The Fault In Our Stars

"I went to Support group for the same reason that I'd once allowed nurses with a mere eighteen months of graduate education to poison me with exotically named chemicals: I wanted to make my parents happy. There is only one thing in this world shittier than biting it from cancer when you're sixteen, and that's having a kid who bites it from cancer" - John Green, The Fault In Our Stars

This excerpt is from the novel by John Green. In this scene the main character, Hazel who is a thyroid cancer patient explains her parents insistence that she continue to attend support group. She obeys, but only to appease her parents. Not much of a socialite in comparison to normal and healthy teenagers, Hazel is still witty and has a great sense of humor. Here at the support group meetings, she'll meet Augustus.

Later in the book, readers learn that the title of the book came from a famous line from a Shakespeare Play, Julius Caesar. Almost half way through the book, I've found that although the story holds some conventional love elements, the novel is unconventional in regards to cancer stories. The story does not strive to evoke sympathy in the readers, nor does it insist on trying to make them cry. Although there is a sense of tragic realism, the novel is philosophical and funny. The relationships in the book are respectable and admirable, and the lives of these characters allow the audience a chance to see the viewpoint of cancer patients.