Actual rating: 3.5 stars!

I don't even know if I can write a coherent review, because I'm still unsure how I feel about this book. Sure, it was heartbreaking. Sure, it was humorous at times. But so depressing. This book was about two kids who were dealt an unfair hand at life. It was about death. Cancer. Love. Heartache. But it didn't really make me feel. This book was pretty great, but I was expecting something more out of it. I was expecting to cry ugly, fat tears and have my heart be completely wrecked by the end. I was expecting a passionate and epic love story. I was expecting... I don't know! And maybe that's my problem. Maybe, because I had so many expectations going into this, that I found it lacking.

The only time I cried were the moments between Hazel and her parents; they were my favorite parts of this novel. Not the love between Hazel and Gus. Not Issac. Not the secondary story-line with Amsterdam. The moments between parents and child. The tangible love between them. The ups and downs. The fears.

I was also disappointed with the love story. I just... didn't believe it with them. I wanted to, I really did. But they were just two kids trying to find a space all their own in a world that kept throwing them curve balls. It was sweet; but it was, at moments, a little boring.

The plot was a little underwhelming and simple, but it fit the story-line. The Fault in Our Stars is such a hyped-up book that it may be the reason I didn't love this as much as almost everyone else. I think I built it up too much in my head, put so many expectations on it. It was a good book, don't get me wrong. And it's crazy how great John Green is at writing in the voice of a teen girl. It just wasn't my favorite.