Published: January 10, 2012 by Dutton Books
Like so many others I was hesitant to read this book. With so many amazing reviews you have to wonder, "Is it really possible to live up to your expectations?" For that reason, I had been avoiding it. After all, if I never read it, I wouldn't have to deal with being let down. But I finally took the jump, and I have to say, it was well worth it because like so many others I LOVED it.
As expected I was started crying about halfway through and didn't stop. But what was unexpected were all the moments where something amusing happened and you were literally laughing out of loud through your tears.
I was also surprised with some of the minor characters. Yes, I loved Hazel and Agustus, but what struck me more was how much I enjoyed the characters of Hazel's parents.
Except, I did have one huge complaint of the book, one that actually took me out of the moment and got rid of my tears because I spent so much time frustrated by it. At one part in the book, a part that is almost the emotional climax, Hazel is describing the size of infinities and says that there are an different type of infinities (true), but that the number of numbers between 0 and 2 is greater than the number of numbers between 0 and 1. Except that's incorrect. The amount of numbers in both sets is the same. And in fact both number of elements in both sets (defined as the cardinality) is equality to the cardinality of all real numbers put together.
The fact that she said something that was so wrong bothered really bothered me, at least until a found a FAQ on John Green's website. There he made note of the fact that he intentionally made Hazel understand infinities incorrectly. He thought that at 16, Hazel probably would be able to understand relative sizes of infinities and made an assumption based on information she heard. Which is what I kept telling myself, but it's nice to have it confirmed.
Now that I've probably lost everyone with my math lesson for the day, I will finish up and say again, I loved this book! The morning after I finished it found myself thinking of various scenes and had to force myself to stop, to stop the tears from starting again. There's so many perfect scenes, and so much to think about with this, that I'm already looking forward to reading it again.
5/5
Today I'm linking up with Blonde Undercover Blonde for Book Club Friday!
I had the same experience - I thought this book was being overhyped before I read it, but it lived up to my expectations. About halfway through the book is the point where one must stop reading for a moment to say out loud, "No no no no no no no no no." But even though it breaks your heart, you're still grateful for the experience.
ReplyDeleteI'm glad you enjoyed it. Thanks for your review.
ReplyDeleteHahaha!! Math-y things are hard, girl. ;)
ReplyDeleteAnd like everyone else on the planet, I thought this was a really fantastic book. I really loved how the humour came through even in the highly emotional scenes, because, after all, that's real life! And I love John Green's youtube channel--I could listen to him all day! :)
I love John Green and subscribe to vlogbrothers on YouTube, so this one's been on my to-be-read pile for a while now :)
ReplyDeleteI think you'd really like it! In my opinion definitely one to read now, especially before the movie is out.
DeleteLoved this book so much <3
ReplyDeleteSo incredible.