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Book Review: The Fault in Our Stars by John Green

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Sixteen-year-old Hazel Grace Lancaster is a medical miracle living on an oxygen tank and a drug called Phalanxifor. Diagnosed with Stage IV thyroid cancer at thirteen, Hazel has been through many surgeries and treatments. At one point, dozens of drugs were flowing through her body, trying to keep her alive. Later, doctors experimented on her with Phalanxifor, a drug that didn’t work on around 70% of people—but it worked on Hazel.

Hazel is made of cancer, but The Fault in Our Stars is in no way a typical cancer story. Hazel’s experience with cancer has made her seem a lot older and wiser than she is. Her insights are so interesting to think about, readers will contemplate them for days afterward.

When asked why she doesn’t eat meat, Hazel explains simply, “I want to minimize the number of deaths I am responsible for.”

When a boy in her Cancer Kid Support Group says he fears oblivion (the state of being forgotten by the public), Hazel replies in her wise and honest way, saying that one day everything will be gone and oblivion is inevitable, leaving the group speechless.

But by this time, cancer has completely invaded her body and identity. Hazel’s story is cancer, how it has affected her, and how she has bought herself a couple more years to live. There’s no going back now, no wondering what could have been if cancer had never showed up in her life—Who knows? Who cares? Hazel knows it won’t change a thing. But when she meets Augustus Waters, her entire life is turned around.

In spending time with Augustus, both expose, find, and realize their true and inner selves. On the surface, both are cancer-influenced people who have grown mentally older, wiser, and stronger. Hazel and Augustus discuss the deepest subjects and throw around a whole lot of fancy words. But underneath, both are still naïve teenagers learning how to navigate life.

Intuitive, fearless, poignant, and raw, The Fault in Our Stars by John Green is a truly incredible story of life, death, and those in between. It will make readers smile, laugh, and cry all at the same time. I was not able to stop thinking about the story and its characters long after I finished reading, and the same will occur for you if you choose to read it. The Fault in Our Stars seems to reach beyond its pages, just like a pop-up book—but instead of paper figures popping out, it is the acute emotion that John Green paints painstakingly into his beautiful story.

“There will come a time when all of us are dead. All of us. There will come a time when there are no human beings remaining to remember that anyone ever existed or that our species ever did anything. There will be no one left to remember Aristotle or Cleopatra, let alone you. Everything that we did and built and wrote and thought and discovered will be forgotten and all of this will have been for naught. Maybe that time is coming soon and maybe it is millions of years away, but even if we survive the collapse of the sun, we will not survive forever. There was time before organisms experienced consciousness, and there will be time after. And if the inevitability of human oblivion worries you, I encourage you to ignore it. God knows that’s what everyone else does.”

-Hazel Grace Lancaster, The Fault in Our Stars

-Lam T.

The Fault in Our Stars by John Green is available for checkout from the Mission Viejo Library. It can also be downloaded for free from Overdrive.

Author’s We Love: John Green

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You may recognize some of the famous novels Paper Towns, The Fault In Our Stars, or Looking for Alaska. As you may have guessed by the title, these iconic novels were written by John Green. John Green is an American author, who makes content on YouTube, and is a co-creator of Crash Course. He attended Kenyon College and earned his bachelor of art’s degree with a double major in English and religious studies.

John Green is the New York Times bestselling author of Looking for Alaska, An Abundance of Katherines, Paper Towns, The Fault In Our Stars, Turtles All The Way Down, and The Anthropocene Reviewed. While the majority of these are novels, The Anthropocene Reviewed is a collection of essays that are nonfiction and awakening. He very recently went on a virtual tour for The Anthropocene Reviewed which took place from May 17th to May 22nd. His novel, The Fault In Our Stars was made into a movie, as was his novel, Paper Towns. Additionally, Looking for Alaska was made into a series on Hulu. On his and his brother’s YouTube channel (VlogBrothers) they help fight poverty by raising money and have planted thousands of trees in the past. On top of this, he teaches World History, Literature, Economics, Physics, Biology, Chemistry, Government, and etc., on Crash Course along with other people. 

Personally, I love reading John Green’s novels and seeing them in film as well. I’ve noticed that a lot of his books are deep, detailed, and original. His books have always made me think bigger and open my eyes to the different situations the characters are in. Overall, John Green is definitely an amazing author to check out and keep up with. He’s making a great impact on the world.

-Kaitlyn Y.

The works of John Green are available for checkout at the Mission Viejo Library.

Turtles All The Way Down by John Green

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Turtles all the Way Down, a novel by John Green, tells the story of a teenage girl named Aza who struggles with obsessive compulsive disorder. After one day becoming involved in the search for a fugitive billionaire Russell Pickett, she is reunited with an old childhood friend: who happens to be the aforementioned billionaire’s son. Despite the search for Pickett taking the spotlight as the guiding force of this powerful novel, the resulting work of fiction depicts a battle with mental illness sharpened by author’s personal struggles with OCD.

As Aza balances her fear of the human microbe, school, a budding relationship, and a criminal hunt, she begins to discover that in her own struggles, she has withdrawn from the world around her. The entire work highlights the value of life, much in the way past John Green novels tend to do. However, Turtles all the Way Down stands out from the rest of Green’s work. It obviously rings with his unique writing style and emotionally moving qualities, but also coursing through the veins of this work is a level of authenticity that makes it relatable to our very human nature.

As a personal fan of John Green, I came across this book expecting it to be incredible. I was not let down in the slightest. I could talk about the character development that enriches the plot of the story. I could talk for hours about how the comic elements of this novel are balanced with sharp, relatable reality in a way that triggers emotion within the darkest recesses of your brain, even as the main character discusses Star Wars fanfiction. I could even talk about how despite the obvious focal point of the novel being a criminal investigation, every other element of the novel becomes a tapestry of woven word and plot, with each string tugging and guiding the next into forming a textile of humor and sadness. But I digress. Simply, this book is a must read anyone who wants to read a funny, emotional, page turner of a novel.

-Mirabella S.

Turtles All The Way Down by John Green is available for checkout from the Mission Viejo Library. It can also be downloaded for free from Overdrive. 

Looking For Alaska by John Green

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lookingforalaska_johngreenI was so excited to get my hands on this book! I had heard such great things about it for a couple of years now, so I couldn’t wait to start reading. However, I was not as thrilled with this book as I had hoped to be. I know this will be controversial because many people loved this book, but I really did not connect with the characters or the story in the way I thought I would.

So here’s a quick summary of the book: *WARNING THIS DOES CONTAIN SPOILERS* Miles, a high school junior, leaves Florida to attend a boarding school in Alabama. There he meets and befriends his roommate “The Colonel” and his friends Takumi and Alaska. As time goes on, Miles falls in love with the spontaneous, rebellious Alaska despite the fact that she has a boyfriend and that people tell him crazy stories about her. Miles becomes caught up in the Colonel’s pranks, games, drinking, and drugs and he realizes that this is the “Great Perhaps” he was searching for. One night towards the end of the book, Miles and Alaska kiss and fall asleep in her room. But a phone call in the middle of the night wakes Alaska and she goes hysterical screaming that she has to leave. So Miles (nicknamed Pudge by the Colonel) help her escape unnoticed by the deacon of the school. The next day they find out that Alaska was killed in a car accident on her way to wherever she was going the night before. Pudge and the Colonel are miserable blaming themselves for her death. Pudge decides to investigate the reason behind her leaving and whether or not her death was an accident or a suicide. The book ends with Pudge forgiving Alaska for dying-suicide or not- and writing a school paper about the “way out of the labyrinth” as Alaska had asked her classmates before her death.

I liked how Green portrayed raw qualities of teenagers rather than the perfect good students in most books. The main character falls in love with an emotionally unstable girl-that’s not something every book does. I still thought it was a good book; there were just some things that bothered me. For instance, I did not like the actual plot of the story because it felt like there was no purpose to the events. Prank after prank you feel, as the reader, that something big is going to happen, but when it happens it doesn’t bring closure, instead it brought disappointment. I also really did not like how the entire second half of the book is Pudge’s depression over losing Alaska and his inability to do anything about it. Only the very end of the book brings closure to the story. And yet still, after finishing the book I felt as though Pudge’s story was insignificant. And maybe that was the point, I can see how Green might have had a greater point that I missed. Regardless I wasn’t the biggest fan of this book. There could have been more to it-more characters, major events, something pleasing to the reader.

I still praise John Green as an author because I loved Paper Towns and The Fault in Our Stars but this is not on my top ten books list unfortunately. Feel free to leave a comment about what you thought of this book!

-Kelsey H

Looking for Alaska is available for check out from the Mission Viejo Public Library, Overdrive, and Axis360. 

Paper Towns by John Green

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papertowns_johngreenMargo Roth Spiegelman is an independent young woman who makes her own rules in the game of life. She goes with her own ideas and does not take orders from anybody, including her parents. She always plays games with people, running away whenever she pleases and leaving clues for people to find her. It is all a part of this little game she plays with everyone she cares about, making them scared as she has fun. She is so determined to live by herself, the way she wants, so when she runs away again, it doesn’t scare her parents. It just annoys them to the point where they don’t care if she comes back. It’s when she goes missing for more than a few days that everyone starts to think she is not coming back. Her old friend from when they were kids, Quentin, tries to get into the life of Margo. He tries to think like she would in order to find her and get her back, before it is too late.

When I first found out about this book, I couldn’t wait to read it. The storyline seemed so interesting to me, that a girl who runs away leaves clues for people to find her. But when I actually started reading it, my high hopes for the book weren’t met. All of the clues Q had to follow to find Margo were very confusing. As the reader, I was very confused and couldn’t figure out how the clues added up to finding her. It was all very complex, and sometimes that’s good when you’re reading a book, to have it be a little confusing to make you think. But this book was so confusing and difficult to read. I wanted to put the book down because it was too hard to think about everything while still trying to enjoy the story. I have heard of other readers loving this book, hanging onto every detail. In the end, it’s just a matter of opinion. Mine may not be the popular opinion, but this is what I thought of it. If you like mystery and adventure, you should definitely try to read this book. While some parts were confusing, some were also pretty funny and meaningful. One of my favorite quotes I will always remember is “she loved mysteries so much she became one”. John Green is a mysterious writer himself, so I do still look forward to reading more of his books in the future.

-Sabrina C., 10th Grade

Paper Towns is available for check out from the Mission Viejo Public Library, Overdrive, and Axis360. 

Book Review: An Abundance of Katherines by John Green

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abundance_of_katherinesAn Abundance of Katherines by John Green is phenomenal book that is about a boy who has only dated girls named Katherine. The book starts with a boy named Colin who is introduced to be a child prodigy. He has just had is heart broken by his nineteenth girlfriend named Katherine. Colin is extremely upset, so his friend Hassan convinces him to go on a road trip.

After convincing both of their parents, they go on the road trip. They stop in a town called Gutshot where they are offered summer jobs and a room to live in. The women who offers them these jobs has a daughter named Lindsey. Meanwhile, Colin is set on the fact of finding an equation that will predict the future of any relationship.

Eventually, Colin finds that he is attracted to Lindsey. However, Lindsey already has a boyfriend. Anyone who has read any John Green books in the past would certainly be interested in this book and it is a wonderful book that I would recommend to everyone.

-Melika R., 9th grade

 

6 Young Adult Books That Would Make Awesome Movies

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1. Every Day by David Levithan follows A, a teenager who wakes up each morning to find himself in the body and sharing the mind of another. A common concept throughout this novel is how love has the capacity to “reach beyond” things such as appearance and gender. I love this book and I feel it is one that should be shared outside of the standard YA reader audience.

let_it_snow_cover2. Let It Snow by Maureen Johnson, John Green, and Lauren Myracle is a unique literary compilation written by three accomplished YA authors with similar writing styles and a common sense of humor. It tells the overlapping stories of three different pairs/groups of friends who are brought together by fate on Christmas Day. It’s funny, heartfelt, and really capitalizes on the magic and meaning of the holiday season.

3. Legend by Marie Lu would make an awesome dystopian action film due to its fascinating world building and interesting use of two very different narrators in two very different situations.

4. Encouraged by a friend, I read Wings (the first book in the Wings series) by Aprilynne Pike a few summers ago hoping for a quick read. The book hugely exceeded my expectations and I ended up getting the rest of the series the next day. Wings follows Laurel, a seemingly normal teenage girl, as she discovers the truth of her past, her ancestry, and herself. She soon finds herself in a world of faeries, human-like beings that couldn’t be less human. They are, ultimately, plants instead of animals. I think that it would be awesome to be able to see this supernatural world in a more visual way.

will_grayson_cover5. Will Grayson, Will Grayson by John Green and David Levithan is an captivating and inspiring story about two very different teenagers with the same name that are brought together by fate. This book contains everything–from humor; to support of the LGBT community; to friendship; to love; to a Tiny Cooper musical. This is a truly amazing book and I believe it would make a great movie.

6. I’m not exactly sure of the status of the film rights for I’d Tell You I Love You But Then I’d Have To Kill You (the first book in the Gallagher Girls Series) by Ally Carter. I have heard that they were purchased and sold and bought and expired. I have seen conflicting information, but last I heard, Tonik Productions had undertaken the project. If this is true, I am excited to see their final project. If it’s not, I am disappointed that they overlooked such an amazing opportunity. This series is a compilation of the journal entries of Cammie Morgan, a student at a clandestine spy-training academy disguised as an pristigious prep school for “exceptional young women”. If you haven’t read it, I encourage you to do so, but don’t judge the series by its first book. 😉

What books do you wish to see on the big screen?

-Danielle K., 9th grade

Book vs. Movie: The Fault in Our Stars

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fault_bookvsmovieJust as a header- If you haven’t read and seen The Fault in Our Stars, this review might spoil a few things.

The Fault in Our Stars by John Green is an amazing book, teaching us many life lessons that we should keep with us forever. Be grateful for what you have; both of the main characters, Hazel Grace and Augustus Waters, have cancer. Cancer is a life-threatening disease, which for some reason always touches the human heart in a way that is indescribable. Hazel Grace and Augustus Waters go on an amazing ride, a rollercoaster that only goes up. As readers, we get to experience their amazing journey along side of them, staying with them when they fall in love. Every book has its tragedies, and so does this one. This book is quite a memory; it makes you feel as if this was your life. I will never forget this book.

Recently, a movie interpretation of this book was made, and it kept quite close to the actual book’s plot. Although the movie missed some aspects of the novel, it skipped ones that were really not that important to the progression of the story. The movie lacked the story of Augustus Waters’ ex-girlfriend, who also died from cancer. In the novel, Hazel finds out, but doesn’t do much of it aside from visiting the web page of his girlfriend, and seeing how and by who she was missed. However, this is one minor detail that needn’t be included in the story. On the other hand, the movie was surprisingly similar to the novel. The film kept in mind the novel’s little details, so much so that they even had a bright green sports car as Monica’s car just as in the novel.

In general, The Fault in Our Stars by John Green is a masterpiece that has simply been put into words and onto sheets and sheets of paper.

-Nirmeet B., 10th grade

Book Review: Paper Towns, by John Green

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paper_towns“At some point, you gotta stop looking up at the sky, or one of these days you’ll look back down and see that you floated away, too.”

Paper Towns is one of John Green’s lesser known novels, but I think it’s one of his best. A novel about an awkward boy who is in love with a girl far out of his league, its very similar to Looking for Alaska. Accompanied by his two best friends, the main character, “Q” embarks on a journey to find his lifelong crush, Margot Roth Speigelman after she runs away from home for the fifth time. The characters are quirky and lovable and each one has a unique personality and sense of humor to contribute to the plot.

“That’s always seemed so ridiculous to me, that people want to be around someone because they’re pretty. It’s like picking your breakfast cereals based on color instead of taste.”

Quirky and filled with light humor, Paper Towns is not only a story about love and adventure but is a fun and entertaining novel that will make you laugh with every page.

-Sara S., 10th grade

Book vs. Movie: The Fault in Our Stars

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fault_bookvsmovieI believe everything wonderful there is to say about John Green’s The Fault in Our Starts has already stated several times over, not only on this site, but everywhere. Although it doesn’t need repeating, this is an incredibly powerful story about the star-crossed love between Hazel Grace and Augustus. The movie had to live up to a bestselling book, not to mention the large dedicated fan base that has high expectations, and it did not disappoint.

How to describe the movie? It was grand. Like a roller coaster that only goes up, the movie will make you feel all the things. Being in a movie theater on opening weekend is a very different experience than reading a book alone at your leisure.The particular theater I was in consisted mainly of teenage girls in blue sweatshirts with the little okay bubbles. The theater was split between the people who screamed at everything from the title to Augustus raising an eyebrow and the people who told the screamers to be quiet so they could watch the movie. Both groups just had different ways of showing their excitement.

For anyone out there who believes that they shouldn’t read/watch The Fault in Our Stars because it’s a cancer story or a stupid romance novel is misinformed. This is a story about love between two teenagers who just happen to have cancer. They both have their own quirks, Augustus looking for metaphors and Hazel using words like harmartia (fatal flaw).

Now to the differences from the book to the movie. They were minor and never took away from the feeling. These details include Augustus telling Hazel she looks like a specific actress (in order for her to come over and see a movie), Augustus telling Hazel he wrote his number in the book he lent her (which I always thought was so cute), Hazel’s friend she met at the mall that one time, Hazel informing Isaac she got super-hot after his procedure, Augustus’s former girlfriend, the naming/selling of the swing set, (and probably several more details I failed to notice). I think I only noticed these things because I was looking for them. Otherwise, all the great quotes to love and the moments that are shared remain the same.

Is the movie or the book better? Usually is a simple answer: the book. But this is not the case. Not that I’m saying that the movie is obviously superior either. Both the movie and the book tell the same story, just through different medias. If at all possible, I’d suggest both reading the book and watching the movie because only doing one is just okay. Okay?

-Nicole G., 10th grade