The Fault in our Stars by John Green Review

Summary from Goodreads:

Diagnosed with Stage IV thyroid cancer at 13, Hazel was prepared to die until, at 14, a medical miracle shrunk the tumours in her lungs... for now. 

Two years post-miracle, sixteen-year-old Hazel is post-everything else, too; post-high school, post-friends and post-normalcy. And even though she could live for a long time (whatever that means), Hazel lives tethered to an oxygen tank, the tumours tenuously kept at bay with a constant chemical assault. 

Enter Augustus Waters. A match made at cancer kid support group, Augustus is gorgeous, in remission, and shockingly to her, interested in Hazel. Being with Augustus is both an unexpected destination and a long-needed journey, pushing Hazel to re-examine how sickness and health, life and death, will define her and the legacy that everyone leaves behind.

My Review:

There are different kinds of great books. There are those books that keeps you hooked you can't let go of it though you have been reading it nonstop for hours. Those books that can make you forget your hunger and realize it's already past meal time. Those books that by the time you finish reading, you still can't put it down. Those books that still keep on ringing on your head even after you've finished reading it for weeks. Those books that can make you laugh and smile and even cry. Those books that make you really feel what the main character is feeling. Those books that can actually move you, you brood over it for weeks...even months. John Green's THE FAULT IN OUR STARS, is THAT book! That very book that make you feel all of these. A book that actually leaves you heartbroken. A book that transmits the emotions from it's pages right into you.

I was a little hesitant to write this review because I'm scared that words would evade me in how much I love this tragically beautiful bitter-sweet story.

This book turned me from smiling, to giggling, then to frowning, then to biting my nails, then to cruing and then finally to wailing.

So yeah, this book actually gripped my heart. It's amazing how this book was able to make me laugh, sent butterflies to my stomach, raise my eyebrow at the main characters different views about life and death and stuff, and of course, squeezed dry my tear ducts.

At one glance this book may seem like a cancer book.. But it isn't. it's a book about life. about family. about love. and about loss.

The characters are all adorable and easy to love. Hazel is strong and vulnerable. And Augustus is beaming with energy but fading. They transform you into a different person after reading about them, their pains, and fears. As Hazel said, she is scared to be loved because she is a grenade. Ready to explode any minute, leaving all those close to her in pain. But then, ironically, she fell in love with a grenade herself. It's already heartbreaking when you think about that.

This book left me with many things to ponder upon. This book offered so many lines worthy to be remembered. Here are some of my favorite lines:

"The world is not a wish-granting factory." 
“My thoughts are stars I cannot fathom into constellations.” 
“That's the thing about pain...it demands to be felt.” 
“The real heroes anyway aren't the people doing things; the real heroes are the people NOTICING things, paying attention.” 
"You don't get to choose if you get hurt in this world...but you do have some say in who hurts you." 

This is one of few books that can move you like no other book. It's beautifully tragic and sad, yet bitterly sweet and moving. And right now, I'm still dazed and caught between Hazel and Augustus' world. But one thing is for sure. This is THAT book. That book that would move hearts. One of the greatest reads anyone could have. =) Read this book and prepare to fall in love.

5 STARS!