kaitoro_walker13's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.25
Graphic: Cancer, Child death, and Death
jacob_dion's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Loveable characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.75
Graphic: Medical content, Death, and Terminal illness
abbyh1011's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
Moderate: Cancer and Death
dignity995's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
5.0
For almost a year now, it has sat on my bookshelf gathering dust and hoping for someone to read it but I was in a reading slump and could not, for the life of me, pick this or any other book up for that matter. That was until yesterday evening when I thought of just sitting down to read and I picked it up.
Now, I want to read it again and again and again and again and again and again until I have this book's words flowing through my veins into my bloodstream and be a part of who I am as a person.
This is a book that caught me by surprise because although I did watch John Green's videos on YouTube, I never expected him to be so good at writing fiction.
It is a book that got me out of my reading slump, I want to read so much more now. After so many years of not feeling the drive to read for the pleasure of it, I feel like I have found myself again.
It is a book that challenged my views on life, it made me feel more alive than I have ever felt. It made me mourn characters I hadn't known for more than 2 days and it made me love every second of it.
It is so strange that we feel the most alive in face of death and despair rather than the happy and joyous.
To be honest, I wasn't bawling my eyes out or anything but I teared up at different places in the book and a year or two might have slid down my cheeks. It is a beautiful book, one that I want everyone to read and yet I don't wish to recommend it to people because there something so fundamentally human in this that to recommend it to someone who I know won't read it would be a disservice to this beautiful book.
I have loved every second of reading this book.
What I loved the most about this book is that it isn't about some one achieving a great deal of things or doing something extremely noble just to be a hero, it is simply a book of ordinary people, of the beauty in said ordinary people.
Perhaps the only other book that has made me feel so seen yet so insignificant in the grand scheme of things would be: On earth, we're briefly gorgeous.
I could go on and on about this book but as I wrap up this already very long review, I simply want to add the very first thought I had while reading this book: "How the heck is a grown man writing a better teenage girl than most of the revered authors???" Because honestly, Hazel feels so real and so close to home that I just fall in love with her and her story even more.
If you haven't read it yet, I would say READ IT FIRST.
PS. It might give you a teeny tiny bit of existential crisis so, that's also fun. But truly, it is very beautiful to read and a true page turner.
Graphic: Death
Moderate: Addiction and Alcoholism
Minor: Vomit
meowcoric's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
Graphic: Death, Terminal illness, and Cancer
hrubelle's review against another edition
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Graphic: Death, Child death, and Chronic illness
aliveandnotlovingit's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A
3.0
Moderate: Drug use, Terminal illness, Medical content, Mental illness, Sexual content, Vomit, Cancer, Cursing, Death, Medical trauma, and Ableism
elizabeth070's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
5.0
Graphic: Death, Vomit, and Cancer
kayjayelle's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
5.0
Graphic: Cancer, Death, and Child death
ralfy's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
Graphic: Cancer, Child death, Death, Chronic illness, and Terminal illness