Brief summary: 

Hazel Grace Lancaster is a 16-year-old girl with thyroid cancer that spread to her lungs at the age of thirteen. Her parents decided she had depression because she rarely left the house, spent a lot of time in bed, and infrequently ate food, so they forced her to attend a cancer support group. One day, Hazel meets Augustus Water at the meeting, who once had osteosarcoma that made him lose his right leg. They start talking after the support group, and Augustus asks Hazel to come over to his house. They immediately become closer and recommend books to each other. 

Augustus was frustrated at the sudden ending of ‘An Imperial Affliction’, which was the book that Hazel recommended to him. He wrote an email to Lidewij, the assistant of the book’s author Van Houten, including some questions on the book’s ending. A few days later, he got a response from Lidewij saying that Van Houten could not answer the questions, however, he would like Augustus and Hazel to come over to his house in Amsterdam. Augustus told this to Hazel but she knew that her family didn’t have enough money for a flight due to her treatment cost. So Augustus decides to use his wish from The Genie Foundation, an organization that fulfills one wish of kids with cancer, to go to Amsterdam with Hazel. 

 

Personal Review: 

While reading this book, I realized that the title was referenced from Shakespeare’s quote, “The fault, dear Brutus, is not in our stars, / But in ourselves, that we are underlings” (Julius Caesar). The star is used as a metaphor for our fate, or destiny, saying that the fault in life was made by us as humans, not something else. However, I liked what John Green was trying to tell the readers with the title, “The Fault in Our Stars”: sometimes, it’s not our fault. Cancer, which both Hazel and Augustus had, is something that they can’t avoid. Hazel Grace in the story had said that there will come a time when all of us are dead. This book made me think deeper about our lives with a fate that leads to death, everyone equally. 

 

Rating: ★★★★★ (5/5) 

 

Edited by Sarasi Rout