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| I quite like this illustration. No, this is not the synopsis. I would have grabbed the book immediately if this was the synopsis. Also, this quote kinda sums up the entire book. It is also especially profound in terms of human relationships, as if loving someone means making sure that the other is "okay" And how a simple word can mean much more than the classic "ILY". |
The synopsis on the back of the YA Fiction novel does not do justice for its actual content. Like seriously, I'll be really mad at John Green if he was the one who decide on the synopsis because it's a terrible one. I almost didn't read the book because of it because I thought it was just gonna be some YA romance novel about how two cancer people change each other's lives and that it'll be all emotional and lovey-dovey.
Or maybe, I am falling in the trap of stereotyping cancer-related YA romance novels just by reading the synopsis like how people stereotypically treat cancer teens. If this was his intention, this guy is ingenious and I will start reading his other books because the synopsis of his other books look equally cliche and boring as The Fault in Our Star's.
Back to the book: It's witty, bittersweet and real. Not the melodrama kind of real that producers want people to believe but the kind of real that is imprinted in everyone. It's a simple read that encompasses deep meaning. And, I totally get this book.
*spoiler alert*
I get that Hazel-Grace so badly wants to know the ending to An Imperial Affliction because she knows that once she dies, she'll never know if it'll be a good ending for her parents and so her fear drives the need for her to know the ending to the novel. I get Augustus' sorrow on not being that special person who dies as the rest of the world grieves for the loss of a great person. Like, not being a Nelson Mandela or Ghandi. I get the An Imperial Affliction's concept of death being a side-effect of everything because it reminds me of my own struggle with the overwhelming concept of life,existence and death(Well, until I readily accepted Nichiren Buddhism and its dogma). I totally get it.
I wish I didn't underestimate this book when my friend first introduced the book to me. I wish I'm friends with Hazel-Grace, Augustus and Issac. I wish I read this book sooner. Planning to buy and read the hardcopy cos I think the experience will be vastly different. Planning to watch the movie too. Actually, I started reading the book cos I know Shailene Woodley is gonna be in it. (healthy girl crush of 2014)
I still have like 22 mins left of the audiobook as I am writing this review but I wanted to review it anyway because, does the ending matter that much? Whether or not Hazel-Grace dies by the end of the novel or if her parents get divorced or if Peter Van Houten quits alcohol doesn't really matter because everyone dies eventually and life goes on for many other people(just like how people leave insignificant messages on Gus' wall and carry on with their lives). Everyone is given a chance to live, whether fiction or non-fiction. And I just wanna share a quote from the book(or at least I think it went like this; tried googling but I guess no one found this quote significant): "Cancer is just trying to survive".
