WARNING: CONTAINS MODERATE BAD LANGUAGE AND SEX REFERENCES: NOT SUITABLE FOR YOUNGER READERS

I am not one to cry when reading books. I didn't cry when Dobby died in Harry Potter, when Callum in Noughts & Crosses, or when Prim in The Hunger Games: Mockingjay. The Fault In Our Stars however, reduced me to tears.

This is a novel from 16 year old Hazel Grace Lancaster's point of view, a girl who has terminal lung cancer and has been battling cancer since she was thirteen. She has an oxygen tank attached to her via the tubes through her nose because in Hazels' words "My lungs suck at being lungs". When she attends a Cancer Children Support Meeting and encounters Augustus Waters, her life changes dramatically.

Augustus provided much needed companionship, humour, and reminded Hazel not to let the cancer consume her; to not let it take away her hopes, dreams and social life. He also showed her what it felt like to be unconditionally loved. His bravado and swagger was very much like how a young male might handle situations, but he was also not afraid to let Hazel (and the reader) see his vulnerable side. The witty and thought-provoking conversation between the two really helped the flow, and lightened the mood of a novel surrounding a rather serious topic. They ask the questions that relates to all of us: Will I be loved? Will I be remembered? Will I leave a mark?

Green has the ability to handle the pace of a novel well and appropriately, and can create characters with a voice that will touch the reader. He very believably portrayed a young female teenager's thoughts and issues to the point where I felt that Hazel was one of my best friends. He created characters that the audience grows to love and care for; Hazel, Augustus and his friend Isaac are wonderfully constructed, and are very realistic.

What I loved about The Fault In Our Stars is that the journey that Hazel went on wasn't acceptance of death -she'd completed that before the novel began- but on the acceptance of life. How life isn't always fair, but life just is. The Fault In Our Stars isn't a depressing read, then again, it isn't an uplifting novel either. It is simply a truthful depiction of love, loss, and the life of a young girl who has cancer.

The Fault In Our Stars is an insightful and moving novel that will leave you with a lump in your throat, but with a more optimistic understanding of life.

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