I finished reading The Fault In Our Stars by John Green over the weekend. After his earlier book, Looking For Alaska, made the local news by being banned in a few schools, Tiffany sent me his new book for my birthday (she sent me Looking For Alaska last year, which I'm now reading).
Both books are YA, but not Twilight-YA. I honestly didn't feel like I was reading a book that I'm too old to be reading. Sure, it's a book who's main characters are 16 years old, but it didn't feel juvenile or immature. In fact, it felt quite the opposite as it centers around a pretty heavy issue, cancer, & child cancer at that.
The protagonist, Hazel, is 16 & has terminal cancer. She meets & falls in love with Augustus, who lost his leg to cancer, but is currently in remission. I really liked both of these characters. They're kindred spirits & it's simultaneously refreshing & heartbreaking to watch their relationship develop.
Green tackles some big issues, like cancer, obviously, but also life, love & death. The book is for ages 14 & up, but this 36 year old thoroughly enjoyed it. In the few days since I've finished it, I've found myself thinking about Hazel & Augustus a lot & wishing their story continued.
