“The Fault in Our Stars” was released over two years ago. It was popular in 2012, and unfortunately, due to the release of the film, people who only read books that are adapted into movies are bringing back the craze.
Everywhere you go, someone is reading it. You get on Twitter, someone is tweeting about Augustus Waters. You go to a book store, and there is a whole table dedicated to this young adult cult novel. The country is acting like this has been the only book released to the world in the past decade.
I cannot wrap my head around why people of all ages are obsessing over this story. Yeah, I read it and saw the movie. Yes, I cried for the last 100 pages and the last hour of the movie. But when it was done, I was done. I put the book down, left the movie theater, moved on with my life.
There are so many great books that have affected me, and this is not one. There are millions and millions of books in this world, and this is the one to which we choose to flock? Anyone with a fifth grade education could read this. It doesn’t cause you to think, it doesn’t strike up any emotions except sadness, it doesn’t portray any sort of relationship a sane human being would want to be in. “The Fault in Our Stars” is completely sub-par.
The story is exceedingly depressing. Many say the story portrays real life and our struggle, but I just don’t see it. Life is not like this at all, nor do I want it to be. I don’t want someone to tell me “OK” instead of the dozens of other words you could use to express affection.
Why are you saying you want a boy like Augustus Waters? First of all, he is a fictional male who plays too many video games, says sweet things every now and then, and sends occasionally witty text messages. Secondly, he dies. He actually dies, and you are left alone. Though Hazel Grace looks happy and strong at the end of the story, it shuts off before you can see what she has to deal with for the rest of her days. Most people in this situation would be prescribed a hefty dose of Prozac to be able to keep trucking through life.
My biggest problem with this franchise is the movie adaptation. They barely showed any affection between Hazel Grace and Augustus, which, in a love story, is a bit odd. The movie portrayed their relationship’s growth through images of them texting back and forth, with cheesy hand-drawn text clouds constantly popping up on the screen. The book also at least portrayed the characters going to each other’s homes all the time and some interaction with their families. The last thing the herd of 14-year-old girls seeing this movie needs is to believe texting is going to create this great, tragic love story.
At the end of the day, if you want to read a book that you could finish in a couple days on the beach, or, if you want to clean out your tear ducts, you can accomplish that with “The Fault in Our Stars.” If you want to obsess over a morbidly depressing young adult novel, you should face reality and perhaps see a therapist. Please, I beg you, read better literature and stop looking to John Green as Jesus.
Rachel Wilson is a junior accountancy major from Tupelo.
