Quite simply, this book is one of the best I've ever had the privilege to read. First of all, it has just one of the most killer opening sentences of a book ever. Hopefully, Mr. Green won't mind if I retype it here: "Late in the winter of my seventeenth year, my mother decided I was depressed, presumably because I rarely left the house, spent quite a lot of time in bed, read the same book over and over, ate infrequently, and devoted quite a bit of my abundant free time to thinking about death." I mean, wow. 
 I honestly didn't think I was going to like the book at first; another entry of pop books that everyone loves that somehow excapes the gravitational pull of my favor. Hazel, our protagonist, and to a lesser extent, Augustus, are both a little pretentious, and that annoyed me to no end. At first. I quickly realized that these teenagers are relatively unique in that they have sort of been forced to become wise before time or experience has really bestowed that gift to them. They're teenagers, they're sick, and they're doing the best they can. 
 From there, I fell in love with this novel like, to borrow one of the many thought-provoking statements Hazel makes, falling asleep: slowly and then all at once. The ending was emotionally devastating, but it wasn't a downer either, if that makes any sense. Nor was it particularly hopeful. It was just profoundly and thoughtfully true, and there was something comforting about that. More to that point,the tragedy of the ending is not something that surprises you. You know what has to happen and you're even given ample time to steel yourself. Then, I realized that that was the point, so you might understand what it's like to know your fate and that it will arrive in a known and dwindling number of days/pages. 
 I mostly cried at the brilliance of that. That is what the true strength and beauty of this book is, beyond the pitch perfect writing and characterization, and it's why I recommend the book to anyone with an infinity of time left to observe this universe, no matter how small that infinity may be.