"Perfection," said Kate

“The fault, dear Brutus, is not in our stars. But in ourselves, that we are underlings.”

I wanted to share a book recommendation for teens and adults. I guess I am way behind the times because this book was published in 2012 and spent a long time last year on the bestseller list. I had read about this book when it first came out but never got around to reading it.  The truth is that really I avoided it because when I read the description and decided it might be too sad and did not want to go there. ( I still haven't seen the ending of "Old Yeller.")  Kate, my 13-year-old niece, was recently sharing her excitement all over social media that the trailer for the movie version of this book had been released.  She was so excited just to see the trailer – I don’t want to be around her when the movie is actually released. I am sure she will go bananas. According to Kate, who reads just about everything she can get her hands on, this book is “perfection” and I “must read it immediately.”  It was also recommended by several adult friends so I decided to dive in.  I apologize if this is a book that everyone has already read while I have been living in my cave. 

“The Fault in Our Stars” is by John Green and tells the story of Hazel, who is a sixteen-year-old cancer patient.  Hazel’s parents make her attend a support group and she meets and falls in love with a teen named Augustus.  The tile comes from a line from Shakespeare’s Julius Caesar. Yes, it is a little sad – but it is just a beautiful story.  It’s funny and touching and frustrating - and is a lovely sharing of the lives of some young people who are trying to navigate their way through life with cancer that just “sucks.” 

 
“Whenever you read a cancer booklet or website or whatever, they always list depression among the side effects of cancer. But, in fact, depression is not a side effect of cancer. Depression is a side effect of dying.” 

― Hazel, from  The Fault in our Stars 

This is a young adult book – but I would recommend it to older teens and adults.  It's got some really heavy moments, but the humor of the main character, Hazel, and the pace of the book keeps you turning pages. I am still processing the book – there are so many great topics for discussion and themes to explore.  Here is a link to a discussion guide that I found that might be helpful if you are leading a book club or just want to talk about the book with someone or process it for yourself. 
Litlovers Discussion Guide


Have you read this book already? If so – I’d love to hear your thoughts and comments. 

Oh, and here is link to the trailer of the movie that is coming out this year.  

"Much of my life had been devoted to trying not to cry in front of people who loved me, so I knew what Augustus was doing. You clench your teeth. You look up. You tell yourself that if they see you cry, it will hurt them, and you will be nothing but a Sadness in their lives, and you must not become a mere sadness, so you will not cry, and you say all of this to yourself while looking up at the ceiling, and then you swallow even though your throat does not want to close and you look at the person who loves you and smile.”

― Hazel, from The Fault in our Stars