The Fault in Our Stars by John Green

I think I might be broken because I didn't cry during this book nearly as much as I tear up watching the commercials for the upcoming movie based on it. That does not mean it wasn't an emotional read but from reviews from friends on its tear-jerkiness I was expecting something akin to what happened to me during the last half of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows (meaning so many tears that the book had to be put down so I could wipe my eyes and un-fog my glasses). I'm wondering if perhaps the warning ahead kept me from bawling or if it was the fact that the emotional scenes kept getting interrupted by phone calls, dogs barking, etc. But tears, or lack thereof, aside I did love the book.

So for those of you don't know, The Fault in Our Stars is about Hazel Grace Lancaster, a teenage girl with terminal cancer and her relationship with fellow cancer ridden teenager Augustus Waters. There is certainly more to the story (commentary on life and death, the ups and downs of a teenagers life that even the healthiest of teenagers will relate to, etc.) but what drives the plot is Hazel and Augustus forming a relationship around a book that Hazel suggests he read. What follows is a beautifully written coming of age story with fantastic characters.

I loved Hazel and Augustus. They were sarcastic, intelligent, and annoying at times (which is good because characters who are perfect all the time are even more annoying).

And since I like to read negative reviews of books and get really mad at them I'd also like to address some of the issues I saw people had with this book. Some people thought the two main characters, who are sixteen, did not speak like they were teenagers. And yes there was quite a lot of existential musings and so forth but jeeze...these are two teenagers who, instead of worrying about what party to go to during the weekend, they are worried about how many days they have left to live. Isn't that enough of a reason for them to act more maturely?

Plus, not every teenager in the world speaks in text abbreviations or uses an elementary school vocabulary. And I liked how in certain situations they were very immature while in others they were not because that's just normal for people of any age.

I did like the story although I was expecting, and wanting, the story to continue a bit further than it did. (And honestly I was sort of figuring it would end like the fictional book within a book An Imperial Affliction that Hazel and Augustus liked so much).