Welcome to Maia's Muses, a new monthly guest post where Maia will read and review a book of her choice and give us a teen's perspective on things!
Today she's reviewing Johns Green's The Fault in Our Stars
Despite the tumor-shrinking medical miracle that has bought her a few years, Hazel has never been anything but terminal, her final chapter inscribed upon diagnosis. But when a gorgeous plot twist named Augustus Waters suddenly appears at Cancer Kid Support Group, Hazel's story is about to be completely rewritten.
Despite the tumor-shrinking medical miracle that has bought her a few years, Hazel has never been anything but terminal, her final chapter inscribed upon diagnosis. But when a gorgeous plot twist named Augustus Waters suddenly appears at Cancer Kid Support Group, Hazel's story is about to be completely rewritten.Title: The Fault in Our Stars
Author: John Green
Publication Date: January 10, 2012
Publisher: Dutton Books
Maia's Review:
I eagerly purchased The Fault in Our Stars
by John Green from the local bookstore, upon hearing many times from countless
people that it is a must-read. I cannot possibly stress enough my satisfaction
with my choice to read this. The two main characters are Hazel Grace Lancaster
and Augustus Waters. Hazel is a sixteen year old girl with cancer. She attends
a “Cancer Kid Support Group” and there, meets seventeen year old Augustus
Waters (Gus) who has a cancer known as osteosarcoma. Hazel usually keeps to
herself and immensely enjoys reading. She doesn’t seem to want many
relationships with people because she has cancer. She describes herself as a
grenade at one point in the novel. She doesn’t want to be the person to break
others’ hearts. This comparison that Green uses for Hazel is just one of the
many examples of brilliant writing on his part. Another example is shown with
the character Augustus Waters, the guy who doesn’t smoke. However, he does
put cigarettes in his mouth, explaining that, “It’s a metaphor, see: You put
the killing thing right between your teeth, but you don’t give it the power to
do its killing.” (20) In my opinion, this is one of the most brilliant
metaphors ever embedded into a literary work. In conclusion, I would rate The
Fault in Our Stars five stars because overall, it is nicely constructed. I
suggest you give it a try, enjoy!
John Green's first novel, Looking for Alaska, won the 2006 Michael L. Printz Award presented by the American Library Association. His second novel, An Abundance of Katherines, was a 2007 Michael L. Printz Award Honor Book and a finalist for the Los Angeles Times Book Prize. His next novel, Paper Towns, is a New York Times bestseller and won the Edgar Allen Poe Award for Best YA Mystery. In January 2012, his most recent novel, The Fault in Our Stars, was met with wide critical acclaim, unprecedented in Green's career. The praise included rave reviews in Time Magazine and The New York Times, on NPR, and from award-winning author Markus Zusak. The book also topped the New York Times Children's Paperback Bestseller list for several weeks. Green has also coauthored a book with David Levithan called Will Grayson, Will Grayson, published in 2010. The film rights for all his books, with the exception of Will Grayson Will Grayson, have been optioned to major Hollywood Studios.In 2007, John and his brother Hank were the hosts of a popular internet blog, "Brotherhood 2.0," where they discussed their lives, books and current events every day for a year except for weekends and holidays. They still keep a video blog, now called "The Vlog Brothers," which can be found on the Nerdfighters website, or a direct link here
I just finished that book yesterday, and I gave it five stars as well. I found it beautifully written.
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