The Fault in Our Stars

Summary:
Hazel meets Augustus at a cancer patient support group. She has thyroid cancer that has metastasized to her lungs and Augustus lost his leg to bone cancer. They exchange favorite books. Hazel's favorite has a cliffhanger ending, which leads Augustus to contact the author to try to find out what happens at the end. He manages to arrange a meeting and surprises Hazel with plane tickets to meet Van Houten, the author. When the pair meet him, they discover that Van Houten is a bitter drunkard. Augustus confesses his love for Hazel and also reveals that his health is not as good as he had told Hazel. Augustus dies from his cancer and Van Houten attends his funeral to apologize to Hazel for his actions and explains to her that it is impossible to avoid being hurt, but we can choose who we allow to hurt us. He says that he is happy with his choices and hopes Hazel is as well. Hazel ends the book by saying that she is happy with her choice.

Strengths:
The Fault in our Stars is told from the point of view of Hazel. There are very few books that tell their story from the point of view of a cancer patient, so this point of view is unique. Green strives to portray cancer patients are fully realized characters, and does so with quite a bit of humor. The emotional realism in the book is its best asset. The characters don't shy away from the grief and fear of facing their own mortality and that of their loved ones. The characters are not defined by their illnesses as much as their lives are shaped by them. This distinction is an important one.

Green, J. (2012). The fault in our stars. New York, NY: Penguin Group.

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