Book Review: The Fault in Our Stars by John Green.

I am not a big reader. 

Proof?! 

I can count the books I've read over the past 18 years on one hand -

The Hunger Games
The Hunger Games Catching Fire
The Perks of being a Wallflower and
The Fault in Our Stars.

One can note that from the title of the books, I have just started reading from the previous year? And let me tell you - it's a great improvement for me.

It's not that I don't love books, it's just that I prefer watching the movie of the book rather than reading it myself. I know that a lot of you might probably disagree with me on this one, but I don't seem to connect with the characters in the way I do when watching the movie.

While reading, my brain tend to depart to another planet, in space actually which will take minutes to snap back into reality. Because of this I tend to take about a month or even more to finish one single book of about 300 pages. So, yeah this is why I prefer to watch a 2 hours or even 4 movie, than spending the same exact time reading.

But I think that John Green has just changed it all.

I've been wanting to buy this book from the moment it was published (I like to collect books, just so they look pretty on my bookshelf?! shh..) and for some reason I have waited until last month to do so.
I was determined to start reading it at that exact moment and in fact I did. I read about 30 pages in one day but then I just left it there. My friend, Elaine (you can check her blog here) bought the book a day after I did and she finished it in maybe one and a half weeks, maybe less and she practically spent the whole month pushing me to read it, so that we could talk about it and fangirling.

It was until yesterday that I've picked it up again. 

I typed - audible.com (if you do not know what this is, it's basically a page from amazon where you can pay a few £ and download your audiobook, meaning having someone to read it for you instead of reading it yourself) in Google, clicked on the link and searched for The Fault in Our Stars by John Green. I heard the sample and thankfully the voice was feminine and soft - a voice that you could hear all day without getting a headache. I downloaded the app on my iPad and downloaded the audiobook from it. 

The Review. 

I knew that the characters were terminal that it is a sad book and that's what it got me more into the book. For a good portion of the book I found myself tittering at Hazel and Augustus' dry humor. The first half was predominantly light-hearted and cheerful, despite the glum situation the characters were in. Even when things got more serious, the humor was subtle. If I could describe it, I'd compare it to a grandparent making a joke about their looming death. It's a bit awkward and uncomfortable, but peculiarly reassuring that it's possible to joke about something so morbid. 

The plot was "good" for me, never wowing me or keeping me on the edge of my seat - the usual cancer stories. There weren't many plot twists or "ah ha!" moments because you could tell from the beginning how it continues and how it would end. Despite all of this I did cry, a lot actually but it just wasn't for the characters. It was because the position they were in - because cancer sucks. Do not get me wrong, this is a beautifully written book and I loved reading every bit of it, it's the characters that I question. Are they really teenagers? I mean I know that they are very intelligent and let's face it they spent a lot more time contemplating life than your average teen, but they never felt real to me.

I finished reading the book earlier this morning and I cried and sobbed and cried and sobbed even more, but it didn't leave the same effect that A Walk to Remember, 50,50 or Now is Good have left. After watching these I spent most of my days really sad and heartbroken - having no courage at all to talk to people. 

But this might be because I have read the book and not watch it (as previously explained). I have to wait until June then to find out. 

Read this book? No?! Grab your copy and start reading it, it's worth a read. 

(If you don't want to buy the book, you can read it as a pdf from here)

Hope this helped you in any ways possible. 

Stay Beautiful,

Belle xxx