Book review: The Fault in Our Stars by John Green

NO SPOILERS! (So if you haven’t read the book you can still read this post, and oh do you mind me asking why haven’t you?!)

I once wrote a post about this guy who was an 18 years old (then) amputee. We met during his follow up at the Orthopedic clinic one glorious day (to be frank I had no idea if that day was glorious, it could be gloomy for all I remember). If my memory served it right, he was the last patient that Friday therefore we talked longer than my previous patients (we allocated approximately ten minutes to interview patients who were recruited into our study – The Quality of Life among Lower Limb Amputees). To see the correlation of the character in review and him, read till the end. :) I did not just tricked you into reading this whole thing.

Into the book:

Augustus ‘Gus’ Waters just could not believe his eyes! One day he went to the support group and he saw  Hazel Grace Lancaster (who insisted on being called just Hazel and  bear a striking resemblance with his late girlfriend Caroline who succumbed to brain tumor ). Gus, eleven months in remission from osteosarcoma and Hazel, three years in remission for thyroid cancer with mets to lungs with long term oxygen therapy . He was seventeen and she was sixteen.

To sum up the book: two teenagers, young and in love, fighting the big C, and tragedy came like an uninvited house guest (might I warn this is NOT a spoiler as it was clearly written at the book’s cover)

The plot: all right. Predictable but still enjoyable.

The characters: lovable ( and that's why it hurts so much as according to Mr Green, it hurts because it mattered)

So should I read the book? I guessed you ask. Answer: YES! 

Have you a great book that made you smile and all 'awwh' (well not all the time obviously) but stabbed you right at the heart? As I was reading, I wonder how it was possible to finish since I had been having lump in my throat, tightness in my chest as I continued (but I did!). Oh, the feels. And that was why you must read it, because of the feels.

During Pediatric rotation just few months ago, I was posted at the Oncology ward where I met an eleven years old boy who has been diagnosed with Hodgkin’s Lymphoma (Stage III, in relapse, on palliative management). As I listened to his mother (and occasionally the father – cos he was tending to his son at the moment and no, I did not interrupt them, they let me) telling his story right from the beginning, I couldn’t help but feeling helpless, so tiny. This experience somewhat affected me as I could imagine it vividly like nightmares you tried so hard to forget, but they just wont let you)

Back to my first paragraph, young boy, amputee with a prosthesis, bright and optimistic, tall, lean and rather good looking (minus blue eyes) & of course his did not have a terminal disease but hey, I believed I once crossed stars with our very own Augustus Waters.

Almost casted as Augustus Waters. Too bad,  he certainly looked the part!

                                                                                     Don’t give it up just yet

                                                                                     Stay grand for one more minute

   -The Fault in Our Stars by Troye Sivan

Notes:

Written after reading it once, so if I got the figures/facts wrong, sorry.

Watch this space people, I'm back! I certainly hope so.