The Fault in Our Stars

The Fault in our Stars, John Green

More teen fiction, this time: all-encompassing love in the midst of terminal cancer. Unlike the ridiculous nature of teen love in Twilight (more on that in due course), this is a very good story, with solid characters and real depth. Hazel’s cancer is currently held at bay, but time is ticking by. Now 17, she has been sick since she was 14 and her cancer has begun to define her. Her main support network are other cancer kids in a support group, including friend Isaac who has just lost his second eye to cancer. New member Augustus Waters is in remission, having lost a leg to bone cancer.

Hazel and Augustus immediately hit it off. Both are well read, very intelligent and their conversation and interactions bring a spark to the page. Green includes numerous literary references along the way, including poetry by T.S. Eliot and Shakespeare to take understanding to the next level for those who have ears to hear.

Of course, throughout is the reality that for Hazel and Gus death is always nearby, and cancer recurrence is just around the corner. The threat lingers until Green reveals which way their story will go.

It’s open and raw at times. Illness and its side effects are openly described. You see the anguish of parents watching their children suffer. There is a macabre humour as each manages their illness in their own way. There are jokes about the way cancer kids are treated as angels and battlers, irrespective of how they actually behave. An honesty suffuses it all.

I was expecting it to be simpler than it was, but there was an additional story line about an author that has touched them both, who they tried to meet but who never lives up to expectation. I was expecting the romance to be exaggerated, but it was very understated. There was more description of physical illness than physical romance.

If younger readers (or adults) have known people with cancer I suspect this book could be helpful in processing some of those emotions, but whether or not cancer has personally touched your life, this book will touch the lives of those who read it. It’s addresses things that matter: life, death, what defines you, what you believe and who you care about.

Recommended reading for teens about age 15 and up.