We all know the typical story of the terminally ill girl who falls in love with a boy. Ever hear of “The Fault In Our Stars”? Yeah, me too. So it begins with a little girl who loves to play and explore until one day she gets diagnosed with a life threatening disease and everything changes. Instantly, most readers will feel sympathy for this character and pity them. The main character is perceived as the person everyone “should” feel bad for. This is not the deal for Tessa Young. After being diagnosed with leukemia, Tessa creates a list of all the things she wants to do before she dies. This list includes crazy things such as sex and committing a crime by shoplifting. The thing is, she is actually crazy enough to follow through and do them. After completing some, the realization hits her that maybe talking to your brother, holding your fathers hand, and hugging your best friend are much more important than the silly things on her list. In other words she had an epiphany of sorts. Who caused this epiphany, none other than the boy next door, Adam. In fact, he was the one who helped her complete the tasks on her “bucket” list regardless of how strange they were. Spending all this time together their relationship deepens and becomes more complicated. Tessa begins to develop feelings but is turned down by Adam who says he is “afraid to love her” because of her illness. As the book continues we see their relationship take a surprising turn. Jenny Downham tries to draw the reader into her novel by the very fact that Tessa had this disease and is looking for experiences to explore before she dies. In the beginning of the novel its is easy to empathize with Tessa and feel the pain that the people around her feel. As the book continues I found it hard to feel sorry for Tessa the same way i did in the start of the book. I did not like the fact that Tessa’s character becomes very bitter about her illness, pushing away the people that love her. Her rudeness and sarcasm about her situation begin to dominate her personality making it hard to like her. Telling her father, who for years has taken care of her, that there is no hope and she just wants to die. She pushes away all the people that care for her. Adam is the only character that Tessa developed a “soft spot” for because of her feelings for him. In her darkest moments she treats Adam with distain. She unnecessarily takes her personal belongings and throws them both at him and out the window. Overall, it was very hard to put the book down once I started reading. It takes a turn that most authors dare not to write so a job well done to Jenny Downham. No matter how old you are this book and its characters will affect you in one way or another. This book will provoke the readers emotions with its all so horribly real, and breathtakingly beautiful concepts.
After being diagnosed with leukemia, Tessa creates a list of all the things she wants to do before she dies. This list includes crazy things such as sex and committing a crime by shoplifting. The thing is, she is actually crazy enough to follow through and do them. After completing some, the realization hits her that maybe talking to your brother, holding your fathers hand, and hugging your best friend are much more important than the silly things on her list. In other words she had an epiphany of sorts. Who caused this epiphany, none other than the boy next door, Adam. In fact, he was the one who helped her complete the tasks on her “bucket” list regardless of how strange they were. Spending all this time together their relationship deepens and becomes more complicated. Tessa begins to develop feelings but is turned down by Adam who says he is “afraid to love her” because of her illness. As the book continues we see their relationship take a surprising turn.
Jenny Downham tries to draw the reader into her novel by the very fact that Tessa had this disease and is looking for experiences to explore before she dies. In the beginning of the novel its is easy to empathize with Tessa and feel the pain that the people around her feel. As the book continues I found it hard to feel sorry for Tessa the same way i did in the start of the book.
I did not like the fact that Tessa’s character becomes very bitter about her illness, pushing away the people that love her. Her rudeness and sarcasm about her situation begin to dominate her personality making it hard to like her. Telling her father, who for years has taken care of her, that there is no hope and she just wants to die. She pushes away all the people that care for her. Adam is the only character that Tessa developed a “soft spot” for because of her feelings for him. In her darkest moments she treats Adam with distain. She unnecessarily takes her personal belongings and throws them both at him and out the window.
Overall, it was very hard to put the book down once I started reading. It takes a turn that most authors dare not to write so a job well done to Jenny Downham. No matter how old you are this book and its characters will affect you in one way or another. This book will provoke the readers emotions with its all so horribly real, and breathtakingly beautiful concepts.