Snapshot Book Review: The Fault in Our Stars

The Fault in Our Stars by John Green
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

An excellent example of a well written young-adult book, which is equally enjoyable by adults. The characters are endearing and thankfully not your typical "cancer patients;" instead they are surprisingly funny--the dry wit of children who are forced to grow up quickly but are still full of teenage angst and frustration, which has been an shockingly untapped resource for writers who perpetually cover the Terminal Patient.

My one big qualm, which I believe is shared by some other reviewers, is that real teenagers do not talk the way these characters talk. As one reviewer wrote, "My main issue with Augustus and Hazel was their penchant for dramatic, long and perfectly edited speeches. Yes, it was all very beautiful in a perfect kind of way that real things are not -- and more importantly in a way real teenagers are not."

Hazel and Augustus simply do not sound like teenagers. I asked a friend of mine who read the book why she thought Green didn't just make them adults or at least college-age. Her response was perfect: "He probably wrote it originally about adults and then his editor read it and was like, 'Nope this won't sell. But you know what will? A cancer story about kids." And so, in theory, Green had to re-write the story to make it about kids rather than adults, and ended up with too-perfect/smart-sounding teenagers.

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