Genre: Young Adult
Author: John Green
Release Date: January 2012

I first read a work by John Green when I chanced upon this quote from his book Looking for Alaska:

I wanted so badly to lie down next to her on the couch, to wrap my arms around her and sleep. Not fuck, like in those movies. Not even have sex. Just sleep together in the most innocent sense of the phrase. But I lacked the courage and she had a boyfriend and I was gawky and she was gorgeous and I was hopelessly boring and she was endlessly fascinating. So I walked back to my room and collapsed on the bottom bunk, thinking that if people were rain, I was drizzle and she was hurricane.

From that point, I was hooked and immediately ran to my favorite bookstore to grab a copy. I finished the entire thing in four hours, a record for me. Then I heard that another book is about to be released, The Fault In Our Stars. I had to get it right away and I was not anywhere near the vicinity of thinking about being disappointed.

The Fault in Our Stars highlights the life of two teenagers with cancer, Augustus and Hazel. For an already tragic-sounding storyline, you’d think that this book would talk about the glory of death. On the contrary, it doesn’t. John Green takes you to a rollercoaster (“that only goes up”) of living life to the fullest and finding your infinities in the moment.

It was such a grave mistake to read this book at a time when work felt too daunting for me, as I ended up semi-bawling in my cubicle, trying to contain the tears brought about by the magnificent and simplistic writing by John Green.

Maybe it’s unusual for some to have a twenty-something read a young adult book, but you see the author does not write for ordinary young adults. John Green infuses philosophy, critical thinking and almost a sense of self-affirmation and self-realization that most adults lose sight of every once in a while. John Green treats his readers as smart and insightful thinkers; he moves you through Hazel then to Augustus, flowing through Isaac and even Dave, the brother-in-law.

The book is nothing short of magnificent. It delivers as much as it has promised, if not more. You need not be a young adult to appreciate this book. It is a great buy and an even more rewarding read. I strongly suggest that you go grab a copy (or leave a comment if you intend to borrow mine), and be enamored by the characters and the Lonely, Vaguely Pedophilic Swing Set Seeks the Butts of Children.