Slowly Dying

Some days after Augustus and Hazel Grace got home, Augustus has a problem and has to go immediately to the hospital were he is being treated by doctors and some days later he was able to go back home again. Their routine became something daily, they saw each other everyday in Augustus’ house because he couldn’t move a lot and spend the day together, then at night Hazel will return home. One night, at 2:00am, Augustus called Hazel from a gas station telling her to come help him fix a tube that helped him stay alive. When she got there, she realized he was in a terrible condition so she called 911 for help. After the hospital, when he gets back home again, he is much worse that he was before, he spends most of the time in bed with no energy at all while Hazel stands by his side that whole time. One night, when Augustus was definitely about to die he called Hazel and his best friend Isaac to come to his pre-funeral; he wanted to know what was going to be said for him when he dies. They all cry that night and Hazel talks about the amazing time she got to spend with him and how she will remember it forever. Eight days after, Augustus Waters dies. Hazel later finds out that Augustus had left something written for her somewhere but has no ideas were; she finds the missing pieces of a notebook in Amsterdam with a friend’s help, she is happy again after finding this.

“Some infinites are bigger than other infinites.” (260).

I liked this quote a lot because it talks about never ending moments that later become lasting memories. Hazel Grace talks about her infinites with her boyfriend, Augustus, and how every moment they spend together was worthy and an experience that will remain with her forever. She uses these words to describe her infinite and forever moments with Augustus at his funeral when he passes away and want to let people know how experiences can remain in your heart forever. 

“The little kids figuring out how to be alive, how to navigate a world that was not built for them by navigating a playground that was” (307).

This quote demonstrates how little kids are discovering new thing in their lives as they experience new things by themselves in open areas like a park. Hazel refers to the world as a place that kids should not enter to yet, saying that they need to enjoy small places like playgrounds that have been specially built up for them to experience new things. And for everyone that lives in this world, individuals need to learn were to go, who to follow, and were to lead in order to have a nice personal life.

Final Thoughts

This novel ends at the death of Augustus Waters and how his life has been an example to Hazel.  First, she learns that in life people and experiences come and go and that she never needs to hold on to tightly to anything because life changes everyday. She also learns that life will end some day and she needs to live her life in a proper way without the need of depression or any “side effect of dying”. After reading this book, I learned that we need to learn to appreciate and enjoy what we have because not everything is forever; love everyone that surrounds you and have a life worth of remembering.

A Trip to Amsterdam

Hazel Grace is now better and no longer has pain in her head, but still, there was a meeting with all of her doctors to discuss if she was going to be able to go to Amsterdam; at first they say no, but Hazel learns later that night at dinner that they changed their mind and that she was going to be able to go with Augustus Waters. The day to leave has finally arrived and Hazel and her mom go pick Augustus from his house and head straight to the airport. Once they were in the airplane Hazel found out that it was the first time Augustus was flying in the plane and he was extremely excited about it, that is when he tells Hazel he is in love with her. They get to Amsterdam and at night, Augustus and Hazel have a reservation at a really fancy restaurant were they have amazing food, and the next day, the go to meet the famous author Hazel wanted to meet; when they got there they found out the man was a drunk jerk and treats them terribly. The last day in Amsterdam Augustus tells Hazel that he has a terrible big news for her; he told her that all of his cancer had returned and that it was his time to fight this battle when he returns home.

“My cancer is me. The tumors are made of me” (216).

This is a moment when Augustus Waters accepts that this is a battle created by him that he has to fight. He mentions that it is not nature’s fault that you end up in this circumstance and that people need to learn to accept and to fight this battle with strength and courage in order to survive in it. This is what Augustus tells Hazel about what he is planning to do on the future and in exchange we can see how she has been able to go through so much since a very young age with issue and how she will continue fighting and doing the best she can in order to save herself.

“I’m on a roller coaster that only goes up” (218).

It was not easy for Augustus to tell Hazel that he has been diagnosed with cancer once more in his life, and that the medicine he has been taking hasn’t been that effective on him. That is why he expresses his life as a roller coaster because it is something that is never over and his disease keeps growing until it reaches a point were it either goes down and brings life back to normal or stops and ends a life. Augustus life seemed to be getting back to normal but unexpectedly got cancer again and started his fight all over again. I like how John Green expresses his ideas through metaphors, this makes the book more interesting and engaging while reading.

Final Thoughts

This moment of the book explains how even people with health problems do the best they can to live their life the way they want to. Augustus and Hazel both have terrible cancer situations that can cause them death at any moment but still choose to travel all the way to Europe to meet a person they admire. These two teenagers are enjoying every opportunity provided to them and are trying to make the most out of every situation in order to have a good time when it is possible for them. In Amsterdam, they go to amazing places together were they get to know each other more and have a better relationship; they try new things and experience a world that they live far away from. 

An Imperial Affliction

A week has passed and Augustus Waters hasn’t called Hazel Grace, making her feel sad and confused at the same time; but it didn’t last for too long, he called and they discussed and talked about Hazel’s favorite book that was called An Imperial Affliction. Right before they were going to hang up, Augustus tells her that he was able to reach the author of the book through email so she could ask him questions about the ending of the book and the only answer she gets is that the only way to know that is talking to him face to face in Amsterdam. One day Augustus was waiting on Hazels house with flowers and took her on a picnic were he told her that he was willing to use a wish provided to kids with cancer and go to Amsterdam together were they were going to meet the author she has always wanted to see. Her parents and doctor gave her permission as long as her mother went with her. That night she goes to sleep with all the excitement in her body but wakes up with a terrible pain in her head so she has to be taken to the hospital immediately; Hazel was able to leave the hospital six days later.

“I’m a grenade and at some point I’m going to blow up and I would like to minimize the casualties” (99).

This is a moment were Hazel is thinking about her life and the consequences that she would bring to the world if she passed away. It would not only hurt her family but also Augustus like her ex-girlfriend that had cancer did to him as well. Hazel’s main problem was her parents, she loved them so much and really wanted to stay with them forever but mostly, she never wanted to hut them when she died.  This quote is said in a metaphoric way used to compare her disease with a grenade and how both can hurt so many people but in completely different ways; physically and emotionally.

“As he read, I fell in love the way you fall asleep: slowly, and then all at once” (125).

I found this quote very interesting because it is used to explain love and Hazel’s feelings towards Augustus in an unusual yet interesting way. It explains how slowly and then how fast a person falls in love with someone else and ends up being very effective in a relationship. Two people really need to love each other in order to have a nice relationship.  Augustus and Hazel both fell in love with each other after a lot of time of spending together and sharing experiences and memories with each other.

Final Thoughts

In this book we can see how a small thing two people share in common can lead to much more that a small friendship. In this case, Hazel and Augustus both share this interest for the book, An Imperial Affliction and how that led to a lot more than just a friendship between them. Thanks to the book they plan a trip to Amsterdam and they begin to know each other more and more throughout the book. I predict that the book will continue in Amsterdam were Hazel is going to be able to meet the famous author of his favorite book with Augustus Waters by her side.

Love at First Sight

The book called “The Fault in Our Stars” is a novel written by John Green that talks about the life of a teenage girl named Hazel Grace Lancaster that is constantly fighting to survive because of her terrible lung cancer. The story begins by telling us how this girl is constantly depress and because of that Hazel Grace is forced to go to a cancer support group in a church were people her age went to share their experiences. One day, a guy named Augustus Waters came with one of Hazel’s friend Isaac; Hazel immediately fell in love with him and so did he. That same afternoon Hazel goes to Augustus house were they watch a movie and exchange each other’s favorite book. They decided to see each other whenever they both finished the book and when they both finished it, they decided to meet in Augustus’ house where he and Isaac were playing video games while Isaac was crying because he broke up with his girlfriend Monica. Isaac’s cancer is going to turn him blind.

“He broke out into that goofy smile. “And you say we don’t know each other” (37).

In this moment, Augustus and Hazel Grace have an amazing connection between each other; it is a scene were Hazel says she is going to call him when she finishes a book, but Augustus never gave her his number. This moment is amazing because she knew what he was going to do because he wrote his number down and Augustus knew that Hazel was going to want to call his at some point after she leaves his house. I find this quote very interesting because it is a way to show how these two teenagers fell in love so easily and in a beautiful way.

“That’s the thing about pain… It demands to be felt” (63).

This quote talks about how people suffer and it is not an unusual thing. Pain can come and go, but there is nothing wrong in experiencing pain because it is were people can learn their mistakes and experience new things from. Isaac is suffering because he was heart-broken by his ex-girlfriend because she broke up with him with the reason that he is going blind because of cancer. In that moment he is able to experience this pain and feel it very strongly.

Final Thoughts

Hazel Grace and Augustus are two teenagers that show how big issues like cancer is not a problem when you want to follow you heart. After Hazel met him, she immediately changer her attitude and that helped her overcome depression. On the other hand, Augustus madly fell in love with her because of her personality and didn’t care about her illness and the fact that her cancer could end her life any moment. This was a sing of true love at first sight that nobody knew besides them.

The Paper Town

Q, Ben, Radar and Lacey who was Margo’s friend and now Ben’s girlfriend all decide to skip graduation and go find Margo Roth Spiegelman. They have like no time to complete the road trip so they have planned only four stops along the way and Q has to go over the speed limit in order to get there on time. They finally arrive at Agloe were they see Margo’s car parked. They get in there and they see how she clearly didn’t expect to see them that day. Margo got so angry that she starts making fun of everyone, so Lacey, Ben and Radar walk away leaving Q with Margo. She was so mad that she was screaming at Q and saying that she didn’t want to be found no matter what. Later, she tells him a story she wrote about them when they were little and how she always thought he was a paperboy but admits he isn’t one after all, but she is a papergirl. Q tried to convince her to come back home but she denied. This novel ends when Margo and Quentin burry their old selves, leaving them behind. 

“As long as we don’t die, this is gonna be one hell of a story.”

I liked this quote very much because the background of it talks about true friendship and making the best of every situation. They are all sharing their memories and the fun they’ve had together during the road trip. Also, it talks how after a terrible accident they had they are just laughing and saying how happy they are to be all together.

“Just remember that sometimes the way you think about a person isn’t the way they actually are… People are different when you can smell them and see them up close, you know?” (266-267)

Jumping up to conclusions is something society now days does a lot; people don’t realize how wrong that can be and how much damage it can cause in a person. People either judge too quickly or compliment without knowing for a fact what they are saying. In this case, Ben is telling Q not to like Margo without knowing her a 100% since he has learned so many new things about her as the book goes by.

Final Thoughts

The novel ends by telling us how Q and Margo finally got to really know each other just the way they are and how their lives are not meant to be together. Each one of them has a different idea of the future and how they want their life to go on. They both loved each other and tried to convince each other to come with them, but they were both strong enough to decide their own