I always feel anxious whenever I hear that one of my favorite books is receiving a movie adaptation. On one hand, I’m excited about that book getting more popularity due to movies being a more prevalent medium; but on the other hand…I am always afraid that the adaptation will suck, and due to its newfound popularity, the general public will have a low opinion of it. For example, the adaptation of The Mortal Instruments: City of Boneswas admittedly, just an adaptation made for the fans. If you weren’t a fan, then you would be completely lost throughout the entire movie. So, when I heard that The Fault in Our Stars, my second favorite John Green book after Looking For Alaska, was receiving an adaptation, I felt exactly the same way. The trailers didn’t really help my case, either; they honestly looked rather sappy and unappealing. Then I saw the movie. Did it exceed my expectations, or was the fault in this movie’s stars too blatant? Sit back, relax, and read on as I review the movie adaptation of The Fault in Our Stars.

The Setup: The Fault In Our Stars takes place in modern Indianapolis, focusing on a cancer-stricken teen named Hazel. She begins this story as a depressed individual, whose only real concern is the fact that she’s going to die soon and doesn’t view life as valuable anymore. Of course, her concerned parents get her involved in a Cancer Support Group, which she initially despises. Then she meets Augustus Waters, and 18-year-old cancer survivor accompanying his nearly blind friend Isaac in the support group. From there, a romance blooms, and Hazel learns that her own little infinity on this planet is worth living after all.

The story follows two cancer patients that fall in love

The Characters: TFIOS is a character piece, through and through. Luckily, these characters are some of my favorites in existence, and the actors portrayed them rather perfectly. Shailene Woodley was a perfect Hazel, showcasing the character's development from a depressed cancer patient to one who truly cared about making every second matter wonderfully. She did her job, and truly impressed me. Then, Ansel Elgort as Augustus. I'll be honest, I was a little iffy towards his performance at first, but then he grew on me, and wowed me with his portrayal as Augustus. The side characters were also well written, with Hazel's parents being supportive, Isaac being the comic relief character, and the rest feeling genuinely invested into their roles. Yeah, I know that I sound like a fangirl giving blind praise, but there's nothing that bad to say in my opinion. The acting in this movie was just that good, and deserves its praise. Though, I can see someone making the argument that the character motivations and the romance are kind of rushed, and, yeah, they kind of are at times. Though, these moments are few and far between, so I can't complain about them too much.

From left to right: Augustus, Isaac, Hazel

The Story: What I especially like about the story of TFIOS is the realism it provides. The book isn’t some sappy love story wish-fulfillment paranormal romance novel; it tackles depression and cancer, and shows how it affects the lives of everyone who cares about the patient. The story could’ve easily gone the easy route and just used the cancer aspect as a backdrop for drama when the plot chose it to be, but it doesn’t. The story always acknowledges the fact that cancer is something that never truly leaves you, at least not physically; emotionally, you have been scarred, your family members have been scarred and always fear the worst, and finally, your friends either abandon you because they “can’t deal with the pain” or stay by your side through the end. Each of these topics are explored and play their own part in the movie, which in all honesty is what the movie truly needed to nail as hard as the book did. I would also like to point out that the title of the movie, “The Fault In Our Stars”, also has to do with cancer. The “Stars” represents the perfect life that Hazel and Augustus would’ve lived together, but the “Fault” represents the cancer that is a detriment to their happiness.