I think this is my favorite John Green book so far and it’s no surprise it’s currently topping the bestseller lists. It’s poignant without being mawkish and honest in its dealings with tough issues. Its cancer-ridden narrator, Hazel, who is indefinitely suspending death with an experimental “miracle” drug, asks all the big questions, such as: Who am I? Will I matter when I’m gone? How can I avoid hurting those I love? Why isn’t life (and its Russian roulette dispersion of gifts and sorrows) fair?

I don’t want to say any more and spoil the many pleasures I had in reading it (in one afternoon) for others, so this won’t be my typical book-length review. Suffice it to say that The Fault in our Stars is by turns smart, funny, and sad, all without feeling forced or trite. It is a love story, a cancer story, a life story. Try it. You’ll see.