The Fault in Our Stars by John Green

Synopsis: "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
Series: None
Genre: Contemporary, Funny, YA, Realistic Fiction
Date Finished: January 3rd, 2014
Pages: 313 
Ages: 14-17 (yet I recommend for everyone)
My Rating: 5 stars
My Word: JustGrand -Augustus Waters
My Fave Quote(s): (Included in the pictures and also two quotes I've written down below)

Review










































































"'He's not that smart,' I said to Julie.
'She's right. It's just that most really good-looking people are stupid, so I exceed expectations.'
'Right, it's primarily his hotness,' I said.
'It can be sort of blinding," he said. '
It actually did blind our friend Isaac," I said.
'Terrible tragedy, that. But can I help my own deadly beauty?' 'You cannot.' 'It is my burden, this beautiful face.'
'Not to mention your body.'
'Seriously, don't even get me started on my hot bod. You don't want to see me naked, Dave. Seeing me naked actually took Hazel Grace's breath away,' he said, nodding toward the oxygen tank.
'Okay enough,' Gus's dad said, and then out of nowhere, his dad put an arm around me and kissed the side of me head and whispered, 'I thank God for you every day, kid'" (251-252).

"He was staring at me, and I could see the corners of his eyes crinkling. 'I'm in love with you, and I'm not in the business of denying myself the simple pleasure of saying true things. I'm in love with you, and I know that love is just a shout in the void, and that oblivion in inevitable, and that we're all doomed and that there will come a day when all our labor has been returned to dust, and I know the sun will swallow the only earth we'll ever have, and I am in love with you'" (153).

God, this book was like a roller coaster of emotions. It sorta reminded me of the movie A Walk to Remember and of course I cried a lot in both this book and that movie. This is the second piece of writing that I've encountered of John Green's and I'm seriously deciding whether or not I should throw this book at the wall or just sob uncontrollably right now.



GAHH I can't even put these feelings into words...this book was an amazing twist of humor and sadness and happiness and it put me through a cycle of how strong one's love can be through the toughest of times. This story progressed so amazingly yet tragically and I can't. stop. thinking about it.

Hazel Grace
Amazing. She is truly the confident girl who doesn't care what others think about her. She is smart, loves to read, and can seriously speak her mind. I suppose after being diagnosed with a terminal disease, it is not hard to mature faster than you actually would, and I believe that Hazel is definitely more mature than others her age. I was feeling exactly her feelings towards the end of the story and my heart literally broke because she didn't deserve this. Although she's a fictional character, I can't deny that this has definitely happened to someone before.

She is now one of my many fictional inspirations and I can not believe how strong of a character she is.

Augustus Water
Oh God, the love between him and Hazel literally killed me. I would seriously love an Augustus Waters in my life. He is a funny, yet serious character who wasn't perfect, but was definitely realistic to his situation.

He is always so optimistic and happy, yet Hazel knew he was feeling desperate and horrible near the end of the book. Nonetheless, Hazel still loved him and I didn't necessarily cry at the end because of what happened, but because of how strong they still were and how they still loved each other know matter what. That made me cry.

Also, Issac was totally an awesome addition in the story because he was a funny, good friend to both Hazel and Augustus.

Overall, this book depicts a realistic story of how cancer has affected someone and I, out of many people, know people who have suffered from cancer, but unlike Hazel, I haven't had someone so close to me have cancer nor have I felt what cancer actually feels like (although I've got the gist of it after this book). I'm not as strong as Hazel Grace, and I hope that the ending past the ending of this book was satisfying for her. I feel that this review doesn't do the book justice, but I love this book and it has taught me a valuable lesson on life and how "The fault... is not in our stars / But in ourselves."
★★★★★

Let it Snow by Maureen Johnson, John Green, and Lauren Myracle

Synopsis: "Sparkling white snowdrifts, beautiful presents wrapped in ribbons, and multicolored lights glittering in the night through the falling snow. A Christmas Eve snowstorm transforms one small town into a romantic haven, the kind you see only in movies. Well, kinda. After all, a cold and wet hike from a stranded train through the middle of nowhere would not normally end with a delicious kiss from a charming stranger. And no one would think that a trip to the Waffle House through four feet of snow would lead to love with an old friend. Or that the way back to true love begins with a painfully early morning shift at Starbucks. Thanks to three of today’s bestselling teen authors—John Green, Maureen Johnson, and Lauren Myracle—the magic of the holidays shines on these hilarious and charming interconnected tales of love, romance, and breathtaking kisses."

Title: Let it Snow
Series: None
Genre: YA, Christmas, Romance, Funny
Pages: 352
Ages: 12-18 (was very funny and a great quick read)
Date Read: December 31st, 2013
My Rating: 4 stars
My Word(s): Cute, Cold, Funny
My Fave Quotes: (They are put in after the rating of each individual story)

Review

This book is totally different from any book I've read. I'm not a fan of short stories because they make me want more, but the fact that these three short stories came together throughout and especially the end really made me enjoy the book a lot. Each story definitely made me laugh out loud at least once, and after reading all those dystopian, main-character-gets-killed books, I decided that I needed to read a few happy stories for once.

Story #1
Rating: 4.5 stars
"'You're going to need a hat,' Stuart said, as we stepped into the frigid vestibule.
'I don't have a hat, I was going to Florida.'
'I don't have a hat either, but I have these...'
He held up the plastic bags and demonstrated by putting the bag on his head, wrapping it once around, and tucking it in so that it made a snug but strange looking turban, puffed up at the top. Wearing a bag on your head seemed like something that Amber and Amber and Amber would have refused to do... and I felt like making a point that I wasn't like that. I gamely wound it around my head" (43).

This was personally my favorite story out of all three because it was just a fun and quirky story to read. It reminds me of one of the lifetime Christmas movies (which I am not ashamed to say that I love the cheesiness of those movies!)
Anyway, Maureen Johnson really made each character different, and she definitely set up the rest of the book nicely (with each character). I really love Jubilee, just because she's the perfect main character for that kind of short story. She's talkative, funny without trying, and jubilant! (no pun intended). The whole story made me laugh out loud and I seriously loved Stuart and his plastic bags!

Story #2
Rating: 4 stars
"I fell to my knees in the middle of the street and shouted, 'Not in a castle nor in a mansion but in a Waffle House shall we find our salvation!'
The Duke laughed, pulling me up by the armpits. Her ice-matted hat was pulled down low over her forehead. I looked at her and she looked at me and we weren't walking. We were just standing there and her eyes were so interesting . Not in the usual way of being interesting, like being extremely blue or extremely big or being flanked by obscenely long lashes or anything. What interested me about the Duke's eyes was the complexity of the color-she always said they look like the bottom of trash-can bins, a swirl of green and brown and yellow. But she was underselling herself. She always undersold herself.
Christ. It was a hard thing to unthink" (194).

Now don't get me wrong, all three of the short stories were definitely problematic and had totally crazy situations, but this one was probably the craziest, funniest, and most adventurous story of all. It was so funny how the college kids, and the twins were racing JP, the Duke, and Tobin to the Waffle House with fourteen cheerleaders inside. This book was probably the funniest and since it was my first John Green reading, I didn't have any high expectations like other readers who read this book so I was pleasantly surprised with the amazing character development and witty comments. I have to say JP was my favorite character because he was just so damn funny. I literally laughed out loud when he talked about his family immigrating to America so he could have cheerleader sex :'D

Story #3
Rating: 3 stars
"'They said the guy did this dorky happy dance after kissing the phone-flinging girl, and that he thrust his fist into the air and yelled 'Jubiblee!''
Dorrie drew back and made an okay-that's-weird expression.
'What?' Tegan said. 'Wouldn't you want some guy yelling 'jubilee' after kissing you?'
'Maybe they just had dessert,' I said.
They looked at me.
I looked back at them. I flipped my palms up like, C'mon, guys. 'With cherries? Cherries Jubilee?'
Dorrie turned back to Tegan. 'No,' she said. 'I wouldn't want some guy yelling 'jubilee' about my cherry'" (249-250).

I have to be honest. This story only got three stars because of the cute pig added on and the ending where all three stories sort of combined. Addie's personality really made this story just bad. She was just so self-absorbed (as much as she tried not to be) and she wouldn't stop whining and complaining about how Jeb hadn't shown up at Starbucks when she told him to. First she tries to change him, then she yells at him for the stupidest thing, and now she feels sorry for herself and yells at her friends for telling her the truth?? I really wanted to jump into the story and bitch slap her and say "Girl, seriously. I wouldn't be surprised he didn't come if I acted like you do all the time." The whole story she wouldn't stop thinking about her horrible love life and she would look at other couples and sigh. I would most definitely volunteer to be Jeb's girlfriend since Addie does not deserve him at all. Addie's friends weren't that bad though and the ending was really well put together.

Overall, the rating rounded out to about 4 stars and I was finally happy to read a nice lifetime-Christmasy book for the holidays :).

★★★★