<i>The Fault in Our Stars</i> by John Green | Teen Ink

The Fault in Our Stars by John Green MAG

April 4, 2013
By nerdfighter7 BRONZE, Ashburn, Virginia
nerdfighter7 BRONZE, Ashburn, Virginia
2 articles 0 photos 0 comments

Favorite Quote:
&quot;Some infinities are bigger than other infinities.&quot; <br /> <br /> &ldquo;When adults say, &quot;Teenagers think they are invincible&quot; with that sly, stupid smile on their faces, they don&#039;t know how right they are. We need never be hopeless, because we can never be irrepara&ldquo;There are infinite numbers between 0 and 1. There&#039;s .1 and .12 and .112 and an infinite collection of others. Of course, there is a bigger infinite set of numbers between 0 and 2, or between 0 and a million. Some infinities are bigger than other infinities. A writer we used to like taught us that. There are days, many of them, when I resent the size of my unbounded set. I want more numbers than I&#039;m likely to get, and God, I want more numbers for Augustus Waters than he got. But, Gus, my love, I cannot tell you how thankful I am for our little infinity. I wouldn&#039;t trade it for the world. You gave me a forever within the numbered days, and I&#039;m grateful.&rdquo;


When I first finished reading The Fault in Our Stars, it was 3 a.m. and my heart plummeted. What a lovely book. This quote from the novel sums up how I feel: “Sometimes, you read a book … and you become convinced that the shattered world will never be put back together unless … all living humans read the book. And then there are books like – insert book here – which you can't tell people about, books so special and rare and yours that advertising your affection feels like betrayal.”

The Fault in Our Stars tells the story of cancer-stricken 16-year-old Hazel Grace Lancaster. Knowing she has a terminal disease, she doesn't do much except watch “America's Top Model” and read The Imperial Affliction over and over. Hearing “cancer,” you might expect a story of bravery and heroism, where the illness is the antagonist and somehow the protagonist overcomes the awful torture, but The Fault in Our Stars is not like this. It features cancer, but not as the main topic.

Although death and cancer and loss and sorrow are all prominent in these pages, it is also a downright cheesy, sappy, awfully clichéd love story that makes the hearts of teenage girls flutter and the eyes of experienced adults roll. And I loved every single page of it.

A character like Augustus Waters is rare: he is a charismatic, inquisitive, and thoughtful old soul who was a victim of osteosarcoma, losing a leg to the disease at a young age.

Even though cancer is such a morbid topic, Green manages to show a sensitively humorous side of it through his characters: Augustus is constantly joking about his stub and being one-legged, and Hazel constantly complains about her lungs sucking at being lungs.

Green manages to examine life, love, and death with an honesty few could hope to achieve. He shows how scary cancer can be, but manages to make life fascinating and wondrous, even if the pain of cancer resides in it.

The Fault in Our Stars is my favorite book. I feel that those who haven't read it haven't seen the cruelty or beauty in life. But at the same time, I keep this book close to my heart since it's more special to me than I possibly could have imagined when I first opened it.


The author's comments:
The Fault in Our Stars is my favorite book because it was a beautiful tale of love and loss in the perspective of a teenager. John Green brought light to several subjects that now allow me to see them in a new way.

Similar Articles

JOIN THE DISCUSSION

This article has 1 comment.


kk134 said...
on May. 15 2014 at 4:39 pm
i want a sequel!!