If You Like… is a feature highlighting blogger recommendations for books, authors, TV shows, movies, and music based on the things you already know and love. This week’s post includes recommendations based on John Green’s The Fault in our Stars.
If you like The Fault in our Stars, you might like…
Books
Recommended by Kari @ A Good Addiction:
- The Girl Next Door by Selene Castrovilla: Boy has terminal brain cancer. Girl is not only his best friend, but in love with him. Shattering, but beautiful, this one is definitely a fated romance.
- My Sister’s Keeper by Jodi Picoult: I’m not saying this one just because it deals with cancer… but because it really throws into question the push to keep living when you have cancer, and how far a family will go to save a family member.
- The Disenchantments by Nina LaCour: No, there’s no cancer in this one… but if you’re looking for a book that has such an amazing level of depth and emotion, and one that has two characters who are just trying to figure everything out, with some romance on the side, then this is one you want to try.
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Where She Went by Gayle Forman: If you want a book that is not only deep in the emotions, but also one that has characters who are just so perfect for each other even in a rough situation… Get this one.
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Freefall by Mindi Scott: This one has that same sense of falling without completely realizing it, and just needing someone else so badly to help you break out of the mindset you’re stuck in. Also, Seth is just awesome.
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Saving June by Hannah Harrington: This is another of those intense romances that aren’t immediately intense and just… happen, in the midst of a whole bunch of other crap.
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Possess by Gretchen McNeil: I’m throwing this one in purely for the witty banter. Admit it, the easy wit that is thrown around in The Fault in Our Stars is as much an amazing element as anything else. And Possess has it. Along with exorcisms and such, but details.
Recommended by Jacinda @ The Reading Housewives of Indiana:
- Before I Die by Jenny Downham: WOW! This book is very similar to TFiOS. You will need lots and lots of tissues for this one. It’s a book I’m planning on re-reading. Also, Before I Die is a movie now! YAY! It’s releasing in the UK this summer and soon after in the US. Oh and it has a new title, Now Is Good. Did I mention it’s starring Dakota Fanning and a hot boy?!
- The Girl Next Door by Selene Castrovilla: This book has very similar themes to TFiOS and to Before I Die. I didn’t enjoy The Girl Next Door as much, but if you’re searching for something similar, then this might be your book. The cancer and love is all there, so give it a go.
Recommended by Anna @ Anna Reads:
- The Probability of Miracles by Wendy Wunder: Another book about a teen dealing with cancer. It’s definitely got supernatural elements, so it is a different type of book, but it’s just a stunner.
- The Sky Is Everywhere by Jandy Nelson: This book also reduced me to tears and wowed me with its writing.
Recommended by Chloe @ YA Booklover Blog:
- The Probability of Miracles by Wendy Wunder: It’s also about cancer, and is so good. I’ve only read the first 20 pages of TFiOS, but I really want to get a copy so I can finish it!
Recommended by Amanda @ A Bookshelf Monstrosity:
- Before I Die by Jenny Downham: While determined Tessa (Before I Die) wants to experience life and sarcastic Hazel (Stars) hides from it, the brutality of terminal cancer and the tingle of a new romance drives both of these thoughtful, character centered novels.
- A Love Story Starring my Dead Best Friend by Emily Horner: While their stories are different, there’s a lot of sadness in both of these novels — but a lot of the thrill in life, too. Readers who crave realistic dialogue and characters dealing with life’s messiness will be mesmerized.
- Deadline by Chris Crutcher: Given the medical diagnosis of one year left to live, high school senior Ben Wolf decides to fulfill his greatest fantasies, ponders his life’s purpose and legacy, and converses through dreams with a spiritual guide known as “Hey-Soos.”
Recommended by Flo @ Book Nerds Across America:
Recommended by Jen @ YA Romantics:
When I saw the topic for this week’s “If You Like,” all I could think about was what Hazel said in The Fault in Our Stars:
“Cancer books suck. Like, in cancer books, the cancer person starts a charity that raises money to fight cancer, right? And this commitment to charity reminds the cancer person of the essential goodness of humanity and makes him/her feel loved because s/he will leave a cancer curing legacy.”
Here are three cancer/dying young books that I think Hazel would like:
- The Pull of Gravity by Gae Poliser
- The Last Summer of the Death Warriors by Francisco X. Stork
- Before I Die by Jenny Downham
Recommended by Twan @ Artie Is My Muse:
- Anything else by John Green
- David Levithan: He and John Green wrote Will Grayson, Will Grayson together so that’s a great place to start. . . he also has that same way of writing where you want to dog ear four million pages because there are lines that are just so perfect you want them imprinted on your brain forever.
- Rachel Cohn: I feel like Rachel Cohn goes in this category as well. She has written several books with David Levithan and several on her own, and I think they are all lovely, but the Gingerbread series is my favorite and has some of the same raw-ness that TFiOS has.
- Lurlene McDaniel: Begrudgingly I’m listing Lurlene McDaniel as well. In TFiOS Hazel talks about An Imperial Affliction and how it isn’t like all those other cancer books. Well, Lurlene McDaniel writes those other cancer books.
- Maureen Johnson: While MJ doesn’t have the same thing that John Green does, she has something else and they fall in the same plane that I don’t really have words for. The Key to the Golden Firebird is especially good and poignant.
- My Sister’s Keeper by Jodi Picoult: A very different look at dealing with cancer, one that I’ve never seen before, and in that sense it is refreshing. And, as always, Picoult will turn your brain in circles examining multiple viewpoints.
Recommended by Karen @ Teen Librarian’s Toolbox:
- Me and Earl and The Dying Girl by Jesse Andrews
- If I Stay by Gayle Forman
- The Sky Is Everywhere by Jandy Nelson
- Deadline by Chris Crutcher
- If You Come Softly by Jacqueline Woodson
Movies/TV
Recommended by Jacinda @ The Reading Housewives of Indiana:
- 50/50: This movie is just plain sad. Those were my thoughts when I was watching this with my husband who also felt the same way. It’s very real and raw and I’m getting a knot in my throat all over again.
Recommended by Anna @ Anna Reads:
- A Walk to Remember: A Walk to Remember, starring the genius that is Mandy Moore, is another sobfest about cancer. I love this movie so hard and I’m not ashamed to admit it.
Recommended by Twan @ Artie Is My Muse:
- Wit: This movie is amazing. The play is even better if you get a chance to see it live, but the movie has Emma Thompson, so that’s a major plus.
- Stepmom: This movie impressed me; it wasn’t trite the way I thought it would be. It isn’t as raw as TFiOS but still a good one.
- A Walk to Remember: This one is cheesier (it is Nicholas Sparks), but I still like the way it is more about living than they dying part of cancer.
- My Sister’s Keeper: This is based off the Picoult book, but I warn you they changed major parts from the book (not just left stuff out, but actually changed the plot. . .I was not happy with it).
- Angels in America: This is also a play, and I only wish I could say I’ve seen it live to tell you how incredible it must be. This one isn’t about cancer, it’s about HIV/AIDS, but among very many other things it deals with living–not dying–in many ways. And it is brain numbingly brilliant.
- The Big C: I haven’t actually watched this but I’ve read some good things so I thought I’d throw it on here.
What books, movies, tv, and music would you recommend for fans of The Fault in our Stars? Share your own suggestions in the comments!
