oblivion is inevitable, and that we’re all doomed and that there will come a day when all our labor has been returned to dust, and I know the sun will swallow the only earth we’ll ever have, and I am in love with you.”

me:

This book is not entirely about Hazel and Gus, though. This book is also about friendship, and a deep parents-children relationship, which unfortunately I didn’t saw on the movie. The premise is a bit cliché, but I promise you it’s getting better by the pages. The plot is planned beautifully, and John Green writing on this book is just exquisite. I’m not gonna say another word about this book, because that will make me spoil the beauty of it to you. Let’s just say that this book left me dying for about two weeks. It also makes me cry for about three days, so prepared a tissue box near you when you read it. I encourage you all to read this book, it makes me laugh and cry, it brings both joy and sadness to my heart. Read it, and feel it.