The Fault in Our Stars by John Green

The Fault in Our Stars by John Green

So I read this. Apparently, it’s the white chick book of the year, so I obv I totes just had to read it! (Side note: just woke up in the pic and finished the last few chapters, so excuse the Elvis hair. Also, I’ve become a massively fat blob sooooo… I gotta work on that.) It was a quick, easy and enjoyable read. Overall, I’d say it’s definitely a good book, but I don’t know if it warrants all the hype. And I’m not sure if it’s just me, but it didn’t quite find myself crying, let alone drowning in sorrow. Perhaps the movie will have a different affect on me.

If you don’t know, the fictitious story centers around Hazel and Augustus, two young folks with cancer. They’re both offbeat and quirky in all the ways that make you like them. Their real charm stems from their minds, though. Both of them are insatiable ponderers. Both are quick-witted and funny. And neither is scared to bring up dark and challenging realities of a cancer-laden life. It’s this combinations, in my opinion, which gives this book real value.

This book doesn’t just talk about a cute little heart-warming mushy gushy love story (it’s actually not that bad heheheh). It’s not even just a book about cancer and how it affects everyone involved. It’s a book that examines human nature. Or at least the nature of some humans. Sure, the main characters are a bit strange, but that’s only on the surface.  In the end, I think they aren’t so different from many of us. Once the reader comes to realize this, the book instantly begins to challenge him to critic his own outlook on life.

I won’t say this book is necessarily life-changing. I won’t even say it’s amazing. But I enjoyed it, and I think there are many valuable lessons to be learned from it.

The Perks of Being a Wallflower by Stephen Chbosky

The Perks of Being a Wallflower by Stephen Chbosky

This is a book I heard about a while ago, back in high school, I think. A few of my friends had spoken highly of it, but I wasn’t really “into reading” back then. I had forgotten about it until recently when a friend brought up its writing style. Since I’m trying to read more often, I decided to choose this as my next book, despite not knowing really what it was about.

The story is told from the perspective of a high school freshman named Charlie. Charlie writes letters to an unnamed friend, and these letters make up the entire book. I had never read a book formatted in this way, so I was not used to it at first. Actually, I was expecting (and hoping) the letters would stop and the book would return to “normal”, but eventually I accepted that the whole book would be written this way. Ironically, I soon began to appreciate and enjoy the letters.

Charlie is a very unique kid. He’s a combination of naive, honest, emotional and extremely descriptive. He’s the kind of kid you might have avoided in high school (he’s kind of strange, to be honest), but at the same time, he’s also the kind of kid you would have been very grateful to have as a friend.

It’s easy to become emotionally attached with this weird little guy. I definitely did, and it was great. When he reached an emotional high, I felt happy for him. When he struggled, I wholeheartedly hoped that things would start looking up for him. Suddenly, I knew this kid so well that I really did feel like his friend.

The story is both familiar and foreign, complex and simple. From the surface, the story takes on many forms: a high school outcast finds friends, a family struggles with the past, a boy learns who he really is. I find myself able to relate to many aspects of the story, while others I have never even imagined. This ever-present tension creates a reading experience full of anxious intrigue. I found myself often times wondering what would happen next, only to realize that I had gone through a very similar situation.

At its core, though, this is a story simply about life. Though Charlie may be a little different than most of the readers, he experiences things common to most everyone. The true gift that Charlie has to offer is his attitude. He dwells on things that most people would never even consider. He perceives the world differently, but I would argue it is for the better. He challenges the reader to criticize their own outlook on life, and that is a powerful achievement.