The Fault in Our Stars

I've spent the last couple of days trying to think of a cool intro to start this blog post, but I realized that nothing I could say could be good enough to introduce The Fault in Our Stars.
So, let's just go with this: A couple of years ago, I was skimming through my Tumblr when some quote about life not being a wish granting factory grabbed my attention. I found the source of the quote, bought the book, sat down and started reading it. 4 hours of uninterrupted reading later, I was in a puddle of tears and didn't know what to do with my life anymore. This is what TFiOS is. A stab in the chest. A reality within fiction. A wake up call.
I have always shied away from the topics brought up in this book; sickness and death being far too unbearable for me to even think about, but something was different about TFiOS: As John Green puts it "This is a story about two kids with cancer, but it's not a story about cancer".
(I guess I should probably introduce it for those of you late to the game: Hazel Grace Lancaster and Augustus Waters are two teenagers suffering from cancer, who meet in Support Group and fall in love. I don't think I can say more and even if I could, I'd just end up crying all over again).

What immediately grabbed me was how much of myself I found in the two characters, which made the story all the more relatable:
At some point, I would feel like Hazel because of her ever-lasting irony but mostly I would feel like Gus, greatly fearing oblivion and praying with all my might that I be remembered in some way when I leave this earth.
And then, as it will you, the cancer got me.
It's not fair you'll keep repeating to yourself whilst reading the book: It's not fair that a sickness like this exists, it's not fair that people die everyday because of it, it's just so goddamned unfair.
But at the same time, in some twisted way, the cancer made it that much more beautiful. Because there's a beauty in their urgency, in the way Gus decided "not to deny himself the simple pleasures of existence", there's a beauty in Green's impeccable portrayal of not only a cancer patient, but a girl and in Hazel and Gus' heart wrenching love story.

Enough about the book, because I'm pretty sure you all thought it was initially a movie:
Whilst Ansel Elgort, although unknown for his acting skills at the time, was exactly how I pictured Gus to look like, I was not convinced one bit about Shailene Woodley's casting as Hazel Grace and to be absolutely honest, I'm still unsure how I feel about her portrayal. Now Woodley is one of the greatest actresses of our generation: I find that all of her roles are portrayed with such reality and depth-this one included-but I don't know, I just felt like something was off, like I couldn't detach her from the previous roles she's played.
On the other hand, Elgort's portrayal of Gus was a pleasant surprise: I was already aware of his acting skills but I think he just blew everyone away right there. Words can't express how perfect he was as Augustus: He was the right amount of complex, arrogant and his face didn't hurt much either. The expectations were so high and I personally think he passed with flying colors.
I would say though that I was a bit disappointed by the movie. 
Don't get me wrong, it's well made and a very truthful adaption of the book but I felt like something was missing (Which, looking back on, I understand now. What would be the point of a movie adaption if nothing was missing/added? At the same time, I don't feel like much has been added to this movie). Still, as it's always been with every book-to-movie adaptation for me, I loved the movie but just not as much as the book.

With that in mind, I was still a part of the massive group of girls that were crying their hearts out at the end of the film, whilst simultaneously laughing their asses off at the brilliant, heartbreaking wit behind this movie and book.