"The Fault In Our Stars" - Book Review

"The Fault In Our Stars" by John Green topped the Young Adult fiction charts for most of 2012, and recently won 'best book of the year.' As you might expect, when I picked up the book from the library, (I had to wait two weeks to get it,) I had high expectations. Unfortunately, they were not met.

My friends had raved about this book, I had read reviews, and not found a single one in the negative. Therefore I am fully aware that I am part of a small minority when I say I was disappointed in "The Fault In Our Stars." Also, it remains a possibility that this book was just so different than what I normally read, that made it difficult to enjoy. I mostly read classic novels; long and strategically paced. Reading something written in this century is a stretch for me. But I'll stop explaining myself and tell you what I thought.

If you aren't familiar with this book, I'll give a short synopsis. "The Fault In Our Stars" is a young adult fiction novel, narrated by a sixteen year-old cancer survivor named Hazel. She befriends a charming, ridiculously handsome cancer-survivor named Augustus Waters who always knows what to say. (On a side note, have your expectations for men been wildly thwarted because of the novels you read?) They bond over Hazel's favorite book called An Imperial Affliction, written by a recluse dutch author named Peter Van Houten. Together, they learn to cope with and understand the questions that philosophers have asked for centuries, but from the viewpoint of teenagers who have looked death in the face.

 In retrospect, the book is well-written, different and funny. Hazel and Augustus both  have fabulously sarcastic senses of humor that made me laugh out loud several times. I suppose the book was meant to be heart-breaking too, and it would have been if I had not seen the ending from a mile away. If you did not find the plot predictable like I did, you probably would have soaked the pages with a torrent of tears.

The fact is, I found the book meatless. The plot was simple, too simple, and the outcome (to me) was obvious. I can't fully explain the reasons I did not enjoy this book without spoiling it, but I'll try. 

At the beginning, I really enjoyed it. Hazel is funny, thoughtful and she loves her parents. She acts like your typical teenager in many ways, but she also demonstrates maturity in thought that sets her apart from the crowd. She meets Augustus Waters in the first chapter, and after only four chapters the audience is immediately thrown into the heat of the story, and I hadn't really had a chance to attach myself to the characters. The fact is, not much happened. And the things that did happen were not as important to me as they would have been if the author had devoted more words to the characters.

I guess it was a good book. It had interesting concepts, and unique themes. However, the pacing and unfolding process did not do justice to the ideas being communicated. As aforementioned, I have not heard anyone have negative feelings about the book besides myself, so perhaps I am merely uneducated, or the book was too different for me. John Green is a great writer, not to mention hilarious. I might look into some of his other novels simply to enjoy his writing-voice, yet if his story telling tactics are the same as expressed in "The Fault In Our Stars," I can't say I will be reading anymore of his books.


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