The Fault in Our Stars by John Green

The Fault in Our Stars

The fault, dear Brutus, is not in our stars

But in ourselves

Yes, you’re probably right. The Fault in Our Stars is not just any typical cheesy romance story that you come across on Wattpad every day. It’s not some cliché teen fiction where two teens fall for each other at first sight and they live happily ever after. In this book, there is no happily ever after. Well, maybe there is. The Fault in Our Stars is the first and latest cancer book I’ve read, and unlike other books, it did not exactly sympathize cancer patients on the whole, but it treated cancer as if it weren’t a bad thing. Well, that’s probably thinking on the optimistic side of everything. Before I read this book, I’ve never thought that some patients didn’t want to be sympathized. Not that I’ve never been a patient in a hospital before. I’ve got my bones on the arm broken, but that was all. It was fixed and it’s good now.

People often stereotyped cancer patients as dull people who did not have an optimistic view of life, and I quote, a ‘side effect of dying’. Or rather, emo people who wanted to end their life, and they deserved more special attention. It has never occurred to me that those people, they just want to be treated like a normal person sometimes.

I’ve never known about cancer much. I only know that it’s what you call when there’s abnormal cell divide inside your body. That was in biology. I’ve never met a person with cancer. My piano teacher got a benign tumor and that’s it. Right now you’re probably wondering, what is this book about? It’s a teen fiction story about two star-crossed lovers, namely Hazel Grace Lancaster and Augustus Waters. At this point, I’m going to stop and tell you why they’re ‘star-crossed’. Hazel is a sixteen-year-old who has Thyroid cancer with metastasis forming in her lungs and Gus is a seventeen-year-old, a former basketball player who lost his leg to osteosarcoma. They fall in love.

No, not that fast. They met at a cancer support group, where Gus was NEC- no evidence of cancer and Hazel still had cancer. After Hazel got better, Gus’s osteosarcoma developed again and later Gus died. Which basically sums up everything.

What surprised me most was that Hazel did not break down when Gus died. Sure, she was sad, angry and unhappy, but I thought that she dealt with the whole situation really well. She didn’t break down mentally and leave a scar on her heart. She understood the whole situation very thoroughly. What I thought about this book, despite all the good comments, was that some of it was quite hard to read and to understand, especially the conversation between Hazel and Gus. 

 ♥♡♥♡♥♡♥♡♥

Karen

The Maze Runner by James Dasher

The Maze Runner

This book is an exciting adventure story book which does not consists, or need much literature elements. The main plot is well-thought. It is about a time when people were suffering a disease called the ‘Flare’, and a group of evil scientists who wanted to change the human habits working on a zone called the Glade, where young intelligent ‘players’ are put in, to solve the Maze and find the way to get out. Then the scientists could work out their brain process, and how they used the brain element of perseverance and determination. The main character was Thomas. He was the second last to be sent to the Glade, who later figured out that he helped to design the Glade, with the last Glader Teresa (the first female Glader, when they were really young. Little by little, their determination to get back to the real world guided them to solving the maze puzzle and leaving the maze. It was already 2 years’ time before they got out of the Maze. There were a lot of characters. A lot of them were Gladers. Some of them include Alby, the leader, Minho, an Asian who was a Runner, and helped to figure out the Maze. There were also Chuck, a loyal friend of Thomas’ who died saving him. The thing that made this book memorable is the undying friendship between Thomas and Chuck. 

At first, Thomas felt that Chuck was really annoying. But then, he eventually found out that he needed a friend in order to survive in this place, optimistic. So he accepted Chuck as his friend, where both of them were very needy of a close friend. Although Chuck was sometimes too talkative and annoying, he felt that he always had a companion that listened to him, one that understood him. At the end, the bond between them was so great that Chuck died saving Thomas, and when Thomas found out that he had broke his promise of taking Chuck back home, he broke into tears. He doesn’t realize until then how he treasured Chuck as a friend, and how much brotherhood was between them. I think this is a very true description of our real lives, like how you don’t know that something actually means so much to you until they go away, and you feel you’re too late to treasure the bond between.

I must admit that at first, the plot was not very well explained, but the good thing is that you have a lot of questions in store but when it comes to the middle of the book, BANG!, everything is solved in a matter of a few seconds. Somehow how much this book leaves unexplained, left open, helps you think in many different ways. At first, I think a lot of readers would ask the same question as I did, ‘what is the maze?’, or ‘how do people become gladers’. At this point, the climax builds up and for me, this is the best part of the book, which can be describe as ‘unputdownable’. At the end, the big resolution of meeting the Creators of the maze, when the horrific yet tense end of the story, Ben trying to kill Thomas.

I think it would even create a tenser effect if Thomas really died, because that would be quite of a shock if the main character dies. Other than friendship, there is no one single theme circulating the story, and thinking of this, the story is very useless and not meaningful, except for the friendship part you might have squeezed out of the tight content. The problem with this book is that it is much more of a mere story, which only entertains you but does not improve your English. This is a science fiction book which uses very mild vocabulary throughout is a good example. So if you are looking for literature books, do not choose this book. But if you are planning to choose a book for light reading, this will probably be your choice.

 ♥♡♥♡♥♡♥♡♥

Karen

Note: Wrote this two years ago, thought I'd add it here.

10 Most Anticipated Books 2015

Our Library Corner's 10 Most Anticipated Books 2015


January

27th- I Was Here by Gayle Forman

February

3rd- Invaded by Melissa Landers (Alienated #2)

10th- The Ruby Circle by Richelle Mead (Bloodlines #6)

March

10th- Confess by Colleen Hoover

April

7th- Miss Mayhem by Rachel Hawkins (Rebel Belle #2)

May

5th- A Court of Thorns and Roses by Sarah J. Maas (A Court of Thorns and Roses #1)

5th- The Heir by Keira Cass (The Selection #4)

12th- End of Days by Susan Ee (Peryn & the End of Days #3)

September

8th- Sweet Temptation by Wendy Higgins (The Sweet Trilogy #4)

November 

10th- Winter by Marissa Meyer (The Lunar Chronicles #4)

Eleanor & Park by Rainbow Rowell

Eleanor & Park

'You can be Han Solo,' he said, kissing her throat. 'And I'll be Boba Fett. I'll cross the sky for you.' 

Hmm. What should I say about this book? Everyone says Rainbow Rowell is just the best author ever and I can totally understand why they think so. But to me, this book was… well, it was beautiful and awkward. 

Eleanor & Park is a heart-wrenching, flawless romance, one about a pair of star-crossed lovers, both teenagers unaccepted by peers. Slowly they build their friendship through their love for comic books and hobbies, which develops into a romantic relationship.

I thought it was beautifully written, and instead of there being a popular guy and an outcast, this story was about two outcasts, which has already stated its difference from other books. Other than that, it showed us the raw side of love and romance- if it's true love, no matter what the other person does, you still love them. In Eleanor & Park's case, it was true love. True, raw, love. 

The book also deals with real-life problems, such as teenagers having to live up to their parent's expectations but always failing to do so, bullying and labelling at school, first love, friendship, and abusive parental relationships. This is as true as a book can get.

In terms of language, although it was plainly written from a third person's point of view, the author did not use cliche words that were often overused in contemporary literature. The plainness of the story showed readers how pure love can be, resulting in a beautiful, direct romance story, capturing the hearts of adolescents as they walk on their rites of passage through love, and on the other hand acknowledging the labelling, the difficulties of fitting into the 'crowd', makes the book as true as it can get. 

So what did the 'awkward' part of this book come from? Well, basically all of it was awkward. I have to admit this, but I didn't like Eleanor- not even a little bit. I was beginning to feel the connection with Park in the middle of the book but for Eleanor? None. Maybe it was because she was always a little skeptical of Tina and Park's non-existent relationship, maybe it was because of her physical description, maybe it was because of the fanart I saw from the web. I'm not sure, but I just- didn't like Eleanor and didn't feel a connection with her. Park was also very awkward. One of the reasons why I gave up this book about a month ago after reading a few pages, was that Park was Korean and very a awkward person.

I'm glad that I decided to pick this book up again, because it was one of the truest romance I've ever read, not to mention that it was the most awkward relationship I've ever read in a book. The language exchange between Eleanor and Park was weird. Very weird. Even though it took me about five days to finish it, it was an enjoyable read and I would recommend it to anyone who wants a very different romance story which doesn't follow the usual YA romance path.

 ♥♡♥♡♥♡♥♡♥Karen

About me- the ultimate bookworm.

Hey, I'm Karen, otherwise known as amityheartgirl. I'm your typical teenage girl who lives in Hong Kong. And I honestly cannot imagine how life would be like if books were nonexistent.
I have quite a number of hobbies. Apart from reading, I also love travelling, stalking hot guys online, listening and playing music, collecting postcards, buying stuff online, and DIY projects.
I love reading English books. It's my second language, and I must admit that I'm pretty proud of myself because well, after all, it's not my mother tongue. And it's not like everyone can read fluently in another language.
When I was six, I started to really learn English. I spoke a bit of English, learnt A-Z during kindergarten, and when I started primary school I found out that everyone except me knew how to spell 1-10 in English. From that year onwards, I improved drastically in English, from not knowing what a 'bus' was, to reading the whole Harry Potter series after a bit less than two years.
Audio books are my absolute favourite! I listen to them whenever I'm travelling, and my local library has a huge amount of audio books.
My favourite genres are contemporary fiction, teen fiction, romance, chick lit, and classic books like Pride and Prejudice, Romeo and Juliet, etc.
I'm from a book-crazed family. My parents love books. Mom's the one who chooses the books and dad's the one who's read through all the books at home. Which is a very big accomplishment, as we used to buy books from bookstores with suitcases. I know it's a little crazy, but I love it. I'm a little pathetic when it comes to the sports department. I love skiing, snowboarding, table-tennis and occasionally swimming, though.
I usually read on a Kindle, fyi it's a Kindle Basic and I just love it. I've moved on from paperbacks as they're too heavy. Fun fact, I used to carry five books in my school backpack when I was in primary school. I'm best described as a chameleon (from an online animal quiz), something like Cam in Gallagher Girls, because I show very different sides to friends and strangers. Actually there was this person who asked my mom if I'm mute. Funny because she was my new swimming coach, and you're not supposed to talk when you're swimming, right?
I love meeting new people, so don't hesitate to PM me through Goodreads or at my wattpad @amityheartgirl. 
I really love travelling, thanks to my parents who spent most of their time travelling to different countries with me. So far I've been to more than 20 countries, but I haven't been to South America. But hey- I'm prepping for a trip there- learning Spanish! By the way, I also learn Japanese and am trying to self-learn Korean and Afrikaans. I have a basic level of German, and by basic, I mean really basic, but better than my Korean and Afrikaans. I speak English, Cantonese, and Mandarin.
If you survived through the whole About Me section, I can tell you two things:
1. You're the best in the world.
2. I owe you a cookie.


♥♡♥♡♥♡♥♡♥
Karen