The Fault In Our Stars by John Green Book Review

The novel The Fault In Our Stars, by John Green, tells a young teenage girl's journey through life while battling cancer. 16-year-old Hazel Grace Lancaster was first diagnosed with thyroid cancer, which later evolved into a long-term satellite colony in her lungs. After being diagnosed and given a short life expectancy, due to the fact her cancer was deemed incurable, Hazel doesn’t feel the need to explore life and the greatness that comes with it; she simply stays home and watches recorded television shows with her parents. Hazel got her cancer miracle, Phalanxifor, the drug only worked on a low percentage of patients and didn’t stop tumor growth but slowed it, luckily for Hazel it worked. Hazel still didn’t know how to live life, she wanted to be alone and stay away from people so she wouldn’t hurt them, shortly after meeting a young man named Augustus she realized “the only way to live and be happy was to love and be loved.” 

Hazel and Augustus “Gus” Waters met at a support group, Hazel being forced to go by her doctor and mother and Augustus came one night with his friend Issac, Hazel normally didn’t make too many friends especially not since she got pulled out of high school, but her and Augustus instantly cliched.  They were both very intelligent, they had the same sense of humor, they also flirted a lot and Hazel admitted that she liked Augustus which was weird for her because she hadn’t really ever thought about dating a guy. After hanging out a few times and bonding over a very important book, An Imperial Affliction, Hazel received a call from Gus and went to console his friend Issac at Gus’s house after a hard breakup with his girlfriend Monica. While being at his house Issac had asked Hazel if she believed in true love to which she didn’t answer, Hazel stated “I didn’t answer. I didn’t have an answer” Before Augustus and Issac the only people she really had in her life was her best friend from school, Kaitlyn, who she loved but didn’t understand anymore, and then her mother and father. Hazel didn’t really have any desire for more friendships or relationships after being diagnosed, she said she wanted to hurt as little people as possible, she couldn’t help the fact that she would hurt her parents because she didn’t have a choice, Hazel always made it pretty clear though that her death no matter when it happened it was inevitable, and she would die due to illness not old age.

Augustus changed her life, before getting close with him she referred to herself as a “grenade” just waiting to explode and cause casualties to her loved ones, he changed her mind though. The first time Hazel and Gus hung-out after support group they exchanged books, Hazel gave Gus a cancer book (Hazel explains that it wasn’t one of those sad cancer books) but they really bonded over the book An Imperial Affliction. There was an organization that gave children with critical illnesses a “wish” and the genies of the organization would grant that wish, although Hazel had spent hers “hastily” when she was thirteen for a trip to Disney World with her parents, although Augustus had been NEC for a while he traded his leg for a wish and had been keeping it for a while so he decided he wanted to go with Hazel and her mother to Amsterdam to meet the author of their favorite book, Peter Van Houten. Earlier on in their relationship Hazel had decided she didn’t want to hurt him, especially since her condition was getting worse, so she decided to tell him that she “can’t kiss” him or anything, when she tries to look at him “like that” all she can see is what she is going to “put him through” but as the trip goes on her mentality starts to change. Peter Van Houten ended up being an alcoholic mess and a major disappointment, he said some extremely rude things to them and it ended up making them stronger so after they meet him they go to the museum and end up having their first kiss. During this trip Gus also tells Hazel he loves her and she doesn’t say anything in return, at first, and later on in the trip she says it back. 

Gus ends up getting very sick and he got his body scanned and it “lit up like a Christmas tree” he was full of cancer, he got sicker by the minute. Hazel and Gus spent a lot of time together, up until Gus died in the hospital. After Gus’s death Hazel and Issac met up one day and reminisced and talked about how much they missed him, and then Issac revealed that Augustus had been writing something for her, a sequel to the book they loved since the drunk author couldn’t give it to her. Hazel looked everywhere in his room and on his computer and she couldn’t find it, until Peter Van Houten’s (ex) assistant emailed her and she found a very long letter from Gus. In the letter Gus had been talking about Hazel to Van Houten, he said “I love her. I am so lucky I get to love her...You don't get to choose who you hurt in this world... but you do get a say in who hurts you. I like my choices. I hope she likes hers.” After reading this, Hazel's last statement in the book  is “I do, Augustus. I do.”

Hazel could’ve stayed away from Gus, she could have chosen not to love him and not to let him love her. She was empty before she met him, she wasn’t really living, just trying to hurt less people. She took a chance and loved him and let him love her, she was living and didn’t regret it. The only way to live and be happy was to love and be loved.