Sunday, July 1, 2012

The Fault in Our Stars

The Fault in Our StarsThe Fault in Our Stars by John Green
 
On the library shelves: YA Fiction
AR Reading Level: 5.5
Award:  VOYA: The Perfect Tens
Recommended for: Age 15+

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Hazel is a 16-year old from Indiana who is terminally ill with cancer. At the request of her mother, she attends a support group to help her get out and make friends. One day Augustus Waters shows up to support group with his friend Isaac. Augustus is missing part of a leg resulting from his own fight with cancer, but Augustus is fortunately in remission now. Augustus and Hazel become friends, but Hazel is reluctant to let the relationship to progress further in an effort to spare Augustus the pain of watching her die.

I have a love/hate relationship with John Green. Fortunately, this book leaned more towards love. The prose and wit is fantastic, even if it was a little pretentious for teenagers. I felt totally invested in all of the characters, including the colorful and quirky supporting cast. Some of the life observations were moving and yet realistic in a way I really appreciated. Yes, this book is sad, but it's also uplifting and funny.

Just a word about the audiobook: I thought the reader sounded too old to be Hazel which I had a hard time getting past. I also thought her Dutch accent was horrible.

Also reviewed by: In the Pages... ~ Piling on the Books ~ Capricious Reader ~ Book Addiction ~ Ticket to Anywhere ~ Bart's Bookshelf ~ The Bluestocking Society ~ Becky's Book Reviews ~ Book Nut ~ It's All About Books ~ The Avid Reader's Musings ~ things mean a lot ~ 1morechapter.com ~ Steph the Bookworm ~ Your link here?

Source: Library Audiobook

3 comments:

bermudaonion said...

I really want to read this book but it sounds like I should stick with print.

Anonymous said...

The only John Green book I have read is Paper Towns but I hope to read his others, especially this one!

Melissa (Avid Reader) said...

As you saw, I loved this one! I'm glad it worked a bit better for you than some of his others. I did read a print version, so that might have helped me enjoy it more.