Book Review- The Fault In Our Stars

The most recent book club pick was The Fault In Our Stars by John Green. I'm giving it 3 1/2 stars and a general "yeah you should read it if you don't mind sad books" recommendation.

The book is a great literary read. There are big words and nuances and symbolism and imagery all over the place. It reminds me of the sort of book my high school AP English teacher would have loved. I do have an appreciation for these sorts of books but I don't automatically rave about a book because it's strong literature.

For me to really love a book I have to want to read it again. While this book was intriguing and enjoyable (despite the tears), I can't say I'll read it again. One and done kind of deal.

The premise is that this teenage girl with cancer goes to a support group for other kids with cancer where she meets and (shocker) falls in love with another teenager with cancer. That's a lot of cancer folks. Obviously someone must die (hence the tears) but telling you who would be a spoiler. So to sum it up, cancer patient meets cancer survivor, they fall in love, and someone dies.

Being a doctor's kid, my view on death can best be described as pragmatic. Death in general is a sort of peace- be it for the patient who is finally freed from pain or for the family who is finally freed from watching the suffering. In that sense, death serves a purpose. Coming from a strongly Christian family, death is also not feared. We might not want it right now, but if that were our fate we are all secure that it will not lead to a miserable existence (ie we believe that we will be in heaven). So the combination of my practical acceptance and lack of fear of death makes dying itself not so sad a topic for me. (This means I am very awkward and inept at comforting anyone other than my immediate friends and family when someone passes away).

So why the tears from this book? It was the daughter's concern for her parents, her mother in particular, that absolutely, positively tore. me. apart. This girl knows she will die, she has a terminal diagnosis that has been temporarily put off by experimental treatment. Any time she thinks death is upon her, her concern is not for herself but her mother. Her mom has been by her side every step of the medical journey. Her mother truly is her best friend because her mother is the one who knows everything about her inside and out. She, the daughter, despairs over the agony and grief her best friend, her mom, will experience when death finally occurs. While the text title and main storyline revolve around these lovers with stars so crossed they could be called faulty, I think the true story is the evolution of acceptance of death and lack of fear as the daughter and mother learn to face the future. Maybe it was meant to be a side-line story, but the interactions between those two characters were the ones that had me sobbing. Love and devotion between mother and daughter is something I truly understand and commiserate with. It was truly touching how accurate and spot-on the emotions were.

So yes, read the book (but be prepared with tissues) and enjoy a great literary piece. Maybe you'll love it and want to eat it up, maybe you'll have a one-time appreciation for the story. There are several small stories within the large one and it is likely that you'll be touched by one of them. It just makes the book that much more relatable and more likely enjoyable.