Much like books with dogs as the main characters, books about kids with cancer can really only end one way....and The Fault in Our Stars follows that credo, just not in the way I expected. My brother-in-law gave me John Green's The Fault in Our Stars several months ago and when I finally picked it up last week, I couldn't put it down (unfortunately life got in the way and forced me to set it down several times).
Hazel has been terminal since she was diagnosed with cancer at the age of 13, but thanks to a miracle drug, Phalanxifor, she has had an additional three years she wasn't expecting to get. Her mom, fearing that Hazel is depressed and without friends, forces her to go to Support Group--Hazel would much rather be watching America's Next Top Model (heck, she'd rather be doing a lot of things) than attending Support Group. But at this particular meeting she meets Augustus Waters.
Augustus and Hazel fall in love over the course of the story, as they are of the few who really gets what the other is going through. One of Hazel's passions is the the book An Imperial Affliction by Peter Van Houten, an American recluse living in Amsterdam. Augustus manages arrange for his "wish," provided by The Genie Foundation, to be used to take Hazel to Amsterdam to meet Mr. Van Houten. This meeting does not go the way either of them had envisioned....all Hazel wants is to know what happened to the characters in the story after it abruptly ended. I'll leave it at that....don't want to give away the end to all those who haven't picked this up yet--which I highly recommend that you do!
I found myself both laughing and tearing up at different points in this story. And this one is definitely going on my wish list for the library!!
Happy Reading!!
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