City News

“The Fault in Our Stars”, a novel by John Green, is an amazing read. With unpredictable

brusts of joy and disappointment, the novel deals with themes such as death, oblivion, love, and

the meaning of life. In the end, life only has whatever meaning you gift it, and through it all love

will persevere. The story takes place in Indianapolis. Hazel Grace, a teenage girl suffering from

thyroid cancer was diagnosed at an early age, her “final chapter inscribed upon diagnosis”. She

goes about her seemingly dreary life until a very intriguing Augustus Waters, a former cancer

patient himself, walks into Hazel’s cancer support group. With him she starts her journey of

taking risks, having fun, and living life to the fullest she can with her condition. Predictably, with

risks comes danger, and for Hazel, any danger can be life threatening.

John Green draws young readers in with “teenager” language. With the familiarity of

everyday speech, he makes Hazel’s voice come alive and allows you to connect with the

strikingly profound revelations that young Hazels stumbles upon during the story. He draws

parallels between the common reader's life and a life as unusual as Hazel’s with surprising

clarity and leaves you fulfilled yet searching for more at the end of each glorious chapter. The

characters are the readers' friends. Their lives are intertwined, from the moment they pick up the

book to the moment they put it down.

By placing an organized, well-planned character like Hazel, alongside a curious, and wild

character like Augustus, Green gives us the perfect equation - one where we don’t know the

outcome. He plays a sort of tug of war between the character’s initial instincts and the

characters’ actions, perfectly displaying the effects of love on either one. Love is unpredictable.

Love is wild. Love takes risks. That is what makes the book so fun. However, there are also

moments where your heart will break because there is always an underlying ominousness that

nags at you. You never know when cancer will strike and your favorite character will cease to

exist. The combination of consistency and uncertainty, in the novel, seem to perfectly

encapsulate the idea of love.

All in all, if you want a book that hooks you, makes you cry, makes you laugh, and

makes you think, all at the same time, this is the book for you. The characters are unexpectedly

relatable, considering their dire conditions. The novel itself covers the concept of life, and love.

Overall, “The Fault in Our Stars” is the most perfectly imperfect love story that I have come

across, and I hope you feel the same.

Check out The Fault in Our Stars from the Newport Beach Public Library.