Book Review: The Fault in Our Stars by John Green

The Fault in Our Stars
Author: John Green
Reading Level: Young Adult
Genre: Realistic Fiction | Drama
Released: January 10th 2012
Review Source: Purchased

Now a Major Motion Picture
TODAY Book Club pick
TIME Magazine’s #1 Fiction Book of 2012

"The greatest romance story of this decade." —Entertainment Weekly

-Millions of copies sold-

#1 New York Times Bestseller
#1 Wall Street Journal Bestseller
#1 USA Today Bestseller
#1 International Bestseller
#1 Indie Bestseller

Despite the tumor-shrinking medical miracle that has bought her a few years, Hazel has never been anything but terminal, her final chapter inscribed upon diagnosis. But when a gorgeous plot twist named Augustus Waters suddenly appears at Cancer Kid Support Group, Hazel’s story is about to be completely rewritten.

Insightful, bold, irreverent, and raw, The Fault in Our Stars brilliantly explores the funny, thrilling, and tragic business of being alive and in love.

Hazel Grace Lancaster is intelligent, sophisticated, opinionated, and a sixteen year old lung cancer patient. After attending a support group at “the literal heart of Jesus,” as recommended by her mother and doctor, she meets Agustus Waters. Compassionate, enthusiastic, fearful of oblivion, and an eighteen year old osteosarcoma patient.

This was the first of John Green I’d read, and I was immediately hooked. His characters are well developed and a bit sassy. This story was in no way stereotypical. It was modern, heartfelt, and almost inappropriately hilarious. It gets down to the core of emotion and the love these characters felt for each other. It almost makes you feel as if you actually knew Hazel, Agustus, and Isaac, their best friend.

From comedy to romance, The Fault in our Stars is an easy read that will whittle you down to your most vulnerable self. Timeless and breathtaking.

---

I would like to introduce our newest member on the Once Upon a Twilight review team, my beautiful and talented niece Bianca. Bianca is going to be turning sixteen this December and is a Junior in High School but also attends the local college where she is enrolled in advance classes. All I can say is that I am one proud Aunt!!!

So stay tuned for more amazing reviews from Bianca!

{Sneak Peek} Review: Isla and the Happily Ever After by Stephanie Perkins

---

Isla and the Happily Ever After
Anna and the French Kiss #3
Author: Stephanie Perkins
Reading Level: Young Adult
Genre: Contemporary Romance
Expected Release Date: August 14th 2014
Review Source: Penguin Group

Love ignites in the City That Never Sleeps, but can it last?

Hopeless romantic Isla has had a crush on introspective cartoonist Josh since their first year at the School of America in Paris. And after a chance encounter in Manhattan over the summer, romance might be closer than Isla imagined. But as they begin their senior year back in France, Isla and Josh are forced to confront the challenges every young couple must face, including family drama, uncertainty about their college futures, and the very real possibility of being apart.

Featuring cameos from fan-favorites Anna, Étienne, Lola, and Cricket, this sweet and sexy story of true love—set against the stunning backdrops of New York City, Paris, and Barcelona—is a swoonworthy conclusion to Stephanie Perkins’s beloved series.

Note: This short review is based off a sneak peek which was under 50 pages. 

I was beyond thrilled when asked to read a sneak peek into Perkins next book release due out this August. I am a HUGE fan of the previous companion books. There is just something about Perkins work that immediately connects with you as you are reading. Isla and the Happily Ever After did that in just 40 plus pages. I cried out loud when it finished because I needed to keep going. I already feel attached to the book, Isla and Josh. 

You always get worried how a author will top the last book or that favorite character everyone relates to, well I can tell with Isla she is going to be loved by many and Josh, as mysterious as he is in those few pages, you already like him too. Isla is socially awkward but its just too cute how she is affected by Josh. Can't wait to read the rest and see where Josh and Isla take their "friendship" too. 

And if your wondering how Isla is pronounced, in the book its shows us:

It's Isla (Eye-la) and not Isla (Iz-la).

And Chapter Two was adorable:

"Ohmygod what the hell did I do last night?????????"

Perkins at her finest!

 

---

ANNA AND THE FRENCH KISS will be the Penguin Teen Book Club’s Goodreads pick for the month of June! Follow along as they chat about Steph’s original romance.

Book Tour: Grasshopper Jungle | Andrew Smith | Review | Giveaway

Title: GRASSHOPPER JUNGLE

Author: Andrew Smith

Genre: Young Adult Fiction

Release Date: 2/11/14

Sixteen-year-old Austin Szerba interweaves the story of his Polish legacy with the story of how he and his best friend , Robby, brought about the end of humanity and the rise of an army of unstoppable, six-foot tall praying mantises in small-town Iowa. To make matters worse, Austin's hormones are totally oblivious; they don't care that the world is in utter chaos: Austin is in love with his girlfriend, Shann, but remains confused about his sexual orientation. He is stewing in a self-professed constant state of maximum horniness, directed at both Robby and Shann.

Ultimately, it is up to Austin to save the world and propagate the species in this sci-fright journey of survival, sex, and the complex realities of the human condition.

B&N  | IndieBound | Goodreads  | Amazon

This is the truth. This is history. It’s the end of the world. And nobody knows anything about it. You know what I mean.

As I read through Grasshopper Jungle at one point in the novel I had to stop and wonder what in the world am I reading. As I sat there contemplating the weird craziness that is in this book, I realized that that it didn’t matter because I simply enjoyed reading it. 

Now before I go on to discuss how great this novel is, let me start by saying that this book is not for everybody. I repeat, it is not for everyone. For example, in a letter to the reader, the publisher tells how after reading Andrew Smith’s book, she uses two choice words in a beautifully cast, heartfelt email. She then goes on to say that if one finds her language offensive then this is definitely not the book for you. However, she also goes on to say that every once in a while we need to read a type of book like this and I agree. For me, dealing with school and the many other tiresome activities that teenages go through, Grasshopper Jungle was a sweet and crazy relief.

To describe Andrew Smith’s writing style and the overall outlook of Grasshopper Jungle, I would have to say its sort of like a mixture of John Green and James Patterson. Seriously, with the emotional pulls and heart stopping actions, not to mention some hilarious scenes, I’m truly surprised that this is the first I’ve heard of Andrew Smith. With his crafty and witty writing style Smith develops a story that leaves you scratching your head and wondering what could possibly come next. 

Then comes the characters whose actions and feelings develop an amazing story.  Now about the storyline, simply put, Grasshopper Jungle is a coming of age novel dealing with the end of the world. Of course you can’t just have the normal problems that come with the end of the world , you also have the confusing things like teenage love and all the roller coaster feelings that come with it. So basically this book is a bundle of craziness that will leave you breathless. As I said before though, this novel isn’t for everyone. This book is for the people who need a little weird and craziness in their lives to make everything else just a little bit better.

February 3rd – The Midnight Garden

February 3rd – The Story Siren

February 4th – Good Choice Reading

February 4th ^– Bookish

February 5th – I Read Banned Books

February 5th – Jenna Does Books

February 6th – Bibliophilia, Please

February 6th – Escaping One Book At A Time

February 7th – Scott Reads It

February 7th – Live to Read

February 10^{th –} Alice Marvels

February 10^{th –} The Society

February 11^{th –} Lexi Swoons

February 11^{th –} A Reader of Fictions

February 12^{th –} Roof Beam Reader

February 12^{th –} Forever Young Adult

February 13^{th –} The Compulsive Reader

February 13^{th –} Books and Bling

February 14^{th –} Book Chic Club

February 14^{th –} The QQQE

February 17^{th –} JeanBookNerd

February 17^{th –} Ticket to Anywhere

February 18^{th –} Sleep Eat Read Books

February 18^{th –} Read Now Sleep Later

February 19^{th –} Anna Reads

February 19^{th –} Word Spelunking

February 20^{th –} Books With Bite

February 20^{th –} What A Nerd Girl Says

February 21^{st –} Wastepaper Prose

February 21^{st –} LRB – Guest

February 24^{th –} We Are Word Nerds

February 24^{th –} Cabin Goddess

February 25^{th –} Ex Libris

February 25^{th –} Cari's Book Blog

February 25^{th –} A Good Addiction

February 26^{th –} YA Reads

February 26^{th –} The Young Folks

February 27^{th –} Novel Thoughts

February 27^{th –} Fangirlish

February 28^{th –} Once Upon a Twilight

February 28^{th –} Naughty Book Kitties

Andrew Smith is the award-winning author of several Young Adult novels, including the critically acclaimed Winger (Starred reviews in Publishers Weekly, Kirkus, Booklist, and Shelf Awareness—an Amazon “Best of the Year”) and The Marbury Lens (A YALSA BFYA, and Starred reviews and Best of the Year in both Publishers Weekly and Booklist).

He is a native-born Californian who spent most of his formative years traveling the world. His university studies focused on Political Science, Journalism, and Literature. He has published numerous short stories and articles. Grasshopper Jungle, coming February 11, 2014, is his seventh novel. He lives in Southern California.

Twitter | Facebook | GR | Website

a Rafflecopter giveaway

     

                       

               

Hosted by:

 

Book Review: The Fault in Our Stars by John Green

The Fault in Our Stars
Author: John Green
Reading Level: Young Adult
Genre: Contemporary | Inspirational
Released: January 10th 2012
Review Source: Purchased
Publisher: Dutton Children's

Despite the tumor-shrinking medical miracle that has bought her a few years, Hazel has never been anything but terminal, her final chapter inscribed upon diagnosis. But when a gorgeous plot twist named Augustus Waters suddenly appears at Cancer Kid Support Group, Hazel's story is about to be completely rewritten.

I must begin by saying that my 17 year old daughter Meghan, requested this book for Christmas. She started reading it as soon as she unwrapped it, and finished in a day and a half. Surprisingly, my 13 year old non-reader daughter Payton, read it after her sister, in 2 days. WOW!! That in itself was a HUGE feat and I just knew that I had to read it. I am extremely happy that I did.

The two young characters in this book are Hazel Grace and Augustus Waters. These children both have life threatening, although different types of cancer. Hazel and Augustus are beyond wise, beyond their time, although down to earth, normal life living teens.

The two start off as friends and that friendship turns into one amazing, phenomenal love story. Augustus would do anything for Hazel Grace. He would give his life for her. Augustus knows that the one thing at the top of her list, her dying wish is to meet her favorite author. What Augustus does to make her wish come true is exuberant. It's extraordinary and he thinks of it as just making her happy.

Augustus does what every man who is on love would do. That is to make Hazel Grace happy and to see her smile. I am not going to lie ... This story is heart breaking, yet a heart felt read. I HIGHLY recommend that everyone read it. After you have read it, pass it onto a friend and let them read this beautiful, feel good love story.

If I was able to, this book would be rated a 10 by me. Please read this book, you will be very pleasantly surprised by the intelligence of these children and the incredible love that they feel toward one another. I know that it has been out for quite some time, but I am glad that I finally broke down and read it. I dare say this is my favorite book of 2014. Even though the year has just begun, I must say it's going to be very hard to beat. Well done Mr. Green!!

---

The Fault In Our Stars is a tear jerking story that involves two brilliant teenagers, Hazel Grace and Augustus Waters. Hazel and Grace met in a support group meeting for cancer patients. It was the illness that brought them together and it then grew into a beautiful and powerful romance. Hazel doesn't like to be called Hazel Grace, but accepts it as long as it is Augustus that is saying it.

One of their lives were deprived due to the illness that took control of their body. Augustus's love for Hazel Grace is so strong that he used his only wish to fulfill her life long dream. His wish took them on an adventure to Amsterdam, where they had their first kiss. This is where they realize that what they feel for each other is true love.

Author John Green is brilliant. He writes his characters as very intelligent teenagers. He incorporates real life dilemmas that most people can relate to. The message that John Green portrays is to love the people in your life and not take life too seriously, or for granted. You just never know what tomorrow holds.

This story is so great that I didn't want to put it down and I hated that it was over. The only thing I didn't like was the ending. I needed closure and didn't feel that I received that.

I recommend this book to anyone, young or old. It will capture your heart. Be prepared with a box if tissues because you will need it!!