Book Review: The Fault In Our Stars by John Green

The Fault in Our Stars by John Green
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

This is the first John Green book I’ve read, though I’ve wanted to read him for a long time. You know the phrase, so many books, so little time…anyway, I HAD to read it before I saw the movie, so it was time and here are my thoughts:

I thoroughly enjoyed the characters in this book. Green writes them very well, they are unique, and descriptive and you truly get a feel for what they are going through. Both sets of parents, Augustus’ and Hazel’s have just the right balance of strong, yet on-the-brink-of-breaking-down. I love that her father is the sensitive one. I think we often see fathers as being the strong and unemotional, but the truth is, they can be as vulnerable and expressive as their female counterparts.

I adored Hazel and Augustus and found their relationship sweet and affecting. I loved their silly banter, their quick wits, and sarcasm. They are actually much like me, which I liked. Couple things that bugged me, both of them had odd names. There are just not many Hazels and Augustus’ out there anymore. Their vocabulary both in dialogue and internally seemed WAY over their heads. I understand the wisdom of the dying youth, and the fact that these two are incredibly intelligent, but I still don’t think teenagers would talk and think the way they do at times. Sometimes yes. As often as they do? No. Also the calling each other by full names and first and middle names cute at first, but through the whole book, a little irritating. And the over use of “um.” Um? That’s just my ticky tacky stuff.

This brings me to Green’s writing skills, I think he is an amazing and beautiful writer. He makes putting words to paper look effortless and seamless, which, as a writer, I know it is not. It’s obvious he took a great amount of time to research the subject matters spoken of in this book , i.e. cancer, treatments, Amsterdam, and it felt like they mattered to him.

I guess I’m among the minority that found the story just good and not earth-shattering. I liked it yes, I’m not sure I loved it. I’m not a big crier when I read, and I did not cry while reading this either. The only time I remember getting a little emotional is when Hazel spoke to her mom about not being a mom anymore. There are books that have resonated with me more.

However, as I said before, I liked the book, I loved the characters, John Green’s writing is impressive, the storyline, noble. I will read the other John Green books on my shelf. This would be a 3.5 for me, but Goodreads doesn't allow 3.5 so I'd rather up it than down it.

Do I recommend it? Yes. If you like books about cancer, books that make you cry, books like Deadline by Chris Crutcher, Thirteen Reasons Why by Jay Asher, The Pull of Gravity by Gae Polisner and any other of John Green’s books.


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Book Review: Grasshopper Jungle by Andrew Smith

Grasshopper Jungle by Andrew Smith
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

All the best books are about everything. You know what I mean?

Grasshopper Jungle is no exception. This book is about smoking cigarettes with your best friend, finding condoms and bibles in dresser drawers, grimacing lemur masks, plastic pink flamingos, shrinking balls, little blue kayaks, unstoppable corn, horny teenage boys, giant praying mantises and the end of the world.

And they all cross under our feet.

What this book is really about is connections. How the things we do and the decisions we make have an impact. How history tends to repeat itself no matter what. About how we keep doing the same sh*t over and over and why? Well, because we're human and that's what humans do because there are stupid among us. Because we don't look closely enough at those connections. We don't study the past to see where we went wrong and fix it. That's why.

Austin Szerba is your typical teenage boy. Sort of. He likes recording history, skateboarding and smoking cigarettes with his best friend Robby Brees. He's in love with his girlfriend Shann Collins. He's got both his parents, a brother fighting in Afghanistan, and a dog Ingrid, who lost her vocal cords when she was just a puppy. He's horny for Shann, but he also wonders if he might be gay for Robby and sh*t like that. He's not sure what to do about it.

Through a series of seemingly unconnected events, Unstoppable Soldiers, in the form of giant praying mantises, are unleashed on the unsuspecting town of Ealing, Iowa. All they want to do are eat and screw (not unlike teenage boys) and impregnate the female which will lead to the world being taken over by these Unstoppable Soldiers and the eventual end of the human race.

By digging through history, Austin connects the dots and finds that only he and Robby can stop the giant bugs and save the world. And nobody knows anything about it.

Grasshopper Jungle is weird, inappropriate, disgusting and one of the best books I've read in a long time. Its innovative, fresh and fun. Austin's voice is one of the most original I have read in YA, ever. Period.

Perfect book for boys, although, the appeal of this book is far reaching. Of course, I caution, not for those looking for a "clean" read. This book, like I said, talks about horny teens, masturbation, sex, etc. Typical teen stuff. If that's not your thing, stay away.

This is the truth. Andrew Smith has just become one of my favorite YA authors and I cannot wait to read more of his work.

Big thumbs up on this one. You know what I mean?

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