Review: The Fault in our Stars by John Green

Life is full of experiences that can changes us or our views on something. Sometimes in a positive way, other times it is more negative. But we never forget these experiences. Reading The Fault in our Stars was such an experience for me.

I won't tell a lot about the the contents of the book. The only thing you might want to know is that it is about a girl called Hazel who suffers from cancer. The book offers us a view into a part of her life wherein she explored; and now I will quote the blurb, 'the funny, thrilling, and tragic business of being alive and falling in love.' It sounds very cheesy, but the book is all but cheesy. I bought the book after seeing and reading very passionate reviews about it. I actually felt like I was the only person who had not read it yet. I wanted to know what made it so remarkable and why it appeared time and time again in best books lists.

Now I know why. I started to read the book only yesterday. The book is narrated by Hazel through a first person perspective. Normally I am not so keen to read books in that perspective because I have the feeling it creates a distance between the reader and the narrating character, but this was so wonderfully done that I had no problem to relate to Hazel even though what she was experiencing was alien to me.

I absolutely love John Green's writing. I was immediately pulled into the story and could not get wholly out of it until I finished it. I have to admit that I was scared to read it. Scared that it was going to end badly but me not finishing it, was not an option. I enjoyed the whole book. The story is fast paced and reads very fluently. It is filled with interesting thoughts and good humour to lighten up the mood. The book is filled with so many different emotions, which are brilliantly brought to page, that I felt like I was riding the emotional roller-coaster together with the characters. I enjoyed this from the very first sentence until the very last.

While I have heard the name John Green before, I never read any of his books until now. I will, however, read all his other books as well because I want to know if they are just as good. If they are, J.K. Rowling might be knocked of the my-favourite-author-position by Mr. Green.