I was excited to read The Fault in Our Stars by John Green. I probably had high expectations due to the excellent stories in his other books, and from the high praise I read and heard about this book. Unfortunately, I don't have lots of stars to give to this book in my rating.
Hazel has a rare and difficult challenge to face, and life is not easy for her, especially as a teenager. The same can be said for the other members of the Cancer Kid Support Group, where she befriends Isaac and Gus. Hazel and Isaac are believable characters, yet there were some instances with Gus that I found hard to believe. Yes, this is a work of fiction and Gus has some reflective statements and thoughts; however, I'm not sure how much students could relate to him.
What throws this story for me is the disjointed plot line of Hazel's obsession with the ending to her favorite book and a random trip out of the country to visit its author. The connection come together at the end, yet, even how it comes together seems unrealistic and distracting from the core of the story.
Green handles serious illness and death realistically, with much sensitivity, and appropriate humor needed for these characters to fight and/or accept their condition and the awful side effects of cancer and treatment.
