Eunoia

“Dude, pillows don’t break. Try something that breaks.” This is exactly what happened to me while reading one of my all time favourite books, “The Fault in Our Stars”. A beautiful, tear-shedding book written by an award winning, New York Times-bestselling author John Green.

The book starts how a 16 year old is dealing with being normal while having a life-threatening disease of cancer. Hazel’s story is completely rewritten once she meets my favourite Augustus Waters. He too had a little touch of osteosarcoma but now he was cancer free. I believe anyone who reads this book, automatically falls in love with Augustus. He is the perfect guy, who believes in loads and loads of metaphors. Hazel’s love life evolves with Augustus when he takes her to Amsterdam to meet her favourite author, Peter Van Houten who wrote “An Imperial Affliction”. This book greatly influenced Hazel’s life.  During this time, Hazel condition became worse. Her lungs began to fill with liquids again and then she was rushed to the hospital just a few months before the trip. I felt that it was the end. The way John Green had described what Hazel was feeling was probably 5% of the pain she felt. When Hazel is in the ICU, Gus had a PET Scan, and to quote him “Lit up like a Christmas tree”.  As the novel progresses, the author has given us a bit of a touch of happiness, some love and some sadness. I remember laughing aloud during the happy and funny parts but crying uncontrollably during some parts. One thing I absolutely despise about this book is that every time I read it, I cry.  A lot of people just term this book as a “rom-com” but my opinion is different. I believe that is makes us feel different emotions at the same time. The story of Gus and Hazel is not only appealing to the ones who have or had cancer but it is also about the ones who love. The first time I read this book, I became attached to Gus, to Hazel and to every other character in this book. I don’t want to spoil what happens in the end but believe me; you would need a box of tissues by your side.

The character that makes me feel the strong the most has to probably be Hazel’s mother. She encouraged her to go to a support group to make friends. If her mother hadn’t forced her to go, Hazel would have never met Gus and their story would never had happened. Also I cannot even imagine what must have been like to be in her mother’s shoes

As she lay in the freshly cut grass, her dreams and ambitions became bigger and bigger but the world was not ready for her. Not yet.
She was engulfed by darkness, her friends achieving something or the other every day. Her books brought back all the positivity, her music made her feel free, her love for writing made her happy and that’s what mattered.
People criticizing, filling her life with negative thoughts and comments, all she would do was the thing she loved.
Sometimes all of us need to lay back and chill from all the negativity but that doesn’t mean to take an extreme step. It means to talk. Let’s talk and figure it out. Together. I will always lend a ear to you. Being heard always heals the heart.