Book Review: The Fault in Our Stars

The Fault in Our Stars by John Green
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Here's the thing about seeing a book praised, especially by your friends: It creates expectations it is pretty impossible for the real thing to live up to.

Don't misunderstand me. I liked this book. I really, really did — just not quite as much as I expected wanted to. I wanted to love it, not only because of those aforementioned friends but also because I consider myself a Nerdfighter. Alas, it was not to be. Further skewing my experience was the fact that, being late to the party, I had encountered spoilers. I knew about the big twist long before I even acquired the novel. Sad, that.

To the point, now? Yes.

CAUTION: MAY CONTAIN SPOILERS.




After finishing the novel, I looked at a few reviews of it here on GR. Some were very critical indeed, and there's one point in particular I would like to address. Well, no, that's a lie. There are more. But the first order of business is this thing about the differences between Hazel and Augustus. There are people who posit that they are, in fact, the same character. Personally, I wouldn't go quite that far, but they are perhaps not as different, or at the very least not as easy to tell apart, as one might like. They are distinct personalities, yes, but their speech patterns are fairly similar.

There's the metaphor thing. I must say I wasn't overly impressed, but for one thing, that horse is as good as dead, and for another... I think that was the point. Not to be very impressed with this idiosyncracy of Augustus's, especially when it comes to his deal with the cigarettes. Hazel is never really convinced; she indulges him, because she knows that it matters to him. To have the illusion of some kind of control. In other areas, the metaphors are kind of sweet. The boy likes grand gestures, and Hazel lets him have them, but the truth is — and I'm not interpreting, it's right there in the fricking book — that she prefers him without that smooth veneer.

One thing that really surprised me was the fact that An Imperial Affliction and Peter Van Houten had such a major part in the story. I mean, I knew John Green had moved to Amsterdam for a couple of months while writing the novel, specifically for research and authenticity purposes, but somehow that didn't click. Threw me off for a while. I'm not really sure how I feel about it. On the one hand, it's an interesting thing to have there and gave Hazel and Augustus something they otherwise might never have experienced. On the other hand, I can't help but wonder whether I would have preferred a more insular story. I'll never know, because this is the one we got.

My emotional response? The tears appeared much later than anticipated. Quite a few chuckles for the dialogue, and I refuse to agree with the nay-sayers who think the lines were too witty for teenagers to come up with. Some of the monologues were definitely thought up beforehand, yes, I'm looking at you Augustus Waters. But the banter? Heck yes I buy it. I've known some amazingly bright people in that general age bracket, and don't believe for a moment that Cancer Kids are exempt from being endowed with loads of wit. These kids were. (I'm sure there is at least one YA novel where the protagonist suffers from an illness but is otherwise entirely unexceptional. If someone recommends such a book to me, I'll read it.)

In light of all this, you will forgive me for not giving the book five stars. I'm very stingy in that regard, to be honest. Nevertheless, this is a beautiful book and I shall doubtlessly re-read it more than once. And yes, damn straight I'm going to go see the movie.

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