The Fault in Our Stars

Title: The Fault in Our Stars
Author: John Green
Genre: YA
Rating: 4.5/5
Cover: 8/10


I feel like I have a certain amount of pressure to give this a 5, but in the end, it's a 4.5; sorry John Green fanatics.

See, thing is, when I started reading this book, I was mentally prepared to shed a hell of a lot of tears. I mean, these days, you mention cancer health centres and I tear up, if I'm having an emotional day. It's just a touchy subject all around. And yeah, not going to lie, it was heart-wrenching. I never, not in a million years, expected it to end like it did, but hey that's the nature of this damned disease, so I can't say I was too surprised - guess two family members who died from it kind of make me in the know as to how it just sneaks up on you with no warning. Once you've had it, it hovers over you forever, and it might decide to come back whenever it pleases, no advance warning so you can prepare to receive it. It just comes, and you best be ready for it, or else...
So, no, that's not what bothered me.
What bothered me was - and please let's all take a moment to realise that, despite being a highly emotional book that deals with something that cannot seem to get out of the news/public eye, it's still a book, and therefore there are certain things I expect to find in a book, and that is why I found this lacking - is the way the love story was developed. I get that this is a relatively short book, probably because that sense of impending doom, but I felt like the romance, which is, I don't care what you have to say otherwise, the main driving force of this novel, could have had more details. Love at first sight is all very nice and good, but I just wasn't feeling it, to be honest. Also, the whole she-looks-like-my-ex thing kind of freaked me out, as it never really shows any particular difference in Augustus' behaviour towards Hazel, so you never really know when he actually fell for her.

Now, I want to touch on something that has been bothering me for a while, and which is part, I think, of why this book is so popular. I'm not denying that Mr. Green is a wonderful writer; he most definitely is. But these past few years have seen a burst of attention towards cancer, and I think that this attention and focus helped a lot in the popularisation of this novel. Once again, though: it is not a bad book; I just found it to not be all that people had ranted and raved that it was.