The Fault in Our Stars

The Fault in Our Stars by John Green

This is not my kind of book.  I’m reviewing because it is without a doubt one of the most anticipated books of the year and certainly there are many people out there who really, really want to read it.  I’ve just never been one for books that center around inevitable tragedy.  Nonetheless, The Fault in Our Stars is incredibly well-written (would you expect anything less from John Green) and compelling (I finished it in less than a day). If you’re only going to read one book about teens dying from cancer, I’m betting this would be it.

Hazel is fighting lung cancer, and losing.  She is terminal, but in a sort of drug-induced limbo.  Her cancer is getting no worse, but it will never get better.  Her desperate fear of hurting people simply by dying has led her to isolate herself even more than the cancer forced her to.  Everything she feels about her situation is challenged when she meets Augustus Waters.  A cancer survivor with a better prognosis than Hazel’s, Augustus is determined to draw her out and make her live the life she has.

Sex, Nudity, Dating – A character had cancer “in his balls” and his ball-lessness is mentioned.  A group therapy session is referred to as a “circle jerk”.  A guy is “hot”.  There’s kissing and bodies pressed against each other and boob fondling.  Herpes is mentioned, but not caught.  Hooking is quickly mentioned.  A movie they watch involves shirtless men.  A poem Hazel reads involves sodomy. Virginity is discussed.  There is sex, but it is not graphic.
Profanity – “blew,” “goddamn,” “hell,” “badass,” “shit,” “douche,” “piss,” “Jesus Christ,” “bullshit,” “assclown,”  I don’t remember reading the f-word anywhere in the book, but it is unlike Green not to drop it at some point, so if I missed it, please consider yourself warned.
Death, Violence and Gore – The basic plot is about cancer, as a result, there’s a lot of discussion of dying and certainly some actual dying.  A book a character reads involves the main character killing over 100 people, and there’s a really violent video game that figures in the plot, but that’s not really a big deal with all the actual death and dying, is it?
Drugs, Alcohol and Smoking – Hazel freshly asks her mother for a fake ID so that she can go to clubs, drink and take pot.  Two underage characters drink champagne.  An adult character is an alcoholic and drinks heavily during the book.
Frightening or Intense Things – The toll that cancer takes on various patients as well as the various treatments are not easy topics to read about.  Reading about terminal young people can be upsetting, as can the grief others feel at their deaths.