Review: The Fault in Our Stars by John Green

Despite the tumor-shrinking medical miracle that has bought her a few years, Hazel has never been anything but terminal, her final chapter inscribed upon diagnosis. But when a gorgeous plot twist named Augustus Waters suddenly appears at Cancer Kid Support Group, Hazel's story is about to be completely rewritten.

I'm not quite sure where to begin with this review.  For anyone out there who has already read this book, you might be able to understand where I'm coming from and how I'm feeling after finishing the last pages of this epic read.  Epic is just about the only word I can think of at the moment to describe this book, and yet it really doesn't do it justice.

Let me be clear...I both love and hate this book.  I want to encourage everyone to read it, and yet I also want to steer everyone away from it at the same time.  I'm completely torn and while it's driving me crazy, I also have to admit that it's probably the biggest red flag that makes that book stand out as such an epic tale.  It's drawn every single emotion out of me possible and honestly it left me drained.  Completely and without a doubt...drained.

Without question, John Green was meant to be a writer.  I can't imagine him in any other profession, and the idea that readers could have in some alternate reality been denied his talent for words and stories, leaves me chilled.  There is no way to go into any detail about this book at all without the risk of ruining something with a terrible spoiler, so I'm not even going to attempt it.  All I can say is this is a book in my opinion, that you must enter with at your own risk.  I found myself taking it with me everywhere so that I wouldn't have to miss out on a good reading opportunity should one arise.  I made the huge mistake of taking the time to read some parts of this one on my lunch breaks at work.  Huge mistake!  I found myself scrambling for tissues, and doing everything I could to make it appear as if I hadn't been crying at my desk.  Who knows what my coworkers thought of my appearance after a pretty emotionally draining chapter or two.

So if you're planning on picking this read up, and like I said, I can't encourage you to go one way or the other on that choice, but if you do take a chance, carve yourself out some time when you're alone and can truly immerse yourself in these pages.  Because no matter what your plan is, everything else will fade away when you crack open this cover.  Everything else will fall to the wayside, because to be quite honest, even after I'd put the book down when I needed a break from the emotional roller coaster I was on, it stayed with me.  Followed me everywhere I went, and I know it will still cross my mind for years to come.  There's no turning back once you start in on one of John Green's adventures!