First: I just put this on my "funny" shelf after not doing it initially since it seemed weird and inappropriate, but the book is simply very funny, even though it's also extremely sad. 
 The elusive five-star review! The thing about this book is that I actually hated reading it at one point because it caused me to spend a perfectly good afternoon literally weeping in my living room, when I should have been enjoying myself. But even when I hated it, I loved it, because feeling emotions is a great side-effect of reading. 
 The characters are like nothing I've ever read before. I haven't read John Green before, so it could be similar to his other books, but I want to guess that it's not like anything. I just truly enjoyed reading the conversations they had, and Hazel was just an excellent narrator. The conversations Hazel and Gus had about what Indianapolis doesn't have, about the dinner that was not like the dinner they ate in Amsterdam, about Gus's hotness on his "last good day"... I mean, these people! I could read everything they've ever said and not be bored. 
 The other interesting thing about this book is that I'm pretty sure I would hate An Imperial Affliction (it sounds way too ridiculous and full of itself for me to take it seriously), but I enjoyed Hazel's and Gus's musings about it. And I really enjoyed its significance for Hazel. 
 I just really, really love Hazel. And Gus. (Side note that is probably not interesting: I got a teeny bit confused by his two different names, and I'm a little surprised that I keep calling him "Gus" because I think my brain wants to call him Augustus.) 
 What a sad, sad, sad story. But also a pretty happy one, sometimes. This book is (dare I say it?) like life, with complex ups and downs but generally worth the journey... yeah, that's probably straight off an "encouragement" of Gus's parents. Still, it's true.