The Fault in Our Stars

Okay, so technically I believe this is a Young Adult novel, but if you hadn't told me that I never would have guessed. This is the story of Hazel Lancaster, a 16-year-old terminal cancer patient, granted a few more years from medical science but not expected to reach adulthood. Hazel is smart, funny, irreverent, and she has pretty much accepted the fact that she's dying, but she is doing it on her terms. One night at the Kids with Cancer support group that her mother forces her to attend, she meets the gorgeous Augustus Waters, who lost a leg to cancer a year ago, but now aged 17 is back to school and leading a normal life (well, normal for a one-legged-17-year-old).

Meeting Augustus changes Hazel's life, and probably more importantly, it changes what she expects from her life.

I won't give the story away, but I just want to say that these are two smart, funny, interesting teenagers, and they manage to be those things without being wizards or vampires. They are normal kids dealing with tragic situations in the best way they can.

I've never read any John Green before, but I definitely will read more. He made me laugh, cry, and think, and there aren't a lot of authors who can do that.

The Fault in Our Stars