Saturday, February 15, 2014

✎ The Fault in Our Stars (Thorndike Literacy Bridge) By John Green ✎

John Green is an award-winning, New York Times bestselling author whose many accolades include the Printz Medal, a Printz Honor, and the Edgar Award. With his brother, Hank, John is one half of the Vlogbrothers (youtube.com/vlogbrothers), one of the most popular online video projects in the world. You can join John's 1.2 million followers on Twitter (@realjohngreen) or visit him online at johngreenbooks.com and fishingboatproceeds.tumblr.com. John lives with his wife and son in Indianapolis, Indiana.

Avaliable in Hardcover, Paperback, Audiobook, CD, MP3 and Audio download.
  • Hardcover: 363 pages
  • Publisher: Thorndike Press; Lrg edition (26 July 2012)
  • Language: English
  • ISBN-10: 1410450015
  • ISBN-13: 978-1410450012
  • Product Dimensions: 21.6 x 14 x 3 cm

Book Description

Series: Thorndike Literacy Bridge

Front Cover - The Fault In Our Stars By John Green
Front Cover - The Fault In Our Stars
I have to admit, even though I had heard this book was a really good one, even the thought of a young adult novel about teenagers with cancer didn't appeal to me that much. My initial reaction were also somewhat less than "stellar". Everyone talks in a very "razor sharp", "ultra witty" way that feels straight out of some Aaron Sorkin or Diablo Cody movie.

Not even remotely how any 16 or 17 year old I know of would speak. I feared that it was going to be all style without any substance, bouncing along until a requisite tearjearking conclusion.

But I was wrong.

This is a book with a group of characters that you really care about. At it's core are the star-crossed lovers, Hazel (the one with terminal cancer) and Augustus (the cancer survivor). They meet at a cancer support group and become close, despite Hazel's desire to avoid becoming a "grenade" in anybody's life. By which she means someone who will unwittingly cause significant hurt through their passing. They are fantastically loveable characters, who flit between deep conversations about the meaning of life and finding refuge in video games and reality TV shows. I loved them both. Still do.

But the book is more than that. It's about coming to terms with the fact that your life will almost certainly never rise above insignificance. Yes, you will matter to your family and friends, maybe even write a few reviews that people will like. But ultimately you probably won't make any life changing impact on the world. It's about the way we shrink from people with terminal disease only to laud them when they pass. It's about the impact that terminal diseases have on the families of those left behind. It's about teenagers growing up and learning to take responsibility for their own lives, defining themselves by who they are and not what disease they may have.

I don't know if there's anything life changing here, but it's definitely a moving, entertaining and thought provoking book.

Here are some book reviews.

*The film tie-in edition of John Green's witty yet heart-breaking tour de force. Featuring 7 stills from the hotly anticipated movie from Twentieth Century Fox.*

"I fell in love the way you fall asleep: slowly, then all at once."

Despite the tumor-shrinking medical miracle that has bought her a few years, Hazel has never been anything but terminal, her final chapter inscribed upon diagnosis. But when a gorgeous plot twist named Augustus Waters suddenly appears at Cancer Kid Support Group, Hazel's story is about to be completely rewritten.

Insightful, bold, irreverent, and raw, The Fault in Our Stars is award-winning author John Green's most ambitious and heartbreaking work yet, brilliantly exploring the funny, thrilling, and tragic business of being alive and in love.

Sunday Times (Culture)

'A touching, often fiercely funny novel'

The Sun on Sunday (Fabulous Magazine)

'So good I think it should be compulsory reading for everyone!'

Daily Express

'John Green brilliantly captures the voices of a young generation while instilling it with the wisdom of a life that has lived too much yet will never live enough.

Rather than depressing, the book is filled with dark humour and is written with a beautiful simplicity that draws the reader in so deeply that it's not just the twist and turns but the gently bends and curves that you feel tugging at your emotions... No doubt in the end you will cry but you will also feel that you have discovered a little something about living'

Daily Telegraph

'The novel, written for teenagers, but proving even more popular with adults'

The Metro - 2013 Best Fiction

The YA crossover hit of the year. The love affair of two terminally ill teenagers could be mawkish. In fact, it's funny, clever, irreverent and life-affirming.

The Fault In Our Stars By John Green - Chapter One Page 3
The Fault In Our Stars - Chapter One Page 3

The Guardian

'A Smart Book'

Grazia

'So good!'

Good Housekeeping

'John Green may write for young adults, but his intelligent sensitive style means The Fault in Our Stars defies categorisation... as funny as it is heartbreaking... we defy you not to fall in love with its main characters, Hazel and Augustus.'

The Tablet

'A humourous and poignant love story... It's terrifically funny... as well as a moving exploration of loss and grief. And no, it's so much not just for teenage cancer sufferers... it's for everyone.'

Bliss

The Fault In Our Stars By John Green - Chapter One Page 3
The Fault In Our Stars By John Green - Chapter One Page4
'If you need inspiration when it comes to making the most of a moment, this one is for you'

Mizz

'Exploring the funny, thrilling and tragic business of being alive and in love, this is a life-affirming tale of two teenagers who are terminally ill. Insightful, bold, irreverent and raw, if this doesn't make you cry, it'll definitely make you think, laugh and maybe even fall in love yourself!'

** A thought-provoking love story from the New York Times bestselling author of Looking for Alaska, An Abundance of Katherines, Paper Towns and - with David Levithan - Will Grayson, Will Grayson.


** John Green has over 1.2 million Twitter followers, and almost 700,000 subscribers to Vlogbrothers, the YouTube channel he created with his brother, Hank.


** The Fault in Our Stars will capture a crossover audience in the same vein as Zadie Smith, David Nicholls' One Day and Before I Die by Jenny Downham.


** 'Electric . . . Filled with staccato bursts of humor and tragedy' - Jodi Picoult


** 'A novel of life and death and the people caught in between, The Fault in Our Stars is John Green at his best. You laugh, you cry, and then you come back for more' - Markus Zusak, author of The Book Thief

 

You might also like to read ✎ Life After Life by Kate Atkinson - Hardcover Book ✎

2 comments:

  1. w o w. Just wow. There are no words to describe how much I loved this book, highly recommend to anyone.

    ReplyDelete
  2. This is a very clever and beautiful book! I loved the dark humor and the love story between Hazel and Augustus! Just beautiful! I couldn't not cry in the end!

    ReplyDelete