The Fault in Our Stars - John Green

I have heard fabulous things about John Green.  I read Will Grayson, Will Grayson and I enjoyed it (of course, let me fangirl a minute and say that it was almost definitely because of David Levithan.)  But I tried to read Paper Towns and Looking for Alaska and An Abundance of Katherines.  But I just didn't see the appeal.

But I wanted to give him one last try.  And so I picked up The Fault in Our Stars from the library. I came home from the library on Thursday night, sat on the couch (with my coat and library bag still on) and read for 3 1/2 hours.  I finished it in less than 24 hours.

Diagnosed with Stage IV thyroid cancer at 12, Hazel was prepared to die until, at 14, a medical miracle shrunk the tumours in her lungs... for now. 

Two years post-miracle, sixteen-year-old Hazel is post-everything else, too; post-high school, post-friends and post-normalcy. And even though she could live for a long time (whatever that means), Hazel lives tethered to an oxygen tank, the tumours tenuously kept at bay with a constant chemical assault. 

Enter Augustus Waters. A match made at cancer kid support group, Augustus is gorgeous, in remission, and shockingly to her, interested in Hazel. Being with Augustus is both an unexpected destination and a long-needed journey, pushing Hazel to re-examine how sickness and health, life and death, will define her and the legacy that everyone leaves behind. -from Goodreads.com

Remember those Lurlene McDaniel books you read in middle/high school?  The ones about the sick kids with rare diseases or cancer?

This is not one of those books.  John Green approaches the subject of sick teenagers with grace and a sense of reality.  The main characters drip with sarcasm and teenager-ness.
Without giving too much away, I think its a good thing I didn't read Green's other books, because from the reviews I have read, this book follows most of his other plotlines.

I do not think I will reread his other books, but I am glad I picked this one up.