The Fault in Our Stars

I am heartbroken. My sister insisted I write about it. Yes, writing helps. 

His name is Augustus Waters, 17. Hers is Hazel Grace Lancaster, 16. They met in a support group for kids with cancer. His is osteosarcoma in remission. Hers is thyroid cancer stage IV which metastasized to her lungs. Heads up. I saw it coming from the beginning but that didn't stop the heavy flood of tears, shoulders shaking and all.

Each page of The Fault in Our Stars is filled with beautiful, beautiful sentences. Like poetry, like a sweet lullaby. After reading, I seriously pondered over writing Mr. John Green himself just as Hazel writes to Peter Van Houten in the story. Unlike Hazel, I need not know the ending since the novel is quite finished, really. I just want to discuss his novel with him, you know? My admiration and frustrations equally strong.

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

It's one heck of a love story to write I can imagine. It's a love story worth knowing. Meeting the characters is bliss. They are filled with humor and creativity, their observations of the universe unique but precise. It's inevitable not to love them. Like I have experienced with Jellicoe Road, it all seemed real to me. It left a scar in me. Damn you, John Green.

But the thing is... I really don't mind. I saw the world in a wider picture. I felt pain which, from what is apparently written there, demanded to be felt. More importantly, I felt the moving power of true love. Let me tell you this: It's a privilege to have my heart broken by this book.

-Martha