Where I Got the Book: I have two copies actually--one pre-ordered from Amazon for Christmas and one from when my husband went Hanklerfishing at Kroger!In Short: true love on borrowed time, cancer
I hesitated on beginning this book because I had been feeling a little down and so many people talked about how the book made them cry that I didn't want to make my mood worse. Also, right around the time I received my copy a relative of mine died from the cancer infecting his brain.
Hazel is a sixteen year old girl residing in Indiana whose lungs don't work due to the civilization cancer had established with in them. (Gah! I so don't want to type much more than this because I feel like everything past the first chapter would contain spoilers. That's how much I love this book! I view any and all info on it as a spoiler!) Through a forced attendance to a support group she meets Augustus Waters who is in remission--i.e. cancer is gone currently, but we won't say you're really cancer-free unless you stay that way for a few years. From the first support group meeting they click and the romance grows from there.
The obstacles Hazel and Augustus (sometimes called Gus) face are: not being defined by their cancer, fulfilling wishes, and maintaining dignity while the body is doing its best to fall apart. That's all I'm going to say about this because of a previous reason stated within a parenthesis.
I really did love this book and how real all of the characters became to me. I literally started yelling at John Green (who of course wasn't in the room) that such and such COULD NOT happen while caught up in the story. I even stopped reading twice and tweeted at him about two pages that made this not-easily-emotion-invoked reader to cry. (I will not reveal which pages--that is unless you read the tweets.) I will admit that I didn't understand everything within the first read, but that's the point of subsequent readings. You hold the story in your heart, you grow, come back to it again at another time, and then notice things you didn't before or understand something you rushed through earlier in your quest to find out what happens next.
Red Flags: Language. The first curse word you encounter is on the third page of the story and it will not be the last one. I think this book is a pretty realistic representation of teenagers--and yes, a great deal of them use profanity. There is also a depiction of some more-than-kissing displays of affection and implied sex. If you are someone who really can't enjoy a novel because of these red flags, you may not want to try it. But if you're able to accept them, look past them, or not be bothered by them at all I emphatically encourage you to read this book. Seriously.
Grading
Plot: 10/10
Characters: 10/10
Writing: 10/10
Originality: 10/10
Enjoyment: 10/10
Overall: 50/50
Tidbits
Genre: Young Adult Fiction, Contemporary, Romance
Original Release Date: January 10, 2012
Two ways to increase the dosage of John Green in your life:
- YouTube Channel
- Important Video to Watch
- Twitter: @realjohngreen
