Publisher: Dutton Books
Publishing Date: January 10th, 2012
Genre: YA, Contemporary
Pages: 318 pgs
ISBN: 9780525478812
My Rating: 5 stars
Summary from Goodreads:
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.
My Review:
Wow! I
think that is all that is really needed to describe this book. Before
this year I had never read any John Green but I stumbled upon his
YouTube channel Vlogbrothers, that he does with his brother Hank, and I
knew from that moment that I would really enjoy his novels. This book
has been described as a cancer book but I think that it brings so much
more to the reader than just that. Yes, it makes you question your own
mortality and it does have the sob factor but it also has so many
quirks. I found myself giggling more than crying in this book and, to
me, this means Green has done an amazing job of not just focusing on the
sadness of death. He focuses most of his energy on the lives of his
characters rather than their deaths. I loved all the references to
books and the fact that most of the characters would be huge nerds in
real life. I am a proud nerd/geek (whichever you prefer)and I love that
the characters in this book would rather travel to meet an author for
their "Make a Wish" wish rather than go to some overly hyped place like
Disney. I don't want to give too much of this book away so I will end
by saying that if you haven't read any John Green, you should pick up
his work, including this book. Overall I give this book 5 out of 5
stars.
This was my first John Green book and it made me a fan. Mostly because I loved Augustus Waters - why can't I find a guy like that? I tried not to cry, but the ending did me in, anyway. So sad.
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