Citation:
Green, John. The Fault in Our Stars. New York: Penguin
Group, 2012.
Annotation:
Hazel is 16 years old and living off barrowed time after
doctors found a miracle drug to keep her tumors at bay. At her mother’s urging,
Hazel joins a teen cancer support group and meets gorgeous Augustus Waters. He
turns out to be just the right kind of person to remind Hazel the stars,
however misaligned, still hold wonders.
Justification for Rejection:
This book felt so close to a great story and yet missed the
mark by just a little. The characters are fresh, honest and truly
heartbreaking. The plot though veers them into not quite believable twists. Their
trip to Amsterdam to meet Hazel’s idol, author Peter van Houten, didn’t seem
possible in real life. There were a couple other events that missed the
realistic mark too- egging the car and breaking of the trophies come to mind.
The character of Hazel and Augustus seem too cliché even though I know cancer
matures a kid like nothing else. Still, I do think their relationship was
enduring- ironically so considering you know at least one of them will not make
it out of the book alive. What
works best in the book is when the ill-fated lovers and their families talk
about cancer, dying and the meaning to life... what does it all mean!? There’s
something to be said to embracing our time on earth, knowing our days a
numbered and realizing no one gets out of here alive. For YA, this can be hard
to understand when a summer seems to last forever. Some of the lines were
simply so beautiful as the teens and their families tried to muddle through the
horror of cancer. I give this a soft no because the concept is great but there
are parts that are too unrealistic.
Genre: Realistic, Coming of Age
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