I’m a sort of book bandwagoner. I read all the books that everyone’s talking about in the moment. I guess you could call me a mainstream reader. If it’s popular, I’ve read it.
So, I read The Fault in our Stars by John Green. A friend of mine recommended it to me and I figured, well, lots of people love that book, so I’ll give it a shot. I came in with extremely high expectation for this novel, and to be honest, I was disappointed.
Call me heartless, but I did not like that book one bit. My friend told me that it would make me cry, but I hardly felt any emotions throughout the book.
Don’t get me wrong. It’s not badly written or anything, but it’s a romance.
I hate romances.
If you’ve never read TFioS, I’ll try to spoil as little as possible, but that will be difficult.
A girl named Hazel Grace, diagnosed with a terminal illness, pretty much accepted the fact that she’d die, but then a medication is discovered and it saves her life. The story follows her romance with a boy named Augustus Waters, whom she meets in a support group.
I feel like I have an obligation to like this book because it’s about a girl with cancer, but I really didn’t connect with her. I find Hazel’s intelligence pretentious and annoying, from her SAT vocabulary to her poetry. It was difficult for me to connect with her because I didn’t like her attitude and her personality. I couldn’t feel what she feels or see things the sees them.
Augustus is a better character. He has a good sense of humor, but he is a bit too narcissistic. The book tries to portray him as “hot,” but I feel that he is a bit conceited.
Peter van Houten’s character is very well written. I hated every bit of him, as I believe the author intended. He adds conflict and tension to the story, as well as a little bit of humor.
All in all, it was a well-written book with a fairly predictable story line and well-developed characters that were difficult for me to connect with. John Green is a great writer, but this is not a book that sits well with me. There are some very memorable quotes that I will definitely remember, but aside from that, it was not as enjoyable as most people make it to be.
Alas, I am only one person living in a big world with lots of other people. My opinion obviously won’t make my decision for you.
Just Jaycee 