Author: John Green
Genre: YA Fiction, Standalone
Published: 2012
Personal Rating: 3/5 (just okay)
Format/Narrator: Audiobook/Kate Rudd
Yearly Count: 21
Hazel, a terminally ill teenaged girl meets a boy, Augustus, at a support group and love blooms.
This book sounded just like watching John Green on YouTube. And . . . for me, that's not necessarily a good thing. I have seen many episodes of Green and his attempt at getting in as many words in one breathe as fast as he can is very annoying to me. It's that cadence that the narrator reads the book as well.
I found the teenage relationship to be a bit cheesy, and the flirting banter, as well as the playful interactions between friends a bit over the top. The plot itself had a few unbelievable scenes and ones that took some meaning away from the book. I think this is probably a great book for young adults, but for this adult, it was just okay. I think it's safe to say that I'm simply not much of a John Green fan.
I just loved this one - sorry you didn't.
ReplyDeleteBermudaonion ~ Wish I did.
DeleteI've never watched him on YouTube so I have no idea how he sounds, which I guess is a good thing!! I loved this book and so did my son, Marc. We have read all of his book and An Abundance of Katherines is still my favorite.
ReplyDeleteStaci ~ I've read several, and have never been super impressed. I have AofK, but haven't read it. I'm a tad bit curious about it now being that it's your favorite. Hmmm.
DeleteI have a love/hate relationship with John Green. I did like this one, but I also thought it was a little pretentious.
ReplyDeleteTricia ~ I wonder if I were a YA if I would appreciate his work more.
DeleteI've been on the fence about reading this and there are mixed reviews. Do you think that this would be a better book read than on audio?
ReplyDeleteBonnie ~ Some people love Green's style, but I don't care for speed-talk. The narrator of the audiobook reads it with his cadence. If you like that, then go for it. Otherwise, reading the book yourself would be the better choice.
DeleteI wasn't blown away by this one either and might have rated it the same or maybe just a little better. I did really like Looking for Alaska (paper) and Paper Towns (audio) but this one fell flat. And the dialogue was like watching a bad episode of Dawson's Creek--just not very authentic. Hope your next one is better Joy!
ReplyDeleteTrish ~ I'm glad to know that I'm not alone. :) I'm reading two books now that I'm really enjoying . . . Hooray!
DeleteI read some rave reviews of this yesterday and am glad to see your thoughts to counterbalance those.
ReplyDeleteHopeinbrazil ~ Yeah, unfortunately, I don't think of Green's work as highly as most readers do.
DeleteI still haven't read Green but so many bloggers love him so I need to. Now I;m curious if I'll feel the way you do about his books!
ReplyDeleteStacybuckeye ~ You gotta read one, just to know what everybody is referring to. :) They are YA so they read quickly.
DeleteI haven't tried anything by John Green, but like stacybuckeye, I'm curious and will eventually give one of his books a try.
ReplyDeleteLes ~ Yep! I think you should.
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