The Fault in Our Stars Review

I don’t know if you know this about me, but as much as I love to read I don’t do reviews. I simply don’t. It’s very rare that I write them now that I’m over the age of 13 and they are no longer required for a grade. Chillax. I’m not saying people who write reviews are wasting their time. I actually really appreciate those people because they  spare me the burden of having to put my thoughts to paper on a book.

Something you may know about me, my reading is personal. I tend to get overly involved in the lives of the characters I read. I cry, laugh, smile, and kick ass with them. When their friend or family dies, I feel it right there with them. Hell, I’m still mourning the death of Madoc of Powys who delighted me in A Moment in Time by Bertice Small. A book from 1991. And don’t even get me started on Kisten from The Hollows series by Kim Harrison. My heart still hurts over that like it happened yesterday.
 

So anyway, my reading is personal. I have no problem discussing a book, its characters, its plot, what the author was trying to say, etc. But when it comes to sitting down and actually reviewing about and saying while I loved or hated it. Unless, I really really hated it. It’s simply something I don’t do. I like to keep my characters to myself and let others decide for themselves whether that character does it for them. 

If you follow me on Goodreads, you’ll see me rate books with the star rating and that’s it. This might also be why it’s taken me almost 2 years to finish writing THE REVIEW for my friend Phil on a series he loaned to me. Seriously, it’s turned into pretty much a book report. In my defense, it started off as a joke between my friend Gwen and I. Phil is very passionate. Goodness that man is so passionate it drives me crazy (the good kind of crazy). I love how enthusiastic he is and how he lights up from the inside when he loves something. It reminds me of one of my boys when they get a new gift. Anyway, he asked me nearly every single time I saw him what I thought of so and so and this scene and that scene. To the point where I just said to Gwen “you know what? I’m going to write him a report. Typed and double spaced. And put it all in a binder.” The idea was brilliant. Especially since I know he would actually read it. And I still plan to do it. One day. Anyway, it’s very rare that I’ll write a review. 

So anyway, countless people have asked me from friends to coworkers to what I think about The Fault in Our Stars by John Green.  Because I needed a blog post for today and I legitimately felt like answering it, below is my review:

The Fault in Our Stars

Have you ever cried to the point where your stomach hurt? To the point where you felt so weak and utterly exhausted? To where you just felt completely empty? Drained of all emotion? This is what TFOS did to me. It left me raw. I finished the book around 12am and it took me an hour or two to fall asleep after I closed the book and placed it on my bookshelf. It’s not that TFOS made me cry. Or that it made me smile. It made me reflect. My dad died of cancer similar to one of the characters in the book and that broke me. I spent a lot of time thinking back on how I spent the last year of my Dad’s life. Was I like Hazel’s parents? Hovering, overly involved, annoying? Was I like Gus’s parents? Trying to let him live his life? Involved, but distant? To be fair, the book made me laugh way more than it made me cry. It’s a very honest, very raw account of what it’s like to live with cancer. Which I thoroughly enjoyed, especially since so many books get it wrong by telling the story of what it’s like to have cancer.  Big difference in my opinion. There were some “A-ha!” moments and some “seriously?!” moments to which all I enjoyed. I gave the book four out of five stars because honestly, I just haven’t read a book that meets my high standards in order to receive a five. Oh they are out there; I’ve read many of them, just not all of them. Anyway, the book was touching, sweet, sincere, and raw. The book touched me deeply to the point where I have no idea which direction I want to go next.