I think it's pretty hard to find someone who hasn't read (or at least heard of) this story or seen its film adaptation that came out in theaters fairly recently. It's created quite the buzz! (Now I can see why "Okay? Okay." is posted everywhere online! Insanely sweet.) Initially, I'd discovered this title on a list of book-to-film adaptations that would be coming out in 2014 (I found the list late in 2013). Honestly, I skipped right over this one. Cancer kids? Someone's going to die. I don't need to bawl like a baby while reading a book (though there are several times I can name where that has happened before). The movie came out and I was a bit tempted to pick up the book, but none more so when my boyfriend shocked my by saying -- out of the blue -- that he wanted to see this movie. I was flabbergasted. This was probably the one movie that I didn't even attempt to ask him to accompany me to. (Backstory: His father passed away from cancer a few years before I met my boyfriend. I never knew his dad, but the two of them were extremely close.) I didn't think asking him to see a cancer movie was the kind thing to do. I will add, however, that the movie only came up because my boyfriend told me he might want to go to the $5 movie night at our local theater alone. I asked why and what movie. He responded with this film and that he wanted to go alone because he might cry (because a twenty-something man sitting alone in a theater, crying, is a lot less sad than a guy doing it sitting next to his girlfriend?). I told him that I would love to go with him and that I'd never thought to ask him because of the subject matter. We still haven't gone, but I was kind of waiting to read the book before I saw the film. Now that that has been accomplished, I suppose we're going to the movie soon!
I borrowed this book from a coworker who had to read it for her book club. I had no idea when I'd get to it. I'm so swamped with work and school. It feels like forever since I've read a book for pleasure (looking back on the amount of book reviews I've done since this blog started, there's a very interesting trend of a decrease in the amount of reading as college started and I got more absorbed with my studies). She said I could have the book as long as it took me to read it, which, I thought, would take months, if I didn't get to read it on my upcoming girls' trip to NOLA. However, we happened to have NO plans for the 4th of July this year (yesterday), and I was able to sit on the deck and read (thanks to my awesome Walmart find: Bistro patio set for $25!). The dogs chilled on the deck with me and I got to soak up some sun while enjoying the first book-for-pleasure I'd enjoyed in a really long time. Needless to say, the last thing I expected to do was FINISH THE BOOK! Even with endless interruptions (i.e. I had a sick puppy, preparing our shish kabobs and grilling them for lunch/dinner, etc.) I still managed to finish the book in about 12 hours! I cannot tell you how awesome it felt to do a reading marathon. That's not something I've done in years! I think this book was a perfect one to do that with. I loved the characters. They were witty and wry and cynical (not to the point of annoying, though). It was difficult not to fall for Augustus (Gus) and the literary nerd in me really enjoyed his obsession with metaphors. Hazel was intelligent and interesting as well. I thought I might not like her at first -- she's portrayed almost abrasively in the first chapter or so -- but she definitely grew on me. I have to say that I predicted the plot twist even a few chapters into reading about Gus and Hazel's budding romance. This, however, didn't detract from my enjoyment of the book. This really is a true love story and I have not read as good a romance as this in a very long time. (I will say that I didn't bawl like so many other readers have. The story was beautiful and so lovingly, eloquently written, but I just didn't sob. I did tear up a bit, but nothing drastic. Maybe I have become a bit too jaded!)
As far as readability goes, the words flowed extremely well and the dialogue was interesting. There's quite a bit of vocabulary that I think will be over the heads of most of this book's intended teen audience, but I appreciated it. I can see why it's appealed to such a broad range of readers. Now, as far as the maturity level of the audience, I think this book is definitely for a high school audience. My friend is a middle school teacher and I'm fairly certain this was one of the books she saw her students reading. Also, my cousin just turned 12 in May and she read this book around that time. While she loved it (she said she cried at the end of their end-of-year tests while she finished the book) and she is an excellent reader with a broad vocabulary for her age, I think some of this material is just not something she should have been exposed to just yet. There's sex (implied, but they do mention a condom and getting naked), and a lot of very deep discussion about death and dying. While I feel like today's kids are a lot more exposed to all of this than even I was in the '90s, a line should be drawn. Yes, it's a very good book, but there's a reason that so many people sob while reading it -- there's a reason it's so tragically touching. I'm not yet a parent of a pre-teen so don't think I'm trying to tell you what to do, I'm just trying to be honest when I say, "If you have a pre-teen who wants to read this book, be prepared for one of several things. Either tell them 'no' and wait a few years until they're in high school (they'll be better able to understand the vocabulary used and they probably would have already had 'the talk' and be a bit more mature and better able to handle such subject matter), or read it with them/before they do (which will help you decide whether or not it's appropriate for your child) and then at least you'll know exactly what they're reading and can prepare some answers for some questions I'm sure they'll have." I know I fully intend on being the kind of parent who will pre-read books for her kids -- not to censure them, but to prepare myself to answer questions they might have.
I recommend this book for adults and (appropriately prepared and mature) young-adults alike. Green's writing is vivid and alive. I've not had to live with cancer (knock on wood), but from having my own serious medical issues, I can say that Green's descriptions of who chronic patients feel are spot on. I highly recommend this book (for the right readers). Now I suppose I've got to see the movie -- maybe my boyfriend and I can cry together!
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