The fault in our stars - book vs film

The fault in our stars - book vs film - my  thoughts on the adaption

I said that I would do this post as soon as I saw the film, but then the 30 day book challenge took over, so it's a late post of a film which I saw on the 21st June.

I have read the book 'The fault in our stars' about 4 times now and every time it makes me cry (if not a bit more each time). I'm a very big fan of John Green and when I heard there was going to be a new book which would end up being 'The fault in our stars', I got very excited very quickly. After reading it and becoming absolutely obsessed, I had mixed emotions when I heard the film was going to be released. I was overjoyed - one of my favourite books was being turned into a (what I hoped would be a magnificent) film. However there was the emotion of despair. I didn't want a book that meant so much to me to be absolutely ruined - I had used my own imagination to create the world of this book and I didn't want film producers to come along and ruin that.

I had some comfort in knowing that John Green was going to be there on the film set every step of the way - I knew that he wouldn't want his bestselling book to be trashed and he wouldn't want anyone to be let down. Besides the generic worries that the film was going to ruin everything, I had the worry that all the key parts would be left out, the actors wouldn't do the characters justice and that direct quotes wouldn't be used.

All my worries were not needed. The film was in some ways quite different to the book, but not in a way where the book was ruined. It was different as it added new perspectives and emphasised on points I'd never thought that much into before. There were parts cut out, yes that bothered me a bit, but when you think about it, they can't keep every tiny detail in - the film would be way too long. They didn't cut anything out that drastically changed the story though. The whole film still made sense and had the ability to make me cry.

The actors and actresses used were amazing. I had watched 'Divergent' previously before with the same 2 stars in - I thought they were great in a dystopian world as brother and sister, but how would they work in a current time world acting as a romantic couple? Would there be awkwardness? There was no need to panic. The acting was flawless and the pair worked really well together. It's so clear why they were chosen. Nat Wolff plays Isaac, the one person who brings Hazel and Gus together; Isaac is my favourite character in the whole book so I was
worried about how he would be brought to life - Nat did it fantastically.

Overall, it seems that all my hopes and expectations for 'The fault in our stars' were more than lived up to. I would easily give the film 5/5 star rating. To any John Green fan, or if you're just a fan of the book, I'd definitely recommend going to see the film - you won't be disappointed. There are now 2 more John Green novels in the works to become films - 'Paper Towns' in which Nat Wolff is returning to the big screen to play Quentin, one of the main characters, and 'Looking for Alaska' - another book which manages to make me cry (big surprise) so I am excited to see how these turn out too.

Have you read the book or seen the film? Both? What did you think? If so what did you think? If not, are you planning on it? Let me know in the comments!