Book Review: The Fault in Our Stars

By Rachel
The Fault In Our Stars by John Green Book Cover

The Fault in Our Stars by John Green, published January 2013 by Penguin.

Read: January 2014
Genre: Young Adult/Romance/Issues
Source: Purchased
#Pages: 318

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Goodreads Synopsis: Despite the tumour-shrinking medical miracle that has bought her a few years, Hazel has never been anything but terminal, her 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.

The Review

I don’t know where to start! I’d seen quite a bit of Internet and media hype about The Fault in Our Stars before I finally took the plunge and purchased it, so I guess I already had these great big expectations of what this book was going to be. I also knew that a highly anticipated movie adaptation was due for release and I definitely wanted to read it before seeing the movie.

While part of me LOVES certain things about this book, there’s this other, smaller, part of me that is just slightly disappointed – it didn’t quite live up to my really big expectations (please don’t shoot me!) but it didn’t fall too short of them either. I think this is a writer’s occupational hazard – when the publicity surrounding the book becomes even bigger than the story itself, it can be difficult for the book to then live up to its own reputation.

  • The absolutely fantastic, totally relate-able and swoon-worthy writing. How is Augustus Waters SO damn mature for his age and where does John Green get his inspiration for some of the amazing, inspirational and delicious sentences he creates?! There were so many times while reading that I actually had to put the book down and just savour the moment, or grab someone, anyone, who was remotely close to me so I could read them the most perfect sentences ever written. Like this one —–> “I fell in love the way you fall asleep; slowly, and then all at once.”
  • Isaac’s sense of humour – I love a book that makes me laugh out loud and in this case it was usually because of Isaac, he was such a loveable character and his emotional breakdown that involved eggs… enough said.
  • That's the thing about painIt made me cry –  if a book can bring me to the verge of tears, or make me actually shed a few, then it is a darn good book. Don’t get me wrong, I’m not some sort of Ice Queen (I cry at the normal sob-fests, Titanic anyone?) but for a book to hit me in the same way I have to feel something for the characters, in this case I really did.

The Rating

4.5/5

I just can’t stretch to a full 5/5, I really want to, but I have a couple of minor issues stopping me – I really didn’t like or sometimes even get the character of Peter Van Houten, I know that whole story line was pretty crucial to the novel, and it tied together nicely at the end, but at times it felt a little out of place and just interrupted me from reading some seriously amazing fiction. I’ve already started another John Green book, Paper Towns, and I intend to read his other work.

Interesting Notes!

I’ve watched the trailer for The Fault in Our Stars and I’m just throwing this out there – I don’t know if I’m going to like the actors, Augustus is so not how he was in my head!! I will withhold judgement until I’ve seen the movie. I think it will also be interesting to see how Shailene Woodley plays Hazel Grace and also Tris Prior from Divergent, as they are such different characters and both books have their own mass followings. John Green was inspired to write The Fault in Our Stars by a girl named Esther Earl who he dedicated the book to.

Have you read The Fault in Our Stars (who hasn’t?!). Let me know your thoughts below!

About Rachel

Avid reader & #bookblogger. Lover of all things business. A fan of drinks & dancing. Ever optimistic. Feminist.

13 Responses

  2. kainzow

    I haven’t read it,but given that it has so many great reviews,I will read it someday.
    And yep,I agree with what you said.Sometimes the hype is just too much.I want to read it when the hype will have calmed down a bit.I want to feel attracted by the book instead of grabbing it and expecting it to be everything people have said about it.

    I absolutely don’t want to sound like a hater,but it has 4.5/5 stars on goodreads with more than half a million people having rated it.I feel quite sceptical about this; is it really worth all this? Maybe many people would have given it a 4 or 3,had there not been the hype around this book.For instance,was it that popular in 2012? I think not.But that’s only a supposition.

    It’s the first time I talk about this book with someone,because I see that you’re not a fangirl who nods to anything popular. 🙂

    Liked by 1 person

    1. Rachel

      Thanks for commenting!

      I definitely read this at the peak of its hype, and if I’m totally honest I think that hype did effect not only my expectations but also my final opinions of the book, and similarly I did wonder what I would have thought of it had I just picked it off the shelf in 2012.

      I have read another John Green book since (Paper Towns) and felt quite disappointed by it. I think he creates some very interesting characters and I am definitely a big fan of his writing style, some of his writing is quite breath-taking, but I also feel some of the plotlines just aren’t in sync or distract from the novel as a whole.

      I’m going to read some of his other works, but I have a feeling that this is the best of his work to-date. It’ll be interesting to see where he goes from here too.

      I definitely don’t automatically love books that are popular, I do read them but I can admit when they fall short. The only popular books that I do fangirl over are the Harry Potter books. I read them when they first came out and before the whole Potter thing really blew up, so I can claim that one!

      R

      Liked by 1 person

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