To John Green

One day, I might actually email this to my favourite author and YouTuber, but for now, it'll be memorialized on my blog.


Dear John Green,

I just finished reading your latest novel, The Fault in Our Stars, after a year and a half wait since its publication. Let me tell you why, as well as telling you a little bit about myself, and telling you about my thoughts about your novel and asking my questions.

Right out of high school, I went to university. My mom was very adamant to my sister and myself to finish at least one year of post-secondary because she was scared that we would never go back to school otherwise. (It was basically a waste of time on her part however, because my sister is now currently out of school.) In my first year, I went to Trinity Western University, in British Columbia. It's the only Christian university in BC, I believe, and I felt that having a foundation of Christian teaching, as well as smaller class sizes with a better teacher-to-student ratio and a 30 minute transit commute, would be good for me and a good ease into post-secondary.
After my first year, I was somewhat dissatisfied with Trinity: ridiculous tuition costs, the community wasn't very supportive, and I had difficulties making friends on a continuous basis, even though I was keeping my average from high school unlike many of my high school friends. So, I decided to transfer to another school, Simon Fraser University, with monstrous class sizes, barely any professor attention, and a 2 hour transit commute from my home. But I paid less for transportation and tuition, and I got to meet up with old high school friends from my hometown.

Now, I don't know if you had this happen to you, but as my university semesters went on, my motivation to read fiction diminished considerably. In high school, I would devour 10+ novels every week; I told my sister that our librarian probably got sick of seeing us at the check out counter since we were there almost every day after school. The librarian in question also memorized our student numbers, because we were there so often. Which was nice, because then we wouldn't have to stand there and spout of numbers at a semi-slow pace so she could type them out. Anyway, back to my lessened love of literature: because of my numerous university textbooks, reading for leisure didn't appeal to me, and I would end up sitting down in front of my computer for hours on end, mostly on YouTube, including watching your and Hank's videos on your multiple channels. (I really enjoy Mental Floss, by the way. Rapid fire facts have become a pleasure of mine these days. Nerdfighteria is getting to me, in a good way.)
I managed to squeeze some fiction into my life during those semesters though, I have no idea how. Must've been a break in my consciousness.

Ok, so, your novel.
I want to be bold and say that it wasn't your best, but I horrifically biased: An Abundance of Katherines is my favourite, even after Papertowns and TFiOs. (My friend put it best when she said she and I seem to love mediocrity.) I will confirm this statement thought, after I compose this email since I will be re-reading it.
Ok, Hazel Grace and company: I got angry in the middle of it. Not frustrated about cancer or the characters' thoughts surrounding the cancer; I thought the thoughts were profound and got me thinking, which was nice. Instead, I got angry at the characters.
I tend to do this a lot, with many authors and novels. I find that there are parts where someone would speak, and I would throw a punch in their face because of how I was feeling; I would *need* to react for the character, and sometimes I would, by venting this emotion through words to my sister (since we read many of the books one after the other).
Like with Peter Van Houten. Oh, I'm getting mad right now as I think about him. When I was first introduced to him, I didn't want to read what he had to say; I wanted to skip through his part and continue on with the story. (And I kind of did. I do this thing where I skim through paragraphs to get to the next part, taking in a few words, and getting the gist. One day, I might get over my anger and read the novel again.) I got annoyed. Who was this guy to treat someone with cancer, someone who had an illness like his daughter, and be a total, excuse my language, egotistical ass, complete jerkface, interrupting-every-sentence douche, car-entering idiot, etc? THEN AGAIN, why didn't Hazel or Augustus start talking back to him in Holland? AND THEN, he has the audacity to show up to Augustus' funeral. I was mentally congratulating Hazel when she basically told Van Houten to get the eff out of the car and him looking sad, because he deserved it. Obviously I felt a little twinge of possible understanding when he confirmed he had a daughter with leukaemia like Anna in An Imperial Affliction. Still, doesn't seem like he picked up a pen after the encounter. I can't even BEGIN to comprehend why Lidewij stayed for as long as she did.
Sorry, I may have rambled somewhere in the middle. It was too much for my brain.
Speaking of the assistant, I wanted to know more about her. Maybe you did write about her in the first manuscript, but how did she come in contact with Van Houten? How did she become his assistant? Did she keep in contact with Hazel after her last email?
But I loved Hazel's parents. Her mom was concerned, a little over-bearing but did so out of love, and funny and silly and a little bit sarcastic. Her dad was emotional but kind, and seemed to say the right things at the right time. (I especially liked his comment about the universe wanting to be noticed.) They were nothing like my parentals, which was wonderful and a breath of fresh air; I wish I had parents like that.
Isaac and Gus' banter was amazing too.

A lot of my friends, and my sister, said I would cry, because they did. And since I tend to be an emotional wreck when it comes to things, I thought I would be a puddle at the end. But I didn't shed any tears. Like I said, frustration took the better part of my emotions during the read, but I also laughed a lot, which I didn't think I would be doing much of while consuming the book.

I felt the need to write this right after I finished the book. Now, I'm not sure if it's worth the read. But if you do read it, I hope it wasn't a waste of time. For now, it'll be saved on my blog. I don't know if I'll have the courage to actually send it to you. We'll see. Time will tell. Or it won't. Either way, I'll know I wrote down my thoughts about this book somewhere for the world to see.

Thank you for being awesome. I await your next novel, and my thoughts.
A loyal Nerdfighter,
PaulaJaey