The Fault in Our Stars

The Fault in Our Stars

Hardcover - USA - First edition.

Author John Green Published 2012-01-10 Type Fiction Genre Drama Themes Coming of age, Death, Friendship, Teen Age Group Teen

The Fault in Our Stars is a novel by John Green published on 2012-01-10. The book was extremely successful and became one of the top 100 best selling books in history. It was adapted into a film in 2014

The story follows Hazel, a teenage girl with terminal cancer who befriends Augustus, a talented high school basketball player who lost his leg to cancer. Hazel obsesses over a book called "An Imperial Affliction," and Augustus helps her track down the reclusive author.

Personal

Own?	No.
Read?	Yes. Audiobook read by Kate Rudd.
Finished	2025-03-11.

I saw a clip from the film adaption which used it as an example for the literary concept of "death of the author," but I didn't know the source of the film. Having enjoyed Looking for Alaska, making the connection to the film excerpt, and learning that this book of Green's was even more popular, I decided to read it.

Review

Overall:

Good

• The book reveals a lot about what life is like for people with cancer, particularly how depressing it is, and how, despite their best efforts, cancer becomes their entire life.
• I like how Hazel learns an important lesson about hero-worship.

Bad

• The way the characters speak is too premeditated. These teens may be bright, but they are frequently using very specific complex vocabulary. A little bit of this gives the characters some style, a lot makes them feel artificially scripted.
• There are a few characters in the book who serve no purpose, like Kaitlyn, and, to a large extent, Peter Van Houten. He doesn't offer any insight or wisdom. At best, he could serve as a cautionary tale, but, to teens with terminal cancer, even this doesn't work.

Ugly

• While the book doesn't have any major flaws, it's just an adequate book. I didn't find anything special about it, so I was surprised that it became one of the best selling books in history.

Representation

Strong female character?	Pass	Hazel goes through a lot of difficulties and grows out of having an idol.
Bechdel test?	Pass	Hazel speaks to her mother, Kaitlyn, Lidewij, and a few other minor female characters.
Strong person of color character?	Fail	As far as I can tell, everyone is white.
Queer character?	Fail	There are no queer characters.

Quotes

• But, in fact, depression is not a side effect of cancer. Depression is a side effect of dying. (Cancer is also a side effect of dying. Almost everything is, really.)
• If the inevitability of human oblivion worries you, I encourage you to ignore it.
• I'm a grenade and at some point I'm going to blow up and I would like to minimize the casualties, okay?
• "That's the thing about pain," Augustus said, and then glanced back at me. "It demands to be felt."
• Some tourists think Amsterdam is a city of sin, but in truth it is a city of freedom. And in freedom, most people find sin.
• Grief does not change you, Hazel. It reveals you.

Adaptions

The book was adapted into a film of the same title, as well as a Bollywood version of the film. Audiobooks have been narrated by the author and Kate Rudd.

Links