The Fault in Our Stars by John Green - Book Review

An emotional roller coaster that has changed my perspective on life.

Summary Courtesy of Amazon : 

Despite the tumor-shrinking medical miracle that has bought her a few years, Hazel has never been anything but terminal, her final chapter inscribed upon diagnosis. But when a gorgeous plot twist named Augustus Waters suddenly appears at Cancer Kid Support Group, Hazel's story is about to be completely rewritten.

I asked to borrow this book of my brother's other half (and friend :)) Louise when I saw her talking about it on Facebook. Just days later I was presented with a signed hardback copy of this book with a smile. I didn't know anything about it, I am not even sure I read the back of the book fully before I started it but this book gripped me and made me think about life in a way I never have before.

Yes I knew the books protagonist, Hazel, had terminal cancer but this book is more than cancer, more than an illness but something I can really relate to - a book. The Imperial Affliction. The book that finished halfway through a

I knew that a book on this topic would include a lot of emotions, but it wasn't the ones I expected. I fell in love with Hazel and Gus and their travels to find out answers about this book. I laughed, and I cried... a lot! But when it finished, in a twist I didn't even think of, I was not sad. It made me stop and think. I was happy that the characters could now be happy.

It is one of those books that I cannot talk about fully in a review, because I want you all to beg, borrow and purchase this book yourselves and experience it. John Green, I am now convinced, is a fantastic writer and you don't read his words off a page, you experience them.

I finished this book in record time, even though at one point as I sobbed in my puzzled boyfriend's arms that it was too sad to finish. But I am so glad I read this book. As I have seen in other reviews even writing about this book is sad, I am tearing up thinking about different sections. But I still urge you to read this book to find out why.

Ironically just a day after I finished this book I travelled to Amsterdam, and lets just say I couldn't travel to Anne Frank's house for fear of bursting into tears on the top floor!

This is not normally a book I would read, I like fantasy, demons, vampires and werewolves. But I enjoyed it just as much because the style was so effortless and the narrative to emotion packed. Because of this I will score it among some of my favourite books as being:

9/10 (lost 1 mark because I am still crying!)

I want to know, in the comments below what you thought of this book. Please tell me other people cried! What should be my next read from John Green?

Thank you all for reading,

Love Rie x

Reading in the Sun!

As some of you will already know I finished my three year degree this week. Capped off with an a pretty good exam I feel great, and not too sad, that I am leaving this chapter off my life now! The last few days I have just been laying in the sun in my local park reading which has been fantastic! We have been having a little mini heat wave here and it has made perfect sun bathing whilst reading conditions.

So I think I Would give you a short low down what I have been reading and what will be coming next. Think of   it as a What are you reading Wednesday, but on Saturday!

Dragonquest by Anne McCaffrey

This is the #2 book in the dragon riders of Pern series. I have done a mini review of this over on Facebook but basically I love it. I gave it an 8/10 because it has an amazing narrative, some quick arse characters and a fantastic fantasy world. Its big down fall is being quite complicated with about double the amount of characters that I feel I can take in to start with. But once I got my head round all the different name I loved it, and I can't wait to get started on the next ones (and I have three of them to read by next Monday if I am to keep Mr Phillips happy!).

No Good Deed by Bill Blais

I was sent this as part of an up and coming blog tour but I couldn't help but sneak in what I thought of sooner. I have done an interview with Bill earlier this month and I was really excited with the promise "My goal is to give readers something they haven't had from the genre to date" (Blais. 2012). He was not wrong, this fantasy is a little bit more grown up, and little bit more complex and a little bit more awesome. Full review to come in July!

The Calling by Kelley Armstrong

This book was part of my Teaser Tuesday this week, when I had only just started it. I am reading a couple of books at the moment, which is the only reason I haven't had time to finish it. Reading a Armstrong book is like coming home, this one is from her YA series Darkness Rising but the style is so easy to read and so familiar that it would be fantastic if she was writing about bin bags. Yet the narrative is also awesome and action packed! The first chapter leads straight on from The Gathering at a staggering pace and the first quarter of the book is so action packed I was left catching my breath! 

The Fault in Our Stars by John Green

This book was lent to me Miss Dombey more than a few weeks about and I hadn't found time to read it. But as it was such a glorious day yesterday I thought that I would leave the Kindle at home for a day and read this instead. My gosh it is such a fast read. I have power through 3/4 of it in less than 24 hours and I am sure I will be done by the end of today. I can tell its going to get emotional but I fear there will be a twist before I reach the end!


What's coming next:

Dragonsong by Anne McCaffrey

Dragonsinger by Anne McCaffrey

Let me know in the comments below what you will be reading this weekend and what is coming up next!

Thanks, as always, for reading,

Love Rie x