SPOILER ALERT!

A 16 year-old Hazel is terminally ill with thyroid cancer. In one of support group sessions, she meets Augustus Waters, a 17 year –old who is in remission from osteosarcoma. Although  at first she is reluctant to get close with Augustus (fearing she might leave him dead someday), they eventually fall in love with each other and begin a relationship.

I have to admit that this is not the kind of book that I usually would want to read. Reading about someone who has cancer and struggle to live in pain can be unbearably sad for me. But one day I accompanied my mom to go to a bookstore and stumbled upon this eye-catching book. Forget about don’t judge a book by its cover thing, I’ve always been drawn to an interesting looking book (much like boys who get interested in a girl for the look for the first time, isn’t it?). Then I saw that its author is John Green, a name that has been familiar to me. I’d planned to read An Abundance of Katherines, so I think I might as well read this. I checked the rating in Goodreads, and in no time this book made its way to the cashier counter.

It turned out that it wasn’t a wrong decision. Despite the sad story, I find myself like the book. The relationship between Hazel and Gus is just charming. Their everyday interactions are somehow sweet and lovable. No grand actions (except the time Gus uses his wish to take Hazel to Amsterdam), but I find myself melted in the simplicity of their gestures and their communications. How they talk, joke, and mock each other. Green didn’t use big words to make a heartfelt quotes, he just used simple words in the right moment. And he inserted some good humors here and there. Good touch.

I despise sad endings, but this is an exception (the ending is not just sad, it’s heartbreakingly sweet). I guess that would be my words to describe this book: sweet, heartbreaking, and memorable.