The Fault In Our Stars marked a couple of firsts in my life; one being that I have never read a 300 page book in an afternoon, and the other being that I have never before this book even shed a single tear, let alone been a full on emotional wreck from reading a book.
I would also like to point out, before you continue reading further, that I am still quite an emotional wreck at the present time of writing as I wanted the feelings to be raw and at the point of being - so please excuse any poor review on my part as I am clearly just writing from the heart.
Despite the timor-shrinking medical miracle that has bought her a few years, Hazel has never been anything but terminal, he final chapter inscribed upon diagnosis. But when a gorgeous plot twist named Augustus Waters suddenly appears at Cancer Kid Support Group, Hazel's story is about to be completely rewritten.
A book has never tapped into my emotions quite like this one did upon reading it, the emotions are so raw and pure that you can't help but feel attachment from the off. These are emotions that any healthy person wouldn't ever dream of being able to feel as they are a thing that is somewhat taken for granted - I can honestly say that this book made me think about my life and how much I'm not grateful for in the grand scheme of things.
Everything in the life of these two teenagers is taken one day at a time just because of the fact that they don't know how long they have together - The little things in life get blown to huge proportions, you realise the true necessities in life and the world just seems that much more of a beautiful place. You go through all of this through the eyes of Hazel Grace Lancaster; you hear her thoughts, doubts and worries as well as the laughs, fun and flirting that has to go hand in hand with the pain. This book has taught me that through all the negative you must see the positive in order to go on. Life isn't just an unless torment out to get you, but something to be treasured. Yes, we all go through bad times, but in order to get to the good times you must first survive the bad and that is what these cancer patients have to go through every single day of their lives.
The characters were the most wonderful I have read in a long time, they were charming and realistic and just so down to earth. I felt the emotions of every single character in the book and related and sympathised with them immensely, (even though that is something that they would have hated) I believed in them so much that they actually felt as though they real people and that they were in real life my friends. I felt as much there for them as they did and were for each other and it's not every day that an author can create that kind of realistic relatable world that you feel so engrossed in.
John Green is definitely the master of amazing quotes. I normally don't take note of page numbers or quotes in books, but in this one in particular I found myself sticking little bits of post-it-notes on a lot of the pages just so I would remember a quote or two. They are so wonderfully profound and well written that they pulled on every single one of my heart strings each and every time. Some people might say that the quotes that characters came up with were 'unrealistic' or 'not something a normal teenager would say', and to that I say to you that they are not normal teenagers; they are cancer patients with not long to live, feel or love. They make every day their last and if that means expressing their feelings in such a profound way, then why on earth shouldn't they, and who are we to judge how somebody expresses themselves - it is also known in the book that they read an awful lot of literature as well.
To sum this up I have been hysterically crying from about the 260th page through to the end, and that is a mean feat for an author to have that affect on me - I am normally one hard-faced reader that barely sheds a tear for anything with regards to book. To have me watering up behind my eyes is one thing, but to have me in fits of sadness and tears is a totally different thing and I applaud Mr Green for proving me wrong.
"What book has changed your life?" I always hear that phrase being chucked around on booktube and in reviews, and I always thought that it was such a stupid question; How could a book change your life? How could a fictional piece of writing change the way in which you think? The Fault In Our Stars has answered that question for me and I feel like a different person for reading it. It has most definitely made me think about my life and how much I take for granted in this world and overall, I feel I will be haunted and changed by this book for the rest of my life.
★★★★★