I knew this book would make me cry before I even started it. It was for that reason I procrastinated reading it. I have to be in the right frame of mind to have my heart ripped out, stomped on, cut apart, then shoved back into my chest in tiny pieces that no longer know how to work together. At least that's how it feels now that I've finished this book. 
 But when I first started, I honestly didn't know if it would "get me" like I'd originally imagined it would. Hazel just didn't capture my attention enough. Even though she was living with terminal cancer, she wasn't sympathetic to me. She was so flat and boring and honestly sounded more like a guy than a girl. 
 Then came Augustus Waters. 
 Oh, Gus. He completely WRECKED me. Wrecked. I fell in love with him from the second he opened his fantastically hilarious, sweet, sarcastic mouth. There are not many YA heroes who capture my heart so thoroughly, but he did. He did and he has not let go. He was so charismatic and wonderful and just *SO* that his love for Hazel actually made me love her in return. 
 There are not enough words, there are no adequate words, to describe how full and empty and alive and painful my heart is upon finishing. All I can tell you is, suck up the fear of crying and feeling all torn up and LIVE these characters. Live them. You will never regret it.