Diagnosed with Stage IV thyroid cancer at 12, Hazel was prepared to die until, at 14, a medical miracle shrunk the tumours in her lungs... for now.
Two years post-miracle, sixteen-year-old Hazel is post-everything else, too; post-high school, post-friends and post-normalcy. And even though she could live for a long time (whatever that means), Hazel lives tethered to an oxygen tank, the tumours tenuously kept at bay with a constant chemical assault.
Enter Augustus Waters. A match made at cancer kid support group, Augustus is gorgeous, in remission, and shockingly to her, interested in Hazel. Being with Augustus is both an unexpected destination and a long-needed journey, pushing Hazel to re-examine how sickness and health, life and death, will define her and the legacy that everyone leaves behind.
Thoughts:
6 stars/5 stars. (yeah, it's that amazing).
This book left. me. speechless. It is so heart-wrenching and you can't put it down until you finish it. I enjoyed the John Green books I have read so far (Paper Towns, Looking for Alaska, and Will Grayson, Will Grayson) but this exceeded all of my expectations; the book captured my attention from the very first page. Although it is a SPECTACULAR novel, it also tore my heart out. I usually feel some sort of connection with characters in books, but this writing was so superb that I felt like I personally knew Hazel and Gus. John Green did such an amazingly awesome job of writing this book that I couldn't tell that is was fiction; it seemed like the characters were real. I really liked Hazel because of the fact that she doesn't sugar coat her life, she knows she has cancer and won't try to put herself under the illusion that she is normal. I LOVED Augustus or "Gus" from the first he was introduced and my love only grew stronger throughout the book when he was unrelenting with his love for Hazel and wouldn't let his or her cancer get in the way.
Even though this is one of my new favorite books, I HATED the way it ended. Although it is a relief to have a book with out the fairy tale ending where they would've been "magically cured", I wish it could have ended on a happier note. I (along with Nataly) cried during this book, John Green made you fall so in love with the characters and then BAM!, sadness.
I do still believe that John Green is a genius when it comes to writing-- he can really connect with the teenage mind and about everyone else through his strong and diverse characters. Even though this book made cry, I still love it to pieces and highly recommend it to everyone!
This book left. me. speechless. It is so heart-wrenching and you can't put it down until you finish it. I enjoyed the John Green books I have read so far (Paper Towns, Looking for Alaska, and Will Grayson, Will Grayson) but this exceeded all of my expectations; the book captured my attention from the very first page. Although it is a SPECTACULAR novel, it also tore my heart out. I usually feel some sort of connection with characters in books, but this writing was so superb that I felt like I personally knew Hazel and Gus. John Green did such an amazingly awesome job of writing this book that I couldn't tell that is was fiction; it seemed like the characters were real. I really liked Hazel because of the fact that she doesn't sugar coat her life, she knows she has cancer and won't try to put herself under the illusion that she is normal. I LOVED Augustus or "Gus" from the first he was introduced and my love only grew stronger throughout the book when he was unrelenting with his love for Hazel and wouldn't let his or her cancer get in the way.
Even though this is one of my new favorite books, I HATED the way it ended. Although it is a relief to have a book with out the fairy tale ending where they would've been "magically cured", I wish it could have ended on a happier note. I (along with Nataly) cried during this book, John Green made you fall so in love with the characters and then BAM!, sadness.
I do still believe that John Green is a genius when it comes to writing-- he can really connect with the teenage mind and about everyone else through his strong and diverse characters. Even though this book made cry, I still love it to pieces and highly recommend it to everyone!
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