Review: The Fault in Our Stars

Author: John Green
Publish date: January 2012
Source: Library
"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."

I'm a big fan of John Green, but until now, I'd only read Paper Towns and Looking for Alaska. I adored Paper Towns, but I'm wondering if that was because it was my first John Green. Regardless, he is a talented author and The Fault in Our Stars is certainly no exception to that.

One of the things I like best about John Green as an author is how he infuses humor into most situations, and intelligent humor at that. I've read his books as an adult and I love that he does not "talk down" to his readers. He treats them as the smart people that they are. He certainly has a way with words--I loved the vocabulary in this book. Sometimes I thought the dialogue might have been a bit much for teenagers, but overall it was fantastic.

In every review I read of TFIOS, the reader said that he/she cried. Well, folks, here's where I reveal my heart of stone: I do not cry at books. And I did not cry at this one. There were obviously some heavy, emotional moments in this book (full of poignant humor, of course), but I didn't cry. Be prepared to, though. I certainly felt sad...but no tears.

All in all, a great book by a great author. I don't feel that I loved it as much as others, but definitely liked it and finished it in two days. Hazel and Augustus were great characters that I felt I could relate to and I think teens will as well. This is not your typical "cancer book" at all.

Review: Looking for Alaska

Author: John Green
Publish date: 2005
Source: Library
"Miles Halter is fascinated by famous last words and tired of his safe life at home. He leaves for boarding school to seek what the dying poet Francois Rabelais called the "Great Perhaps." Much awaits Miles at Culver Creek, including Alaska Young. Clever, funny, screwed-up, and dead sexy, Alaska will pull Miles into her labyrinth and catapult him into the Great Perhaps. 

Looking for Alaska brilliantly chronicles the indelible impact one life can have on another. A stunning debut, it marks John Green's arrival as an important new voice in contemporary fiction."

I read Paper Towns over the summer and immediately decided that I needed to read the rest of John Green's novels. I'm not sure why it took me so long to read this one, but I'll definitely be getting to An Abundance of Katherines much sooner. I really enjoyed Looking for Alaska and can't believe I hadn't read it sooner.

John Green gets teenagers. I don't know how else to say it. He writes amazing, real characters that I can only wish were actual people. I loved all the characters in this one: Pudge/Miles, the Colonel/Chip, Alaska, Takumi, even the Eagle. They all had their own lovable quirks and just meshed to make the story work. I loved all the characters in Paper Towns too, so I'm thinking John Green is pretty damn good at this thing. I love that he writes from a male's perspective, which is sorely lacking in YA literature.

I thought the setting of a boarding school was one of the best things about this book. Pudge got to meet new friends, plus there is the added bonus of limited parental involvement, although his parents were in the story. The boarding school setting really helped set up the major theme of the story: the impact that people have on your life, no matter when you meet them or how long you know them. 

I'm looking forward to reading An Abundance of Katherines soon! 

Review: Paper Towns

Author: John Green
Publish date: 2008
Source: Library
"When Margo Roth Spiegelman beckons Quentin Jacobsen in the middle of the night—dressed like a ninja and plotting an ingenious campaign of revenge—he follows her. Margo’s always planned extravagantly, and, until now, she’s always planned solo. After a lifetime of loving Margo from afar, things are finally looking up for Q . . . until day breaks and she has vanished. Always an enigma, Margo has now become a mystery. But there are clues. And they’re for Q. Printz Medalist John Green returns with the trademark brilliant wit and heart-stopping emotional honesty that have inspired a new generation of readers."

I ADORED this book. I'd been wanting to read it for a while but just kind of put it off, then I started it a couple days ago and did not want to put it down. I really enjoy books that have a bit of a mystery to them, which Paper Towns had a lot of, plus the characters were fantastic. I absolutely loved the dialogue and thought it was spot-on for high school boys, whom I am around rather frequently. The characters, and therefore the writing, were hilarious and I found myself laughing out loud quite a few times while reading.

I really liked that the main character, Quentin (or Q) was a male. I find that most of the novels I read have female protagonists and are usually more geared toward female readers, which is fine for me, but not so great when male students ask me for book recommendations. This is one that I would most definitely recommend to all students, regardless of gender, and it is now my mission to add this to my classroom library (in addition to devouring the rest of John Green's books as soon as possible).

SPOILER: I also really liked learning what paper towns were. I find that concept fascinating and I now want to take a road trip "visiting" all the paper towns in the US. I love when I learn something nerdily interesting in a book and then become obsessed with it. Sidenote: I am also obsessed with really small towns, like somewhere in North Dakota with 3 residents or something. Love it.