Ah yes my friends it is time for the dreaded yet highly anticipated TFIOS review. First of all let me express the first thought I had about this book and my apprehension towards it. Let me be blunt I had just finished Jodie Picoults "My Sisters Keeper" and so I had already cried reading about a girl with cancer and familial problems. That book although may it be brilliant was a heart breaker and it didn't make me want to jump back into heart ache. However I was like what the heck? Might as well keep going I'm already on a roll. So I opened it and was pleasantly surprised and naive by thinking oh yay its just going to be a heartfelt love story between two unique individuals. NO! That was a big resounding NO. Hazel Grace Lancaster is sixteen,and has finished high school early but has already suffered more than most. She was diagnosed with stage 4 thyroid cancer with metastasis forming in her lungs. Horrible I know and to get diagnosed at such a young age of 13. Because Hazel was diagnosed at such an early age she never got to experience being a teenager fully, she never rebelled, never did anything extraordinary. That is till her mother pushes her to get out of the house and meet some friends by going to support group meetings in the heart of Jesus. (You have to read the book to understand that whole statement the meaning is funny just so you know.) I'ts when she goes to the meeting that she meets the handsome, sweet, quirky, Augustus Waters. Augustus is a 17 year old one legged virgin who used to struggle with osteosarcoma (A cancer that deals with the bones) and has gone into full remission or so we thought. Augustus has a weird yet wonderful take on life and he is exactly what Hazel needs to make her life have more meaning. Augustus upon meeting Hazel expresses his opinion of her beauty almost immediately much to her surprise. Augustus makes Hazel feel special and strong and she makes him feel normal and loved. Augustus with his blue eyes, mahogany hair, bad posture and missing leg. Hazel with her dark brown hair, green eyes, chipmunk cheeks, and oxygen tank they make a odd yet wonderful couple. Augustus and Hazel create a bond that mixes two emotions that no one ever thinks might go hand in hand. Love and despair. Love is what the two know and feel about each other and their lives, despair about their conditions and the awful realization that the two of them may not be together for long and deaths impending glare is overhead. John Green throws in a surprising and utterly upsetting plot twist that leaves you either racking in sobs or having silent tears streaming down your face. For me it was slight sobbing in the middle of a quiet 9 person classroom while my psychology teacher looked at me as if I had a condition. Thinking back on it now that was a hilarious moment. Augustus shows Hazel the world and in return Hazel lets him in. She never wanted to, referring to herself as a grenade, brushing him off and saying “I'm a grenade and at some point I'm going to blow up and I would like to minimize the casualties, okay?” yeah sad moment. That phrase is a form of foreshadowing that I will not tell you about because even I'm not that heartless. This book opens your eyes its not just a book about love or never ending strength, but friendship. The book also centers itself on helping others, like Isaac (Augustus's best friend) who lost both his eyes due to cancer and whom as soon as he has the surgery to remove his eyes, his girlfriend Monica dumped him. Leaving him heartbroken over someone he thought would be his "always." Hazel and Augustus help him allowing him to break Augustus's basketball trophies (ulterior motives because Augustus also wanted to show his dad that he was done with the game) and helping him egg Monica's car. I loved this book and my copy is covered in highlighter and sticky notes it looks like a bible. This is a book everyone should put on their reading list regardless if you hate reading romance.
Love Always,
Nicole The Bookworm
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