This highly acclaimed book came out in 2012, so I’m a bit late to the party. One knows going in that this is a book about teens with cancer. Heartbreak is a given. Worth it.

Green wrote the book as a tribute to a cancer patient he dealt with as a student chaplain. She died at 16. His portrayals of Hazel, Augustus (Gus), and Isaac as teens in a cancer support group are notable for their realism and lack of saccharinity. These kids are bright, hurting, looking to live life as well as they can, knowing the Sword of Damocles hovers above them.

Hazel, whose thyroid cancer has wrecked her lungs, is weak and struggling to keep up with her peers in school. Her favorite novel, An Imperial Affliction, about a girl in a similar situation but with an ambiguous ending, drives her to find the author to learn what happens after the book stops.

Peter Van Houten, the author, is a J.D. Salinger-like character who has exiled himself and refuses to communicate with fans who try to reach him. Hazel shares her copy of the book and her frustration with Gus, who is introduced to her by their common friend, Isaac.

Gus shares his favorite book series with Hazel, sci-fi adventure novels with a somewhat ludicrous protagonist. He also secretly finds a way to reach Van Houten, who is hiding out and drinking himself to death in Amsterdam.

A cancer survivor/amputee in remission, Gus has suffered the death of one girlfriend by cancer, but it doesn’t stop him from falling for Hazel. Seeing her failing health, he is determined to bring her closure with Van Houten.

The parents of these three friends are unfailingly supportive. They deal with the idea of losing their children in different ways: acting as if life is normal, being overprotective, weeping in frustration and fear. In a way, though, they almost seem too perfect. The cancer kids are all intelligent and well-spoken.

This is a minor quibble, however. The story propels the reader along, rooting for everyone up to the very end. It is not ambiguous. The book overall is empathetic. Its themes of love, suffering, and loss, are ones that anyone can relate to. Reading it may help us overcome the discomfort of being with people who are dealing with great afflictions. What more can you ask from a novel?