Promised myself to finish this before I leave Aklan. And hey, I did it!

Date finished: May 5, 2013

I really want to make a review that will contain all my feelings during and after reading this extraordinary novel by John Green. I guess I will not find the right words to describe everything. I don’t know where to start. I think it’s because, “My thoughts are stars I cannot fathom into constellations.” 

This is my first John Green novel and whoa it’s amazing. It’s unforgettable. 

Hazel is a strong cancer patient/survivor/patient. She’s just like a normal teenager. Oh, sometimes she’s not - clever, funny, smart, enjoys reading. She met Augustus at Cancer Kid Support Group. This is a weird love story of joy, hope, living, dying, remembering and more. I never imagined a cancer-related novel to be this good and not mournful or too painful (like My Sister’s Keeper). I wanna met someone like Augustus. Not the cancer-patient Augustus, because I don’t want him to leave me like he did to Hazel, to his family and his friends. I want the Augustus who granted Hazel’s wish to meet her favorite author, he who worriedly watched her in the ICU, who brought her to Funky Bones to have a picnic, who’s smart and very interesting, who loved Hazel like they aren’t waiting for their deaths, like they’ll live forever. Hazel, I understood that you didn’t want to fall for Augustus because he’ll be another casualty in case of your death. You don’t want to hurt anybody through your death. But I like you because you allowed yourself to choose love over death without falling in love. You’ve let Augustus love you, and loved him back. 

Van Houten reminds me of Haymitch, both alcoholic and mad because they lost someone very dear to their hearts. Van Houten is a great writer because his basis for An Imperial Affliction is his life, his daughter, her death. We’re all excited to meet our favorite authors but we don’t know what are the stories behind their wonderful stories. 

Nicholas Sparks wrote about men who joined the army falling in love, long distance relationships, love letters.

Veronica Roth created a series about a futuristic Chicago, nation divided into factions, nobody should be different.

John Green gave us The Fault in our Stars, the undying love of dying Augustus and Hazel, hopeful people in a hopeless place of disease.

Why? 

This book is perfect. Mixed with humor and joy. 

I’ll give it 4.99 stars. I kind of predicted that Augustus would die (after reading about Augustus’ ex dying, I said, “feeling ko this time siya naman”) but no, I don’t want Gus to die. I didn’t. But that’s the sad fact, the painful truth. Life’s like that. Or maybe, dying is like that. Nobody can’t stop it. Sometimes, I think they’re lucky - they know their expiration date. Sometimes, I think they’re too unlucky - they have to undergo painful things to survive. Maybe they’re right, there’s no way to survive (because “we will not survive forever”). Doctors are just doing their tasks to extend the lives of their cancer patients but not heal them completely. Because in that war, cancer won/will win and we’re trained to expect that and accept it. But inside us, we build hope. Cancer can make people stronger, and cancer can make people weak.

This book made me realize more the strength of cancer patients, their families trying to forget that their loved ones are suffering so that they can give them normal lives, and their lovers.

This book is exceptional.

BTW, thanks to Mikko Gruspe for this copy.