I avoided reading John Green’s Fault in Our Stars for a very long while, though I was curious as to what all the fuss was about.

I have a cousin who was diagnosed with leukemia when she eight years old, and so I refused to read another “depressing cancer book.” But when I finally gave in, I realized the reason the book is so beloved is because it isn’t a “depressing cancer book.”

This is what I loved:

CAST

The cast was fantastic. Shailene Woodley (Hazel Grace) and Ansel Elgort (Augustus Waters) were fantastic, and had great chemistry.

I was worried at first, because, as we all know, Woodley and Elgort are siblings in the movie adaptation of Veronica Roth’s Divergent. But both actors have the talent to make their audience forget they aren’t actually the characters they’re portraying.

It was so satisfying to see Gus come to life and to hear him say, “It’s a metaphor, see?”

And I’ve got to give props to Willem Dafoe, who was the perfect Van Houten.

TONE

We all knew this would be a tough one. Was it possible for the producers to convey the same lighthearted yet profound tone of Green’s book? The answer is a resounding yes.

The movie was equal parts funny, emotional, touching, and spirited.

Hazel, the narrator of Fault in Our Stars, does not believe in sugar coating. And so it was raw and inspiring. The movie is a tearjerker, of course, but in the best possible way. Life is short, and so we must not be afraid to love and to be loved.

ALSO…

Loved that John Green was so involved with the production of the film. I think it’s incredible that he was given a part in transitioning his characters and their story from print to the screen.

If you’ve read the book but haven’t seen the movie, SEE IT. If you’ve seen the movie but haven’t read the book, READ IT.

What were your thoughts??