"The fault, dear Brutus, is not in our stars, but in ourselves."
I found this quote (which is the theme of The Fault in Our Stars) to be many things--confusing, frustrating, beautiful, and brilliant. To me it means that we can't blame fate or luck whenever we get to a bad place in our lives, WE are the ones to blame. The fault, the consequences, are not because of fate, it's because of ourselves, because of the choices we made.


Now that's not to say it's always our fault. Sometimes good people are put in crappy situations for no fault of their own. It just happens. But still, we can't always blame fate. After all, they say we control our own fate, our own destiny.

I found The Fault in Our Stars to be much like that quote: confusing, frustrating, beautiful, and brilliant--which I suppose was the point. It is one of those books that makes you FEEL something, and those type books that not only teach you something but make you feel something, make you see the world in a completely different light, are a rarity.

I felt something stirring inside myself. Something I could tell was strong and had deep meaning. But I couldn't define exactly WHAT it was I was feeling. It's confusing, but beautiful, in a terribly frustrating sort of way.

The Fault in Our Stars is about cancer, and yet it's not about cancer at all. It's about a love story, and yet it's not about a love story at all. It is something bigger than that.

It's about the fault not being in our stars, but being in ourselves. It's about putting the killing thing right between your teeth, but not giving it the power to do the killing. It's about the hero's journey being a voyage from strength to weakness, not weakness to strength. It's about humans being just as likely to hurt the universe as they are to help it, leaving scars instead of marks. It's about the fact that the voracious ambition of humans is never sated by dreams coming true, because there is always the thought that everything might be done better and again. It's about the world not being a wish-granting factory. It's about life and death.

It's about a boy and girl, who just so happen to have cancer, and just so happen to be in love.