Friday, January 20, 2012

Audiobook Review–The Fault in Our Stars by John Green

Title – The Fault in Our Stars

Author – John Green

Narrated by – Kate Rudd

Length – 7 hours and 14 minutes

Publisher – Brilliance Audio

Audible Released Date– January 10, 2012

 

 

 

 

 

 

Kate Rudd did a phenomenal, outstanding job narrating this highly emotional read. Considering the subject matter and the emotionally charged nature of this book, it would have been so easy to overdo the narration. But Kate Rudd’s performance was perfection, bringing to life these amazing characters and telling this heart-wrenching story so naturally that it was as if I was listening to Hazels private thoughts. And yes, I could still recognize a great narration even when I don’t know how I heard anything over the sobbing mess I was reduced to throughout this book. I highly recommend this audiobook experience to anyone that is interested in reading this book.

The story itself, well, I mean its John Green so of course it was amazing. I love this man’s writing. It’s like he effortlessly creates these wonderfully realistic characters; characters that I’d want to know, that I’d want to become friends with. And by the end of the book, I feel like I DO know them and that we’ve been friends forever and I’m so emotionally entwined in the story that its actually difficult to move on to another book when it is over. I felt like that with Will Grayson, Will Grayson, and I certainly feel like that with this incredible book.

I don’t know that there are many of us whose lives have not been touched in some way by cancer, but even if it hasn’t, almost everybody has lost a loved one too early and has felt the utter unfairness of that loss. The Fault in Our Stars is the story of several kids suffering from cancer and is told from their perspective. It is unapologetically and brutally honest, morbidly humorous, simply just real. This book was so filled with unfiltered truth that it was almost uncomfortable to read in some places. But I still recommend that you do.

By the end of this book, I had cried so many tears that the front of my shirt was wet, and days later I’m still tearing up as I recall the story while I write this review. The Fault in Our stars was a powerful, emotionally intense, and incredibly important read. I highly recommend it to anyone regardless of genre.

Rating 5+

StarStarStarStarStarRed heart

7 comments:

Maja (The Nocturnal Library) said...

I've read so many reviews of this book, and all but one were positive. I enjoyed it so much, it was really good for me.

It's one of those books that make you feel like you've accomplished something just by reading them. Good to know the audio is good too, I think I'll send it to my sister right away.
Thanks for the amazing review, Donna. :)

Sam (Realm of Fiction) said...

Wow, Donna, what a lovely review. I'm glad it was such a moving read for you. I have to say you have gotten me to change my mind about this slightly. This was definitely a topic I wanted to avoid but your review has convinced me I will regret it if I do.

Stepping Out of the Page said...

Great review, thanks for the insight! I got this a couple of days ago but unfortunately I've got a lot to read before I'm able to get around to this one. Can't wait to read it!

Donna said...

@Maja

Thanks Maja. I agree, at the end of this, it does feel like you've accomplished something. I actually stayed up all night to finish this. I simply couldn't walk away from it once I started.
I absolutely recommend this audio. It's up there with my other favorite audio narrations like Gaiman's Graveyard Book, Sepetys' Between Shades of Gray and Zusak's The Book Thief.

Donna said...

@Sam

Thanks Sam! It was an incredibly moving book, but beyond that, it was also very insightful. John Green writes these characters as if from close personal experience. If you're like me and have a kind of masochistic relationship with books, where you actually enjoy having your heart ripped out repeatedly, then yes, you definitely don't want to miss this. :)

Ann Summerville said...

I have never listened to an audio book - maybe I need to try some out.
Ann

Donna said...

@Cozy in Texas

Many people prefer to read print. I never thought I would enjoy audio books as much as I do but after listening to the Harry Potter books on audio, I was hooked! This one is one of the better audios.

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