I read the Fault in Our Stars by John Green around a year ago and I recently realised that I had yet to write a review for it.
(I’ve tried to make it as non spoilery as possible, but if you haven’t read the book and don’t me want to ruin anything, then go and buy a copy now and come back when you’re done)
So here it goes:
The Fault in Our Stars by John Green is my favourite book by a mile.
I have this weird thing with favourite books. I sometimes find myself getting weirdly jealous of people who have a favourite book that is obscure and that not many people know about, because I wish my special book could be something special to me and not something I hear about everywhere I go. TFIOS (The Fault in Our Stars) certainly does not fit that description. And for that reason, I sometimes (rather selfishly) wish that TFIOS wasn’t so huge and famous.
Now don’t get me wrong, John Green is a totally amazing person who totally deserves to be so insanely successful, and if The Fault in Our Stars wasn’t so successful, I’d probably never have discovered more of the beautiful collection of John Green books (such as Paper Towns and Will Grayson, Will Grayson) or have been introduced to the Vlogbrothers and the amazing community that is Nerdfighteria! I wouldn’t be able to see my favourite book on screen and I wouldn’t have such a vast community of fans that I can talk to about the book. At school everyone has their thing. You have the girl that’s obsessed with Niall Horan, the Tom Hiddleston stalker, the girl who fangirls every week about Teen Wolf and the ones who rave about Korean music.
And I am the TFIOS girl.
I’m the one that tells everyone to read the book, who informs them about the rest of John Green’s books after they are left longing for more, I’m the one who surprises them by telling them John Green also vlogs with his brother or who updates them on movie news. And it’s great to be the TFIOS girl.
But still I wish that TFIOS could be my special thing.
It’s kind of hard to explain why, so I’m using a quote to do so. In the book, Hazel says:
“Sometimes, you read a book and it fills you with this weird evangelical zeal, and you become convinced that the shattered world will never be put back together unless and until all living humans read the book. And then there are books like An Imperial Affliction, which you can’t tell people about, books so special and rare and yours that advertising your affection feels like betrayal”
Which sums up my view of TFIOS!
Now you’re either going to completely understand where I am coming from, or you’re going to think I’m ranging from selfish to insane. But one day you’ll find your thing and you’ll understand.
