I'm no longer practically the last person on Earth to have not read this
book! This is one of those books that I think is objectively quite
well-written, but I just didn't emotionally connect with, personally.
(No, it did not make me cry.) Hazel was a likeable protagonist who felt
human and distinctive, and since she is the narrator we get to know her
the best; yet even so, I still didn't feel as close to her as I would
have liked. A lot of this book is composed of conversation and Hazel's musings, so not that much really happens plot-wise (except for a few key events). I knew going into it about the spoiler ending (has anyone managed to escape that spoiler by now?) so that was not a surprise.
I found some of the philosophical observations on life a tad lofty and pretentious at times (which at least the characters are aware of), but I did find a lot of them true to life, acknowledging human reactions that often get swept under the rug or covered up by our society. That was one of the things I liked best about this book, that it was quite blunt about how it cut through the "socially acceptable" layer of human responses to get at how people actually think and feel.
3.5 shooting stars.
I still haven't read this one - or any of Green's books - but got the feeling I wouldn't connect with it anyway after watching the movie. Also, I'm not much for musings in a book as I'd much rather have things happen so I guess that was a good call.
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