The Fault in Our Stars by John Green

The fault, dear Brutus, is not in our stars/But in ourselves

So, I finally got around to reading The Fault in Our Stars. It was everything that everyone has already said it is. I was worried that I would cry, because I am already a crier and lately I have started to tear up pretty much every time I finish a book. Ho boy, did this book ever make me cry! I cried at the sad moments and the happy moments and the bittersweet moments. Since it is still John Green, it's not one of those mushy tearjerker cancer books. It's funny and sweet and just read it because I love it, okay?

The plot centers around a teenage girl named Hazel. She was diagnosed with Stage IV thyroid cancer when she was 13, but an experimental treatment actually beat the odds and shrunk her tumors. She still has to undergo chemical treatments and she still can't walk very far without her oxygen tank, but the cancer is at bay for a while. At her cancer support group, Hazel meets a new boy named Augustus Waters. He is in remission, having lost a leg to his cancer. Augustus is handsome and funny, and Hazel falls for him right away. Surprisingly, to her anyways, Augustus falls for her right back.

So begins a story that teaches us that pain demands to be felt, and some infinities are bigger than others. Some may live longer than others, but in the end we are all going to die. It's actually not as depressing as it sounds. Two great characters meet and interact, they bond and have adventures involving a fictional book that I would love to read. The book is about a girl with cancer, but it's not a cancer book.