Under the Same Star: Summary and Book Review

Under the same star (The Fault in Our Stars) is a book written by the American John Green (1977-) in 2012 and tells the story of a 16-year-old boy with cancer.

It is a novel by youth literature and is also considered a book of self help. Through the life of a teenage girl facing a terminal illness such as cancer, the book teaches that life is not easy but always she is worth living.

The protagonist of the novel is called Hazel Grace Lancaster who does not suspect that she, despite being aware that she will die in any she minute, she still has to live one of the most exciting episodes of her life: the meeting of true love when she meets Augustus Waters.

Under the same star She deals with topics such as death, love, friendship, respect, tolerance and the importance of enjoying life.

Book summary Under the same star

Hazel Grace Lancaster is a 16-year-old teenager with terminal cancer. She knows that she is dying as she spends her life attached to an oxygen tank and subjected to constant treatments, which lead her to enter a depression. To cheer her up, her parents recommend that she attend a support group.

Hazel decides to attend the support group meetings. During one of the sessions she meets Isaac, a teenager who suffers from a strange type of cancer that affects his eyes and will soon blind him. Augustus Waters, Isaac's best friend, also attends these assemblies.

Augustus Walters was a basketball athlete whose hobby was damaged by the amputation of one of his legs due to osteosarcoma. Despite adversity, the young man remains strong and optimistic.

Soon Hazel, Augustus, and Isaac become inseparable. However, the friendship between the protagonist and Augustus goes much further and they spend more and more time together. Then, Hazel begins to wonder if the relationship could be dangerous and she doubts if she should continue to see the young man, because according to her "it is a grenade about to explode and will destroy everything in its path."

However, with each passing day their relationship grows closer and closer and they realize that they prefer to live in the moment and enjoy themselves.

Later, her friendship grows stronger and Gus tries to do everything possible to fulfill Hazel's great dream: to meet the writer Peter Van Hounten, author of the young woman's favorite book. An imperial pain is the novel of the writer, whose open ending has aroused the interest of the girl.

Gus gets a trip to Amsterdam, where Peter Van Hounten resides. However, his plans are cut short when Hazel's health worsens.

After all, Hazel recovers and they manage to make the trip to Amsterdam. Once there, they meet a grumpy, alcoholic Peter Van Hounten who doesn't want to answer any questions. Faced with this uncomfortable situation, Peter's agent apologizes to the young people and offers them a dinner.

When they return from the trip, Gus' cancer progresses, Isaac goes blind and Hazel is discouraged when she sees life disappear. The illness makes Augustus unable to walk and he asks Hazel to compose her farewell speech.

Eventually, Gus dies, leaving Hazel and Isaac devastated. They both know that her best friend left a written note before she died and they want to find her. Sure enough, the young man left a three-page letter demanding an ending to the book from him to Peter Van Hounten.

The novel Under the same star It concludes with Hazel reading the words Augustus wrote for her.

Characters

Hazel grace lancaster

She is the protagonist of the book. She is a 16 year old young woman who was diagnosed with terminal thyroid cancer when she was 13 years old. Her disease has spread to her lungs and does not allow her to breathe naturally, so she has to use an oxygen pump that carries her everywhere.

Augustus Waters (Gus)

He is an optimistic, cheerful and resourceful young man. Gus is an athlete but, due to bone cancer that he suffered, his leg was amputated and now he has a prosthesis to be able to walk. He attends the support group with his best friend Isaac, there he meets Hazel, with whom he immediately falls in love.

One of the traits that characterize this character is his enthusiasm to face problems and his determination to enjoy every moment, something that he constantly transmits to Hazel.

Mrs and Mr Lancaster

They are Hazel's parents. Both have oriented their lives around the illness of his daughter. Her mother is very concerned about her daughter's behavior, so she recommends attending support groups. Hazel's father continues to work and tends to be very affectionate towards her daughter, he is also prone to showing her sadness and cries easily.

Isaac

He is Gus's best friend within the support group and soon becomes friends with Hazel as well. Due to cancer she lost an eye and is about to lose her vision completely. He has a love affair with a young woman named Monica, who finally decides to end her courtship.

Peter van hounter

He is the writer of An Imperial Pain, Hazel's favorite book. His life experience, especially the loss of his daughter, has led him to become a despicable being steeped in alcohol. Although during the trip to Amsterdam she treats the protagonists very badly, she finally appears at Gus's funeral to apologize to Hazel and clarify the ending of the novel.

Lidewij Vliegenthart

He is Peter Van Hounter's personal assistant. She takes care of Gus's messages thinking that the writer would be encouraged by the visit of his admirers. However, due to the abuse that the author gives to young people, he decides to quit his job.

Patrick

He is the therapist who leads the support group that the protagonist attends. He suffered the disease firsthand, a fact that he uses to help the young people who attend his talks to encourage them to keep fighting.

Monica

She is a young woman who has a relationship with Isaac. However, she decides to end her courtship with him the moment she discovers that he will completely lose his vision of her.

Mr. and Mrs. Waters

They are Augustus's parents, just as Hazel's parents are concerned about the health of his son. They are also excited about Gus and Hazel's relationship.

Author: John Green

John green He is an American writer specializing in youth literature. He was born on August 24, 1977 in Indianapolis (Indiana).

During his youth he was bullied, which made him often take refuge in literature.

Later, he graduated in Religious Studies and English Language from Kenyon College in Ohio.

In 2005 he published his first novel titled Looking for Alaska, whose plot is tinged with his personal experience during his youth. The book was a great success and with it he won the award Michael L. Printz Award in 2006.

In 2012 he published one of his best known books Under the same star, which became an international best-seller and made the writer one of the most recognized authors of juvenile novels. The John Green novels are:

• Looking for Alaska (2005)
• Katherine's theorem (2006)
• Paper cities (2008)
• Under the same star (2012)
• A thousand times forever (2017)

Phrases from the book Under the same star

• "You cannot choose if you will be hurt in this world, but you can decide who will hurt you."
• "The footprints that men leave are usually scars."
• "You gave me forever in these numbered days, and you don't know how grateful I am for our little infinity."
• "You die in the middle of life, in the middle of a sentence."
• "Some infinities are larger than other infinities."
• “I believe in true love. You do not? I think not everyone can keep their eyes, or not get sick, or whatever, but everyone should have true love, and it should last a lifetime at the very least. "

Adaptation: movie Under the same star

In 2014 the homonymous film based on this successful youth book was released in cinema. The American director Josh Boone was in charge of directing this film, with a script adapted by Scott Neustadter and Michael H. Weber.

Book or movie? The reality is that the film presents an argument very faithful to the predecessor work. However, there are some details that add up, such as the interpretation of its protagonists, Shailene Woodley and Ansel Elgort, Hazel and Gus respectively. Also, the images are accompanied by a beautiful soundtrack that fits the story very well.

If you liked this article, you may also be interested in:

• The Fault in Our Stars movie
• The 45 best romance novels