The Fault in our Stars Recommendation

Now, I know what my normal recommendations would look like but this book has changed my life so this one is going to be a little bit different.

Dear John Green,

I almost couldn't write this recommendation for your novel because of your quote I now have posted above my bed:

"Sometimes, you read a book and it fills you with this weird evangelical zeal, and you become convinced that the shattered world will never be put back together unless and until all living humans read the book. And then there are books which you can't tell people about, books so special and rare and yours that advertising your affection feels like a betrayal."
 

So many people quote the first half, about needing the world to read a book but they forget the second half which is the half that means the most to me. 

The Fault in our Stars is that novel for me and I know I am not the only one. This book is the perfect example of why I always wanted to be an author, because sometimes words are everything and living the life of another (even if fictional) for just a few brief moments can give your life new meaning. I didn't have a great past (my friends joke that I am a series of unfortunate events) so I have always cherished life but I also didn't feel that I had meaning. I had lost that long ago. This book gives everything meaning, every petal that blooms on every flower and there is something invigorating and extraordinary about that. It is so close to my heart because for once, I have found a book that shows that life isn't always fair, but it is always beautiful in its own messed, strange way. 

Thank you for reminding me that sometimes the past can hurt you and other times, it is worth remembering every moment even through the pain because life in itself is extraordinary and pain is a legacy left behind by those who didn't get the blessing you did of still being here.

Sincerely,

Emma

To my readers,

Now some of you might be sitting there like... uhhhh I thought this was a book about cancer... Don't you hate reading about cancer? Others of you who actually know my past know WHY I hate reading about cancer normally but The Fault in Our Stars has cancer as a central point but isn't ABOUT cancer. Now let me explain what I mean. Most novels that feature anything about cancer use cancer as a way to deepen the emotions and exploit the painful treatments and walking on the edge of the line between life and death.
John Green did not do this.

Instead this book is about Hazel and Augustus. He weaves characters so real and true to themselves that you aren't sitting there thinking about the cancer so much as them, their thoughts, their feelings and what everything means to them. Yes, cancer is something that has happened to them but in this novel, it does not in any way define them. You read this novel for the characters and the bittersweet romance, for the miracles most don't notice in their lives, for the way one person who is the one person most likely to destroy you can instead save you and make you a better version of yourself.

John Green, you will probably never see this but thank you. Thank you so much.

To my readers. I know cancer is scary but this book is worth every moment you will spend reading it and all the moments after where the story will still resonate with that part of you that remembers that sometimes it isn't the big miracles, it's the little ones.