Josh Green’s ‘The Fault in Our Stars’

This week I am reviewing a book that has surged in popularity recently: Josh Green’s The Fault in Our Stars. Especially since the movie adaptation was released, The Fault in Our Stars has been labeled by many as the “must read” of teen books that is actually compelling, genius, and enjoyable by all ages. But is it? The story follows Hazel Lancaster, a sixteen-year-old girl stricken with cancer. When her mother talks her into going to a cancer patients’ support group Hazel meets Augustus Waters, a boy she immediately forms a bond with. Waters is a cancer survivor, and before you know it a romance story is set up between the two. Amidst her typical teenage insecurities, Hazel is also worrying about how her loved ones would handle her death, as well as how she will live just one step away from death. Essentially, this internal conflict, complimented by her developing relationship with Augustus, is the central plot of the novel.

After hearing how spectacular this novel is, I have to say I am a little disappointed. In and of itself, the book is very solid, providing likeable characters, a believable and tragic struggle, and competent writing. At no point did any of Green’s work or imagery leap off the page, but I never hit a stumbling block, which is a nice consolation prize. The Fault in Our Stars cripples itself by falling too far into the heartbreak genre. The bait-and-switch that is pulled in the story is certainly effective at making teenage girls weep in despair for the characters, but remains a cheap trick used to gain a few more tears. To top it off, the sweeping message of hope that can be found in this novel is little more than a dreamy-eyed appeal along the lines of “you only live once, so enjoy it!” and fails to touch on some of the situation’s more subtle intricacies (for example, the obligation to carry on in the face of adveristy, as opposed to merely “appreciating the good in life.”) The Fault in Our Stars is by no means a bad book. In fact, if you are dead set on picking up a teen book, this isn’t a bad one to get. While better than the average tear-jerker, The Fault in Our Stars has a great deal of wasted potential. The teen genre is filled to the brim with shallow stories of angst-driven romance, sparkly vampires, and claims that one just needs to relax and enjoy life. Sadly, the genre seems to exists for the sole reason that it is shallow, so it is equally depressing that The Fault in Our Stars didn’t take its chance to be something more. If you saw the movie or just really feel like you need to experience this book, then pick up a copy. It is an enjoyable enough read that you probably won’t feel like you wasted money. If you are looking for something that will really make you examine the value of life with more scrutiny than a cursory glance, then look elsewhere.