Book Review of The Fault in Our Stars

 

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Green, John. THE FAULT IN OUR STARS. New York, NY: Dutton Books, an imprint of Penguin Random House LLC. ISBN 9780142424179.

 

PLOT SUMMARY

Hazel Grace Lancaster is a teenager with cancer. At a group therapy meeting she meets another cancer survivor named Augustus “Gus” Waters. Hazel and Gus fall in love. They develop an appreciation for each other’s taste in books. They end up traveling together to Amsterdam to visit a writer for whom they have questions. The questions go unanswered, but the trip increases their love for each other.

 

CRITICAL ANALYSIS

Hazel Grace is the teenage protagonist and narrator of the story. Cancer has touched many people’s lives in the real world and this novel does an excellent job reflecting the topic of cancer, and the people that it impacts, accurately and in a true-to-life way. One dichotomy in our world today is that cancer has either impacted your family, or it hasn’t. Young adults who have had cancer in their own families will recognize many of the situations, thoughts, and emotions that resonate throughout this story. Those who have been lucky enough to not have had to deal with cancer in their own families can learn about it in a thoughtful, sensitive way as they read about Hazel Grace and her family and friends. One distinct aspect of this novel is the “story within the story.” This nested story tells about a girl like Hazel Grace, that ends without an ending. The metaphor here is that, like the embedded story, there is no easy cut-and-dry, simple ending to anyone’s life, whether they die by cancer, or some other way. We all have to make meaning of our own lives (and deaths), and those of our loved ones, the best we can. By the end of the novel, Hazel Grace comes to an understanding of the impact of cancer that only those who have lost loved ones to it can sympathize with. Like real life, we, the readers, are left with more questions than answers, and that is part of the beauty of this book.     

 

AWARDS AND REVIEW EXCERPTS

2012 Booklist Editors’ Choice: Books for Youth: “Beautifully conceived and executed, this story about 16-year-old Hazel living with stage three cancer artfully examines the largest possible considerations—life, love, and death—with sensitivity, intelligence, honesty, and integrity.”

KIRKUS starred review: “Green seamlessly bridges the gap between the present and the existential, and readers will need more than one box of tissues to make it through Hazel and Gus’ poignant journey.”  

CONNECTIONS

* This book could be part of any discussion on life-changing illnesses, cancer, death, and how to talk to people about death and dying.

* Other books related to this one:

Downham, Jennie. BEFORE I DIE. ISBN 9780385751582.

Gardner, Kati. FINDING BALANCE. ISBN 9781635830521.

Green, John. LOOKING FOR ALASKA. ISBN 9780142402511. 

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