The Fault in Our Stars

I haven't done many book reviews on my blog. Come to think of it, I can't remember the last time I did one. I read alot, of course, mostly via my Galaxy Tab 10.1 (which I LOVE!!!) while commuting (bus/subway, not driving). I also read some hard copies, but mainly for the books of my author friends. One of the many benefits of the Tab is that I get to read a lot in a short period of time. I don't know why that is so. The book lengths aren't any shorter electronically. But, anyway, with the Tab, I finish books within 10 days tops, which means I've plowed through a lot since I bought the Tab in June 2011. The best of those books is John Green's THE FAULT IN OUR STARS.

Come to think of it, STARS is one of the best books I have ever read in any medium or genre. It's a dramedy about two extremely likeable teens Hazel, the narrator, and her love interest, Gus, both stricken with cancer. Hazel is terminal while Gus is in remission. Hazel is still alive because of a wonder drug keeping her cancer at bay, but it's not a cure. Gus lost his leg to the disease. The book follows their romance and how each deal with their own and the other's mortality. What is wonderfully ironic thing about the book is SPOILER ALERT:

Gus uses his Wish (like Make-a-Wish foundation) to take Hazel to Amsterdam to see her favorite author and find out what becomes of the characters in her favorite book. The author turns out to be a complete ahole and tells Hazel, essentially, that it's just a book and it's fiction and nothing becomes of the characters. The irony, of course, is that when reading STARS, you fall utterly in love with Hazel and Gus, which makes the heartbreak that much worse, because, of course, they are the proverbial star-crossed lover. Hence the title, which is a play on the famous line from Shakespeare's JULIUS CAESAR.

The book is funny and gutwrenchingly real. Or as Hazel says, "You have a choice in this world, about how to tell sad stories, and we made the funny choice." An increadibly good book that made me laugh and cry throughout, I'm so glad I read this. Great books not only entertain you, but they change you after having read it. THE FAULT IN OUR STARS did just that.