A GIF Journey Through TFiOS

Allow me to present you with...

My Journey Through The Fault in Our Stars

When my collector's edition of TFiOS came in the mail:

Reading first few pages on the subway:

 

(#truestory... unfortunately)

Which quickly changed to:

 

Nicely put, John Green. You make a good point. Never saw it like that before.

Please have my babies, etc.

Followed by:

 

Aww!

But...

THEN...

...

And all I can do to KEEP ON LIVING IS

And think...

But it doesn't matter because by the end of the book:

/ the end /

Check out my review of the book here!

But seriously. Nothing I can say will adequately express the SHEER EPICNESS of this book, other than: GO READ IT. NOW.

Review: The Fault in Our Stars

Title: The Fault in Our Stars
Author: John Green
Part of a series? Nope
Publisher: Dutton Books
Release Date: January 10th, 2012
Length: 313 pgs (hardcover)
Genre: YA contemporary
Source: Limited Collector's Edition (purchased with own money)

Diagnosed with Stage IV thyroid cancer at 13, Hazel was prepared to die until, at 14, a medical miracle shrunk the tumours in her lungs... for now.

Two years post-miracle, sixteen-year-old Hazel is post-everything else, too; post-high school, post-friends and post-normalcy. And even though she could live for a long time (whatever that means), Hazel lives tethered to an oxygen tank, the tumours tenuously kept at bay with a constant chemical assault.

Enter Augustus Waters. A match made at cancer kid support group, Augustus is gorgeous, in remission, and shockingly to her, interested in Hazel. Being with Augustus is both an unexpected destination and a long-needed journey, pushing Hazel to re-examine how sickness and health, life and death, will define her and the legacy that everyone leaves behind.

Opening Line:

Late in the winter of my seventeenth year, my mother decided I was depressed, presumably because I rarely left the house, spent quite a lot of time in bed, read the same book over and over, ate infrequently, and devoted quite a bit of my abundant free time to thinking about death. 

That sentence is SO Hazel. Green nailed her voice perfectly. And right off the bat, I know what kind of a girl she is: sarcastic, funny, and rather mature for her age.

SQUEE-worthy: Let's see... where do I start!? When a book is centered around teens dealing with cancer (or as Hazel would call it, "a cancer book about cancer kids"), you expect a lot of maudlin moments, tearjerky stuff, etc. But this book... Oh, it was so much more. It was full of humor, heart, and a profundity that was both deep yet somehow flawed -- which really made it seem all the more believable that a teenager, albeit a smart one, is narrating the story. And that's another thing: the narrator. Hazel. But not just her either: Augustus, Peter Van Houten, even Lidewij Vliegenthart! All the characters BURST with life! Never mind leaping off the page; it was like they were literally in the room with me, sulking and frolicking and bantering and flooring me with their all-consuming AWESOMENESS. In just 313 pages, John Green managed to make me feel emotionally and personally invested in his characters, and that's really saying something. Only J.K. Rowling has managed to do that for me in the past, and she had a lot more pages to work with.

"Meh" Moments: There were none. Even during the most mundane scene (e.g. Hazel watching TV), I am totally engrossed as the reader (which is kind of weird now that I think about it. I mean, how does John Green manage to make a fictional character watching bad television INTERESTING??) Bottom line: Not a single dull moment in this entire book. There will, however, be plenty of LOL and gut-wrenching Kleenex moments, so be prepared.

For fans of: John Green, Sarah Dessen, Jay Asher, and Sara Zarr.

Buy or Borrow? If there's one book you should buy this year, it's this one. Buy it HERE, or HERE, or HERE if you want the limited collector's edition -- which I recommend because it includes a Q&A with John Green and a snazzy silver cover.

Let's chat!

Have you read John Green's The Fault in Our Stars? (If yes, nerdfighter or casual reader? If not, what are you waiting for?? Go out there and get this book!!)

Review: Looking for Alaska

Title: Looking for Alaska
Author: John Green
Part of a series? Nope
Publisher: Dutton Juvenile
Release Date: January 1st, 2005
Length: 221 pgs (hardcover)
Genre: YA contemporary
Source: Library e-book

Before. Miles "Pudge" Halter's whole existence has been one big nonevent, and his obsession with famous last words has only made him crave the "Great Perhaps" (François Rabelais, poet) even more. Then he heads off to the sometimes crazy, possibly unstable, and anything-but-boring world of Culver Creek Boarding School, and his life becomes the opposite of safe. Because down the hall is Alaska Young. The gorgeous, clever, funny, sexy, self-destructive, screwed-up, and utterly fascinating Alaska Young, who is an event unto herself. She pulls Pudge into her world, launches him into the Great Perhaps, and steals his heart. After. Nothing is ever the same.

Opening Line:

The week before I left my family and Florida and the rest of my minor life to go to boarding school in Alabama, my mother insisted on throwing me a going-away party. 

Now, while that isn't an especially thrilling/exciting first sentence, it certainly says a lot about the narrator, Pudge, and the kind of guy he is. And since the book revolves around Pudge and his experiences, I'd say that's a pretty spot-on statement!

SQUEE-worthy: Alaska. Alaska, Alaska, Alaska. No, not the place, the PERSON. She's no literary character; the way Green has portrayed her, she's like a living, breathing human being. And what a girl! No wonder Pudge is hopelessly in love with her! But it's not just Alaska either. From Pudge to Takumi, the whole cast of characters in Looking for Alaska throbs with life! Their relationships, their conversations with each other, their wants and dreams and woes--Green has captured and distilled the very essence of teenagehood (teenagedom?) and even what it means to be alive. And subsequently what it means to be dead.

"Meh" Moments: It's not so much a "meh" moment as it is a tiny twinge of disappointment. My expectations for this book were stacked high--like, SKY high--before reading it, and to be fair, Looking for Alaska had won a lot of awards, including the Printz and the ALA Teens' Top Ten. But alas, it fell short for me. I mean, everything was great in the beginning; there was so much tension, and it was building, building, building. BUT THEN, the "After" portion of the book struck--the pivotal moment I've been waiting for as the reader--and after a few minutes of initial exhilaration as my eyes whizzed through the page... the tension died. Literally just flat-lined. Honestly, the second half was rather disappointing. I mean, it's probably my fault for going into a book with such high expectations, but I expected more: more mystery, more tragedy, more twists and turns and all that good stuff, just... more. Instead, I just kept thinking, "Okay. That was a good book. But it wasn't that GREAT." And that, my friends, is a reaction no writer wants to evoke.

For fans of: Stephen Chbosky's The Perks of Being a Wallflower, Ned Vizzini's It's Kind of a Funny Story.

Buy or Borrow? Definitely read it. Green's insights on life and death alone are worth a read. But unless the ENTIRE story really resounds with you, I'd say it's a solid Borrow.

Let's Chat!

What do you think of Looking for Alaska? YA masterpiece or so-so story?

Top Ten Tuesday: 10 New-to-Me Authors

So I was lurking around some awesome blogs (*ahem-ahem*) when I stumbled onto this:

Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly meme created by the folks over at The Broke and the Bookish. The idea is to put up a top ten list and share it with other bloggers. This week's list topic is:

Top Ten New-to-Me Authors I Read in 2012

(in no particular order)

1. Veronica Roth. One word: Divergent. I couldn't put it down. The plot and pacing sucked me in from the very beginning. A masterful debut for such a sweet, down-to-earth young author!


2. Kate Morton. I can't believe I only discovered Ms. Morton now. The Distant Hours is hands-down the most beautifully crafted book I've ever read. Why do I say "crafted"? Because not only is Ms. Morton a wonderful writer (her descriptions are so vivid, I could taste them), but there are so many twists and turns in that book, my head was spinning by the time I was done with it--in a GOOD way.


3. Laini Taylor. Ms. Taylor is a testament to all readers and writers everywhere that YA books can feature top-notch writing. Daughter of Smoke and Bone took my breath away: from the striking characters, to the stunning backdrop of Prague, to the heart-wrenching romance, Karou's story is forever emblazoned in my heart.


4. Rae Carson. Elisa from The Girl of Fire and Thorns, Ms. Carson's debut novel, won me over completely; her transformation was incredible, and most of all, believable. I also loved that Carson wasn't afraid to portray faith in all its fullness, especially Elisa's reliance on God through heartfelt prayer.


5. Marissa Meyer. Oh, she of the innovative ideas! From the cyborg Cinderella to the unique choice of setting (futuristic Beijing, anyone?), Cinder blew my imagination out the water.


6. Leigh Bardugo. Three cheers for fantasy stories that do NOT take place in medieval European kingdoms! Shadow and Bone took place in a distinctly Russian setting and was all the more rich and vibrant for it. The villain in this book is also extremely superb.


7. Kristin Cashore. When I found out Ms. Cashore wrote her stories by hand (by HAND, people!) and then transcribed them onto her computer via voice recognition software, my jaw dropped. Literally, dropped. For one thing, that just shows her dedication to her craft. And for another, Graceling, her debut fantasy, was such an intricately woven story that I can't even fathom the amount of thought and work that went behind it. God bless this woman. Seriously.


8. Susan Dennard. I first stumbled upon Ms. Dennard from NaNoWriMo; she was one of the published authors who was participating in the event. Not only did she answer people's questions with a thoughtfulness that I found refreshing, but her writing was RIDIKKULUS GOOD. (Yes, it's so good, it warranted slang-spelling). After all, very few authors would attempt something as insane(ly awesome) as mixing steampunk and zombies.


9. G.K. Chesterton. The man who contributed to C.S. Lewis's conversion to Christianity. I really wasn't expecting him to have a sense of humor, but Chesterton is HILARIOUS. Before you make up your mind about Jesus or even after your mind's been made up, go read The Everlasting Man. You can thank me later.


10. John Green. I know. I've been living under a rock. But better late than never, right?

Who are some authors you've discovered this year?