https://boards.hellobee.com/ Pregnancy, Baby and Parenting blog, by Hellobee en Mon, 06 Apr 2026 18:43:00 +0000 https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/hb-book-club-feb-tfios-week-2-discussion#post-1429614 Mon, 17 Feb 2014 16:04:14 +0000 cmomma17 1429614@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>This book! Ugh. I love it but I also hate it. I started reading it on my ipad while pumping - I had downloaded it forever ago and forgot about it! Once I started reading I couldn't stop! So I'm all done and afraid I'll give out spoilers.<br /> I will just say I loved it! I thought the author did an excellent job with the main character (all the characters actually - like I loved Isaac!), and I loved the humor. Some of the cancer stuff was just brutal to read but that is probably also why it was such a good book (didn't gloss over anything). Reading it as a new mom (essentially a book about kids with cancer) was horrible. Especially towards the end of the book, I just lost it a few times. Big ugly cries. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/hb-book-club-feb-tfios-week-2-discussion#post-1418741 Wed, 12 Feb 2014 17:38:50 +0000 SweetMamaM 1418741@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>1. I honestly think that they are two teens coping as best as they can with cancer diagnoses. Having been part of the terminal cancer world, I know that the way that people deal with their diagnoses are so varied and this story seems typical of that, right down to the girlfriend leaving because she couldn't handle it. I think that the difference in their parental attitudes does lend itself to Hazel having a slightly darker outlook on her life.<br /> 2. I think that most of the characters in the novel define themselves by their loss - whether it is loss of freedom, loss of life, loss of sight or loss of their ideals. I also think that it's a totally natural and human thing to do. When I talk to my mummy friends about their birth experiences, I'm acutely aware that I'm going through this without my mother and that always leaps to mind before the things I do have (loving husband, caring father, supportive aunt)<br /> 3. Having lived with the realities of end-stage cancer in my family, I thought the descriptions were really appropriate. I can totally understand that they might be overwhelming for someone who is not used to that scenario but terminal cancer is an ugly business and I don't think Green would have done the story as much credit if he had glossed over it. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/hb-book-club-feb-tfios-week-2-discussion#post-1415211 Tue, 11 Feb 2014 15:14:46 +0000 pui 1415211@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>I finished the book too. </p> <p>1) I really loved both of them as characters. They're so vivid and real. I think their thoughts and actions are probably closer to what a real teenager in their position would feel and act like.</p> <p>The biggest way they differ is that while Gus wants to leave some kind of profound mark on the world before he dies, Hazel is content with just living the life she can.</p> <p>2) In some ways it seems that Gus and Hazel do define themselves by their cancer, although I think they both really don't want it to define them (especially Gus). </p> <p>3) I never felt that any part of the book was too graphic. I'm sure it could have been much, much more graphic. I think John Green did a good job of walking that line of making you feel and relate to their struggles while not going overboard with graphic imagery. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/hb-book-club-feb-tfios-week-2-discussion#post-1415075 Tue, 11 Feb 2014 14:53:47 +0000 lovehoneybee 1415075@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>1. How would you describe the two main characters, Hazel and Gus? Do either of them conform, in behavior or thinking, to what we normally associate with young cancer patients? How do the two differ from one another...and how do their personality traits and interests complement each other?</p> <p>2. How do Hazel and Gus each relate to their cancer? Do they define themselves by it? Do they ignore it? Do they rage at life's unfairness? Most importantly, how do the two confront the big questions of life and death?</p> <p>3. Do you find some of the descriptions of pain, the medical realities that accompany cancer, or the discussion of bodily fluids too graphic? </p> <p>4. Other thoughts? </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/hb-book-club-feb-tfios-week-2-discussion#post-1415057 Tue, 11 Feb 2014 14:51:13 +0000 Bao 1415057@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>Loved this book! </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/hb-book-club-feb-tfios-week-2-discussion#post-1414048 Tue, 11 Feb 2014 11:13:39 +0000 TemperanceBrennan 1414048@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@Running Elley: There were three distinct quotes by the parents that made me burst out sobbing. That quote was one of them. I can't imagine being in that situation and I don't even have kids yet. :crying: </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/hb-book-club-feb-tfios-week-2-discussion#post-1412999 Mon, 10 Feb 2014 20:39:05 +0000 bushelandapeck 1412999@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>I am not quite finished but am far enough that I am not sure I want to keep reading...pregnancy hormones are making me a sobbing mess! </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/hb-book-club-feb-tfios-week-2-discussion#post-1412938 Mon, 10 Feb 2014 20:06:31 +0000 lovehoneybee 1412938@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>Lol okay, I tried to get my mom to "lend" my her Kindle version so I could catch up, but apparently it's not eligible, so she bought it for me. I'll read it tonight and post some questions tomorrow. Sorry for the delay! </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/hb-book-club-feb-tfios-week-2-discussion#post-1412871 Mon, 10 Feb 2014 19:30:12 +0000 IRunForFun 1412871@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>I finished mine and had to return it to the library! I can't remember exactly what happened in that section, so I'm not sure what the spoilers would be! </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/hb-book-club-feb-tfios-week-2-discussion#post-1412677 Mon, 10 Feb 2014 17:23:28 +0000 Running Elley 1412677@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>I finished mine- oops haha!</p> <p>But I was going to mention... I had a really difficult time with the "I wouldn't be a mom anymore" thing that Hazel mentioned her mom saying. It made me so sad! </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/hb-book-club-feb-tfios-week-2-discussion#post-1412671 Mon, 10 Feb 2014 17:22:25 +0000 knittylady 1412671@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>I downloaded the book last night and ended up finishing it! So I'm super pumped to be able to be involved, but I won't know what's a spoiler either... :/ </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/hb-book-club-feb-tfios-week-2-discussion#post-1412666 Mon, 10 Feb 2014 17:21:10 +0000 lovehoneybee 1412666@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>Soo....I lost my book! I've been looking for it for days, assume E hid it somewhere, I don't want to have to buy another copy! </p> <p>I didn't want to leave you all hanging, though. I have a master list of discussion questions via lit lovers, but I have no idea what questions would be spoilers or not. So, if anyone who is caught up and can identify whether something is a spoiler (who is either finished or doesn't mind being mildly spoiled) feels like choosing some of the questions, please let me know! </p> <p>Otherwise, I'll just open a general discussion about the section. Feel free to post your thoughts, feelings, speculations...and I'll keep looking for my book and will have hopefully found it and caught up tonight!</p> <p>Sorry! </p>