The Fault in Our Stars

The beloved, #1 global bestseller by John Green, author of The Anthropocene Reviewed and Turtles All the Way Down

“John Green is one of the best writers alive.” –E. Lockhart, #1 bestselling author of We Were Liars

“The greatest romance story of this decade.″ –Entertainment Weekly

#1 New York Times Bestseller • #1 Wall Street Journal Bestseller • #1 USA Today Bestseller • #1 International Bestseller

Despite the tumor-shrinking medical miracle that has bought her a few years, Hazel has never been anything but terminal, her final chapter inscribed upon diagnosis. But when a gorgeous plot twist named Augustus Waters suddenly appears at Cancer Kid Support Group, Hazel’s story is about to be completely rewritten.

From John Green, #1 bestselling author of The Anthropocene Reviewed and Turtles All the Way Down, The Fault in Our Stars is insightful, bold, irreverent, and raw. It brilliantly explores the funny, thrilling, and tragic business of being alive and in love.

John Green is the award-winning, #1 bestselling author of Looking for Alaska, An Abundance of Katherines, Paper Towns, Will Grayson, Will Grayson (with David Levithan), and The Fault in Our Stars. His many accolades include the Printz Medal, a Printz Honor, and the Edgar Award. John has twice been a finalist for the LA Times Book Prize and was selected by TIME magazine as one of the 100 Most Influential People in the World. With his brother, Hank, John is one half of the Vlogbrothers (youtube.com/vlogbrothers) and co-created the online educational series CrashCourse (youtube.com/crashcourse). You can join the millions who follow him on Twitter @johngreen and Instagram @johngreenwritesbooks or visit him online at johngreenbooks.com.

John lives with his family in Indianapolis, Indiana.

CRITICAL ACCLAIM FOR THE FAULT IN OUR STARS:

“Damn near genius . . . The Fault in Our Stars is a love story, one of the most genuine and moving ones in recent American fiction, but it’s also an existential tragedy of tremendous intelligence and courage and sadness.” —Lev Grossman, TIME Magazine

“This is a book that breaks your heart—not by wearing it down, but by making it bigger until it bursts.”
—The Atlantic

“A story about two incandescent kids who will live a long time in the minds of the readers who come to know them.”
—People

“Remarkable . . . A pitch-perfect, elegiac comedy.”
—USA Today

“A smarter, edgier Love Story for the Net Generation.”
—Family Circle

“Because we all need to feel first love again. . . . Sixteen-year-old Hazel faces terminal cancer with humor and pluck. But it isn’t until she meets Augustus in a support group that she understands how to love or live fully.”
—Oprah.com, a Best Book selection and one of “5 Books Every Woman Needs to Read Before Her Next Birthday”

“[Green’s] voice is so compulsively readable that it defies categorization. You will be thankful for the little infinity you spend inside this book.”
—NPR.org

“Hilarious and heartbreaking . . . reminds you that sometimes when life feels like it’s ending, it’s actually just beginning.”
—Parenting magazine

“John Green deftly mixes the profound and the quotidian in this tough, touching valentine to the human spirit.”
—The Washington Post

“[Green] shows us true love—two teenagers helping and accepting each other through the most humiliating physical and emotional ordeals—and it is far more romantic than any sunset on the beach.”
—New York Times Book Review

“In its every aspect, this novel is a triumph.”
—Booklist, starred review


“You know, even as you begin the tale of their young romance, that the end will be 100 kinds of awful, not so much a vale as a brutal canyon of tears. . . . Green’s story of lovers who aren’t so much star-crossed as star-cursed leans on literature’s most durable assets: finely wrought language, beautifully drawn characters and a distinctive voice.”
—Frank Bruni, The New York Times

John Green’s deeply moving young adult novel, The Fault in Our Stars, tells the heartbreaking but incredibly life-affirming story of two teenagers who fall in love while navigating the brutal realities of terminal cancer. The narrative is driven by the sharp, witty, and profoundly philosophical voice of Hazel Grace Lancaster, a sixteen-year-old girl who has been living with terminal thyroid cancer that has severely compromised her lungs. Tethered to an oxygen tank she calls "Philip," Hazel spends her days reading, worrying about the emotional toll her inevitable death will take on her parents, and attending a depressing cancer support group held in the basement of an Episcopal church. Her life is a quiet routine of medical treatments and managing expectations until a boy named Augustus Waters walks into the support group and fundamentally changes her world.

Augustus, a charming, fiercely intelligent seventeen-year-old whose osteosarcoma cost him his right leg, is at the support group to accompany his friend Isaac. He immediately fixes his gaze on Hazel, drawn by her sharp wit and striking beauty. The two strike up an instant, electric rapport. Augustus is terrified of oblivion and obsessed with leaving a mark on the world, while Hazel is intensely aware of her status as a "grenade," fearing the collateral damage her death will cause to those who love her. Because of this, Hazel initially tries to keep Augustus at arm's length. However, Augustus is persistent, and he quickly breaks down her defenses with his genuine affection, unwavering attention, and grand gestures.

The cornerstone of their blossoming relationship becomes a book called "An Imperial Affliction" by the reclusive author Peter Van Houten. The novel, which is about a young girl with cancer, is Hazel’s absolute favorite because it accurately captures the reality of dying without glorifying it. However, the book ends mid-sentence, leaving the fates of the surviving characters entirely unresolved. Hazel is desperate to know what happens to them, symbolizing her own desperate need to know that her parents will survive her death. Augustus reads the book and shares her obsession. Through a stroke of luck, he manages to contact Van Houten, who replies that he can only reveal the ending in person. Without hesitation, Augustus uses his "Wish" from a foundation for sick children to fund a trip for himself, Hazel, and Hazel’s mother to Amsterdam to meet the author.

Just before the trip, Hazel suffers a severe medical crisis when her lungs fill with fluid. The trip is almost canceled, but her medical team ultimately decides she is stable enough to travel. Amsterdam is initially a magical experience. Hazel and Augustus share a beautiful, romantic dinner and explore the city, falling deeper in love. However, the anticipated meeting with the author is a catastrophic disappointment. Rather than the wise, compassionate writer they imagined, Peter Van Houten is a miserable, cruel, and abusive alcoholic. He viciously insults them and categorically refuses to answer any questions. Devastated but refusing to let the cruel encounter ruin their trip, Hazel and Augustus visit the Anne Frank House, which culminates in their first kiss, and later that evening, they consummate their relationship in Augustus's hotel room.

The narrative takes a devastating turn the next morning when Augustus sits Hazel down to share a terrible secret. While Hazel was hospitalized prior to the trip, Augustus had a scan revealing that his cancer had returned with a vengeance. His body is riddled with tumors, and his condition is terminal. The dynamic of their relationship abruptly shifts; Hazel, who always viewed herself as the dying one, must now become the strong caregiver as she watches the boy she loves rapidly decline. They return home, where Augustus’s health deteriorates at an agonizing pace. In his final days, he organizes a "pre-funeral" in the church basement, asking Hazel and Isaac to read the eulogies they have written for him. Hazel delivers a breathtakingly beautiful speech, telling him that she would not trade their short time together for anything and that he gave her a forever within their numbered days.

Augustus passes away shortly after, leaving Hazel shattered. At his actual funeral, she is shocked to see Peter Van Houten in attendance. The disgraced author tries to apologize, explaining that "An Imperial Affliction" was based on his own daughter, who died of cancer, and seeing Hazel had triggered his overwhelming grief and cruelty. Hazel dismisses him, no longer needing his answers. In the days following the funeral, Hazel learns that Augustus had been writing something for her before he died. She discovers he had sent pages to Van Houten, asking the author to help him write a fitting eulogy for Hazel. The novel concludes with Hazel reading Augustus’s final words. He writes about the inevitability of getting hurt in this world, but notes that we get to choose who hurts us. He declares that he is happy with his choice, and he hopes she is happy with hers. The book ends with Hazel’s simple, powerful affirmation: "I do."