REVIEW: The Fault In Our Stars by John Green

3 out of 5 stars

Genre: Young Adult/Romance
Published: Pengiun USA, January 10, 2012
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So I know that I am a little late jumping on this bandwagon, and that so many people are going to be unhappy with my review. Just please keep in mind that it is just my opinion.

This is a love story between two sick teenagers, Hazel and Gus. It tells of how they met during a support group, both suffering from disease. Hazel is terminal and Gus seems to be cancer free and no worse for the wear other than being an amputee. Hazel shares her obsession of her favorite book with Gus. The book is the story of a young girl that suffers from a terminal illness as well, Hazel has been frustrated for some time regarding the way that this story ends and has tried a number of times to reach out to the author, who has become a recluse in Amsterdam, to which she has not gotten any responses. Gus does finally have some luck getting in contact with the author through his assistant and they are both invited to Amsterdam. They make the trip with the help of the wish program, where they fall in love and Hazel learns that Gus' health is not as good as she thought that it was. The rest of the book contains the struggles while Gus goes down hill.

I was worried to read this book because I was afraid of the emotional response that it would cause. Several people I know, many who have similar tastes in books that I do, absolutely LOVED this book. Unfortunately, I really had no emotional response what-so-ever, I did not hate this book, but I did not love it either. It was a sweet story and the idea behind it was great. I did not get moved by the character development and felt that there was just not enough substance to the story. Part of my problem with the book may have been all of the hype that has surrounded the book, which raised my expectations of the book.

Even though this book was not my cup of tea, I definitely see where it is very moving to other people. I say that it is still worth reading if you are interested, just not to get your hopes up for a miraculous piece of literary work.