Although I love YA literature, I was not familiar with John Green's work until this year. I was actually looking to add some LGBTQ friendly literature to the school library, and someone mentioned that I should add Will Grayson, Will Grayson. I bought the book and read it, and immediately knew that I wanted to read more books by John Green. However, when I started reading advance reviews of The Fault in Our Stars, I had no desire to read it at all. Even though the reviewers were all raving about it, I took one look at the subject matter - teens with cancer - and decided that it wasn't for me.
Although I was determined that I wasn't going to read it, I did buy a copy of the book for the school library. Five or six students had all submitted a suggestion sheet for it to be bought, so I knew it would be popular; and it really was. It was in and out of the library constantly. I hardly ever saw it. When I would ask students about it, they all told me how amazing it was. I was still determined to avoid it. Nothing was going to make me read a book about teens with cancer. I mean, really, how cliched is that? It was going to be full of "inspirational moments" that would make me want to vomit. I couldn't understand all the fuss.
Then something happened. My book club decided that The Fault in Our Stars would be the selection for the month of May. Now I was stuck. I always try to read the books that we're discussing, so I took a deep breath and went and bought the book. I would have taken it out of the library, but the students were still reading it. It was actually the day before my book club meeting when I finally picked it up and started to read it.
John Green, I owe you a major apology. I am so sorry for pre-judging your book. I was wrong. I may not have judged a book by it's cover, but I did judge it based on the idea of teens with cancer. That was wrong of me.
I started reading at the beginning of the day (quiet day in the library) and I couldn't put the book down. Now, I was constantly being interrupted by people commenting on what an amazing book it was, but that was about it. As I started reading the book, I was immediately drawn in by the writing. It was just superb. I really believed what Hazel and Augustus were saying. Was the vocabulary slightly above a typical teen? Sure, but it was still believable. As I continued reading, I found myself laughing out loud. I mean that literally; I was sitting at my desk laughing. I can't remember a time that a book actually had me laughing out loud.
As a got deeper in the book, I really started to admire John Green's brilliance. He took all these typical YA tropes and just tweaked them enough that they were all original. The inspirational author is actually a bitter, alcoholic misanthrope? Wonderful. Augustus' favourite book is based on a video game? Amazing. I really enjoyed seeing all these little tweaks. Then it all changed. I was loving everything that I was reading; I was laughing; I was thrilled that I was reading it and then ... then the tears started.
Yes, it's true. Just as the earlier parts of the book had me sitting at my desk laughing, the later parts of the book had me sitting at my desk and crying. Damn you, John Green for making me break down! Again, I don't usually cry when I read a novel. The last time was at Dumbledore's funeral. Now, here I am, crying again.
I cannot recommend this book enough. If you haven't read it yet, go and get it. Stop reading this blog and go buy or borrow the book. I would suggest buying it because you will want to read it more than once.
Final review: The Fault in Our Stars is perfection.
