The Fault in Our Stars by John Green

The Fault in Our Stars is about as YA as it gets — the snarky attitudes, teen love dramas and arguments with parents all scream young adult fiction. The only thing differentiating this book from so many others is its sharp focus on death. It’s a quick read that encompasses issues from children with cancer to moving on after a loved one has passed. Ultimately, John Green presents us with a surprisingly moving story as seen through the lens of a sarcastic teenage girl.

Right away we learn all about Hazel Lancaster, the main character, and her life-threatening condition. Diagnosed with thyroid cancer at thirteen, we learn that she’s endured countless procedures and manages to survive due to a drug she takes as part of a medical trial. Hazel’s constant struggle to survive results in her using sarcasm as an escape. In the book, her character comes across as direct and strikingly honest, which is refreshing in a setting that would otherwise require subtlety and sensitivity. “There will come a time,” she says to her support group, “when all of us are dead. All of us. There will come a time when there are no human beings remaining to remember that anyone ever existed or that our species ever did anything” (24). While that might sound somewhat harsh, her character seems to own it in a way that isn’t somber or depressing. Many times throughout the novel, Hazel’s frankness is undeniably funny, which adds a kind of levity to the plot and keeps it from becoming too melodramatic.

I really appreciate the way Green doesn’t shy away from a typically difficult subject; rather, he faces them head on. His characters are young, dying and distinctly aware of it. “People talk about the courage of cancer patients, and I do not deny that courage,” says Hazel, “I had been poked and stabbed and poisoned for years, and still I trod on. But make no mistake: In that moment, I would have been very, very happy to die” (106). Having taken care of my own mother when she was battling cancer and hearing her express similar emotions, I imagine this admission speaks to readers of any age. Cancer is nothing to be taken lightly, but it seems there are way to find support, comfort and solidarity in any situation. Whether we experience having cancer ourselves or grapple with the diagnosis of a loved one, there is something to be said for finding a bright side in any situation.

“People talk about the courage of cancer patients, and I do not deny that courage. I had been poked and stabbed and poisoned for years, and still I trod on. But make no mistake: In that moment, I would have been very, very happy to die.”

On a bittersweet note, it was just revealed today that the inspiration for Green’s book, Esther Grace Earl, will have her memoirs published posthumously. Titled This Star Won’t Go Out: The Life & Words of Esther Grace Earl, the book will be published by Penguin Young Readers in January 2014.

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• The Fault in Our Stars – Review (chestersbookreviews.wordpress.com)