You Got A Friend In Me!: The Fault In Our Stars

The book is about a young 16 year old girl called Hazel Grace Lancaster who is battling stage four thyroid cancer that had spread to her lungs, which as a result of this she must carry an oxygen tank and nasal cannulas wherever she goes. Hazel's cancer has always been "terminal" but the medical miracle "Phalanxifor" has kept it at bay and has bought her some more time. As a reader who has been affect devastatingly by cancer throughout my family (like so many people all over the world) I thought the story was portrait amazingly honest and justly, not stereotypical. When I started reading this book I did fear it was going to be a little predictable, boy meets girl, girl dies, cue tears, the end. THERE IS NO WAY YOU COULD PREDICT ANYTHING THAT HAPPENS IN THIS BOOK. I'm sorry John Green I should've had faith in you! (I do now)

There are 5 main characters in this novel:

Hazel Grace - The Narrator.
Augustus Waters - The boyfriend.
Isaac - Augustus's best friend, Hazel's Support Group Friend.
Hazel's Parents.
Peter Van Houten - Hazel's Favourite Author.

there is also some other characters we meet briefly through out the novel:

Patrick - the support group leader.
Kaitlyn - Hazel's best friend from school.
Monica - Isaac's ex/girlfriend.
Gus's Parents.

Straight to the point really, what actually happens in the full book quickly & briefly!

The main parts of the book are:

Hazel & Gus meet at support Group.
Monica dumps Isaac.
Isaac becomes blind.
Gus uses his wish (Make a wish foundation) to take Hazel to meet her favourite author in Amsterdam.
Peter Van Houten is an asshole/drunk/rude man. Not what they expected.
They have a beautiful time in Amsterdam & have sex.
Gus reveals he is dying.
Gus, Isaac & Hazel egg Monica's car.
Gus dies & his funeral.
Peter Van Houten re-appears at Augustus's funeral and explains why he acted the way he did.
Hazel finds Gus has written a squeal to her favourite book.
The End.

The whole book itself is a rollercoster ride of emotions. Sad,happy,surprised,shocked,
funny and so on! The characters are very like able and really relatable in the sense you either can relate or know people with the same attitude and personalities as them which I loved. You also either love them or hate them really? Like most people. Basically all of the above main characters have pretty dismal lives: Hazel is terminal Gus - battled Osteosarcoma, had 1 leg, Isaac - blind, Peter Van Houten - alcoholic lost his young daughter to cancer and his wife left him.

Unusually we see the author ignore traditional gender roles as he made Hazel's father the weaker parent,we see him break down/cry a lot through out the book, stereotypically it's the mother. I understood why the author chose Amsterdam as the destination of there travelling to meet Peter Van Houten, it was a symbol: Amsterdam is surrounded by water, water = both a creator and destroyer of life.Water makes life possible for Hazel, but the fluid in her lungs (which she refers to as water) is killing her.

Like AIA (An Imperial Affliction) I thought maybe John Green was going to end the book abruptly mid-sentence haha! thankfully he didn't though.

I'm also glad the author put Kaitlyn in the book because although she hardly ever appears in it,only briefly we picture her as this gorgeous, super popular girl who is best friends with Hazel. which makes the reader think that before Hazel's cancer she was probably the same person as Kaitlyn. It also shows us how socially awkward Hazel is now.

I adored John Greens frequent use of metaphors and symbols, the book would be dull without them! my favourite was of course Augustus's cigarette metaphor. Basically Augustus does not smoke but he places unlit cigarettes in his mouth. He associates the unlit cigarette with taking control over his health, so he puts the killing thing
in his mouth but denies it the power to kill him (Hope that made sense!)

Why the title name?

there is a quote in the book which explains it:

“The fault, dear Brutus, is not in our stars but in ourselves, that we are underlings.”

which basically means that the fault is not in the stars (fate,luck, etc) but in the individual people. People do not have some unjust destiny; they make decisions that lead them to their fates.

So there you have it! I really liked this book and I am now a huge John Green fan. I cannot wait for the movie, which is going to be released on the 6th of June 2014! I would definitely recommend this book but be warned I doubt you'll ever really forget the characters! Did I cry? Nope I didn't, to be honest I haven't ever cried at a book before in my life and no this doesn't mean i'm heartless (I cry at every sad movie there is haha) but I guess everybody is different. I did however feel very sad and depressed. I also learned a few things from this book so I will post my favourite quotes below. I'm going to read "Looking For Alaska" next hehe! Watch out for the review!

"The world is not a wish-granting factory."

“That’s the good thing about pain. It demands to be felt.”

“Some infinities are bigger than other infinities.”

“I fell in love the way you fall asleep: slowly, then all at once.”

You know my opinion and thoughts on "The Fault In Our Stars" By John Green, but what are your thoughts & opinions? Drop me a comment below and let me know! XOXO

The Fault In Our Stars - By John Green (Review)

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