“The Fault in Our Stars” by John Green is a heartbreaking contemporary romance woven with the threads of life’s fragility and an abundance of thought-provoking metaphors. The mood of the tale is philosophical and filled to the brim with ideas that only those who perpetually hover at death’s door can uncover. To people with cancer, death is tangible, and so is the terrifying shadow of oblivion.

For two teenagers whose lives were robbed from them at an age when most of us are still savoring the sweetness of adolescence, Augustus “Gus” Waters and Hazel Grace Lancaster have a surprisingly positive outlook on life. The book excels in portraying their internal monologues and their ability to be happy despite having to live out the rest of their lives with cancer. This, though, is just one of the many small things that make the whole so remarkable. The highlight was the buildup to Augustus’s death. We all knew it was coming, but the blow was still devastating. One of the truly worst ways to find out the death of a loved one is through the phone, especially after they have already passed.

Augustus was a wonderful male lead while he was alive, both to the eyes (according to Hazel’s descriptions) and to our insatiable thirst for his colorful metaphors. One of the best parts of the book was his iconic cigarette that he smoked but refused to light, which, according to him, was putting a cancer-causing thing between your teeth but not giving it the power to cause cancer. He will be dearly missed in his journey beyond the mortal dimension.

There is one thing, however, that could be different, despite the minimal role it plays in the story. A major plot point is Augustus and Hazel’s visit to Amsterdam in hopes of meeting Peter Van Houten, the author of “An Imperial Affliction”, a book they both adore. There, they are let down by the revelation that Van Houten was nothing but a drunkard whose book they happened to like (Van Houten has a pretty heartbreaking backstory himself). His assistant, Lidewij Vligenthart, went out of her way more than once to help the young couple accomplish their dreams before it was too late, and though it could be out of the goodness of her heart, it could come across as a bit unexplained and confusing. This detail is extremely minor, and does not affect my perception of this book as a contemporary masterpiece.

I recommend reading this 10/10, it is a page-turner and very suitable for rereads, because people will understand the contents in a different light at different chapters of their lives, and there could not be another book that varies as much across people with differing experiences.