'The Fault in Our Stars' a touching, relatable young-adult novel

In a month celebrated by cheesy expressions of love, I decided I needed to find a book that would incorporate a love story and a meaningful message that wasn’t corny.

That is a much harder thing to find than I anticipated. I previously had heard John Green was a good author, but attempted to stay away from his work because he wrote young adult books.

I am 22 years old, and I feel ancient when characters describe their first kiss or high school experience from their sophomore year. So, desperate for something new to read, I caved on my John Green ban and picked up his latest book, “The Fault in Our Stars.”

I immediately felt a sense of camaraderie with the 16-year-old main character, Hazel. Although she is 16, and I absolutely abhor 16-year-olds — I once was one, and I can tell you with extreme certainty I was unbearable — Hazel is different because she has terminal cancer.

Before you think this is another version of “My Sister’s Keeper,” I will tell you that Hazel is too devoted to her parents and her books to be overdramatic like that novel. She’s sarcastic, likes to make fun of people and enjoys watching terrible television.

We could be best friends if she wasn’t a fictional character.

I think it’s really interesting a male author could write from a dying teenage girl’s mind, and Green does it remarkably well.

I also adore the other main character, Augustus. His chemistry with Hazel is so offbeat and unexpected that it’s refreshing, and it did make me giggle like my former teenage self a few times.

Augustus and Hazel meet each other in a cancer support group, a meeting Hazel’s mom forces her to attend to make more friends.

They bond over their mutual friend, Isaac, who suffers from a serious form of eye cancer and has to have both eyes removed at the beginning of the novel.

As time goes on, they grow closer, and Hazel shares her favorite book with Augustus. Desperate to know the ending to the book that the author purposely left off, they decide to track him down and get some answers.

From there, the book dives into topics of death, fear of oblivion, love and video games.

I really thought this book was fantastic. Extremely well written but easy to read, it’s the perfect book for someone who likes a bit of everything.

I laughed a lot, I did cry twice — don’t judge me — and I did not put it down until I was finished.

The ending was poignant, and I felt very lucky to have good health by the end of the book. I would suggest this book to anyone looking for an easy, good old-fashioned emotional read.

I’ll give this novel 4.5 out of 5 stars. It should have been longer and gone into better detail in a few scenes, but overall it was a great.

Katie Piper is a journalism senior.

Katie Piper

Katie is a former staff member of The Oklahoma Daily who worked as Life & Arts Reporter.