Love story so pure, yet tragic of two teenagers battling cancer. Hazel Grace Lancaster is battling
thyroid cancer. She doesn’t have any friends, nor is she interested in making any. Her doctor keeps
suggesting a support group to which Hazel says that it’s not her thing. After some bickering,
Hazel ends up going to the support group either way. The leader of the support group Patrick likes
to refer to himself as an example that there is God and healing is possible. Patrick is a survivor
of testicular cancer. He almost died but didn’t and because of that he formed a support group to
encourage all, that if they’re lucky they might be healed as well. He is a believer in Jesus,
so every meeting they have is in the heart of Jesus, a carpet that he made so everyone can
sit on. The therapy goes as Hazel expected, she didn’t like it and wasn’t planning on going back,
but little did she know what was about to happen in the next session. Hazel’s life consisted of
reality shows, doctor’s appointments, and eight prescription drugs three times a day but the worst
thing to her was that she had to go to the support group. When it’s time for the next session of the
support group, Hazel does everything she can to convince her parents to let her not go, but that
doesn’t work. The reason behind Hazel’s going is because she wants to make her parents happy,
that is the reason she does everything is the last couple of days. Her mother drops her off at
the building and she walks inside. While walking she bumps into a young boy that she sees for the
first time. The session starts later on, and the boy that bumped into Hazel was also there,
which made Hazel feel a bit shy. The boy is new so he introduces himself. His name is Augustus
Waters, he is eighteen years old and he has had Osteosarcoma which resulted into losing one of
his legs. But really the reason as to why he’s there is because of his friend Isaac. Isaac was
also suffering from cancer, Retinoblastoma to be more exact. He had one eye removed,
but will have to remove the other one in order to stop the cancer, he reveals that
even though he is battling cancer he is happy because he has a girlfriend that he loves a lot
and a friend like Gus. To get to know Augustus better, Patrick asks him to share his fears.
Gus reveals that his biggest fear is oblivion and that he likes to live an extraordinary life and
wants to be remembered as a hero. Patrick asks if there’s someone that would like to comment
on Augustus’ fear and Hazel raises her hand. She says that we’re all going to die either way and we
will be forgotten eventually so there’s no point in fearing oblivion. After the session is over,
Hazel steps outside to wait for her mother to pick her up. Upon waiting she sees Isaac and his
girlfriend being affectionate and stares at them. They have a way of expressing their love for each
other by saying “always”. She is caught up in the show going on in front of her, when Augustus comes
next to her. He explains to her the meaning behind “always” and they have a laugh. Augustus invites
Hazel to watch a movie and she is fond of the idea. As Augustus takes a cigarette and puts
it in his mouth, Hazel looks at him confused and disgusted. She’s disappointed at him and explains
that he had already had cancer and as opting for another one. He looks at her and laughs. He tells
her that the cigarettes don’t hurt you unless you light them, and that he has never lit one. For him
cigarettes are his metaphor. He puts the thing that has the ability to put him to sleep forever
between his teeth but never gives it the power to put him to eternal sleep. Hazel is impressed
by the way this young boy thinks. Hazel’s mother comes to pick her up but she decides to go watch a
movie with Augustus. As they are driving Augustus asks her about her story. Hazel explains that she
was thirteen when the cancer was discovered. It was stage four thyroid cancer. She went through
all the treatment and it was working but stopped working after a while. Her lungs had started
filling up with water and there’s was nothing that could have been done. In her words that should’ve
been the end but a miracle had happened. She got better by the treatment that didn’t work for a lot
of people but it sure did for her. She was getting treated with Phalanxifor and could continue to
live with that for a long time. They arrive at Augustus’ house and head to his room. As they
sit down Augustus asks her what her real story is and not the cancer one, what are her interests,
hobbies and what she loves. Hazel tells him that her favorite novel is An Imperial Affliction.
The author is Peter Van Houten who understands what it is like to be dying but hasn’t died yet.
Augustus proposes a deal. He promises to read the novel only if Hazel reads “Counterinsugence”,
a book about his favorite video game. The next couple of days go on and Hazel waits
for Augustus’ call, but a couple of days go by and there are no signs of him, until one day.
Hazel receives a text from Augustus. In the text Augustus expresses his love for the book and his
obsession with it. The book is about cancer and it finishes mid sentence which makes the reader crazy
but that’s what a life with cancer is like, you’re expecting to die at any moment.
Later on Hazel receives a phone call from Augustus and he asks her to come over as his friend Isaac,
who is having a psychotic episode. Hazel arrives at his place and sees that Isaac’s not feeling
good. He reveals that his girlfriend had broken up with him because she couldn’t handle the fact that
Isaac would be removing his other eye. They cheer up Isaac by letting him break the trophies from
Augustus’ room. While Isaac is letting his anger out, Augusts explains his admiration to Hazel.
Both of them are wondering the same thing, and both of them have the same questions. Like what
happens at the end of the book, what happens to her mother, the Dutch tulip man and even Sisyphus
the hamster? Augustus asks Hazel if she has tried to contact this amazing author. Hazel reveals that
she has sent him a number of letters but he has never responded. The author had moved to
Amsterdam. Later in the night Augustus calls Hazel and tells her he cannot stop thinking about the
book. They have a chat about it and Augustus tells her that he had found the email of the author’s
assistant and had contacted her about the book. Hazel is thrilled and excited as she’s writing
a mail herself to the author. She asks him all the questions her and Augustus have talked about.
She reads the mail to Augustus through the phone and he jokes that the mail is a bit pretentious.
Hazel realizes that it’s late and that she should go to sleep. Augustus says okay and Hazel says
it back, as they go back and forth Augustus suggests that “okay” should be their “always”.
Hazel is fond of the idea. The next morning Hazel wakes up to amazing news. She had received a mail
from the author and he has invited them to Amsterdam to answer all of their questions.
Hazel gets excited and calls out for her mom. She comes into the room and sees the mail,
seeing Hazel happy makes her smile but unfortunately they can’t afford to go to
Amsterdam. Hazel understands and says nothing of it. After the session, Hazel tells Augustus about
the situation and he suggests that she should ask the Genies to make her wish come true. She
reveals that she had already used her wish to go to Disneyland. Augustus makes fun of her wish and
jokes about it. In the afternoon Augustus come to Hazel’s house and invites her to a picnic.
She agrees to it. They arrive at the “Funky Bones by Jeep Van Lieshout”, a picnic place
where a skeleton is a playground. As they’re chatting Augustus reveals that he is a virgin
and Hazel doesn’t believe that. Augustus draws a circle in the sand-“The circle of virginity”,
and draws himself in it as he explains that the chances of losing this as a guy without one leg
are very slim. They laugh about it and set up the picnic. As they are sitting and eating sandwiches,
Augustus tells Hazel that he had talked to the Genies and asked them to fulfill his wish of
meeting Peter Van Houten, but of course he couldn’t go to meet him without the girl who
introduced him to the author. The Genies were all for it. Hazel is really excited and goes to
tell her mother about it. They agree that they should go and talk to her doctor first. At the
doctors they get positive news. Hazel could go to Amsterdam only if her mother goes with her,
however all of that comes crumbling down as Hazel is taken to the hospital, because her lungs have
been filled with water once more. Hazel gets better and is having a chat with the doctors.
The only question on her mind is if she could go to Amsterdam or not. The doctors say no and Hazel
is left devastated. In the next couple of days Hazel doesn’t talk to Augustus, she doesn’t want
to waste his time because she knows that she cannot fulfill his wish. Some time passes and
Hazel finally answers Augustus’ calls. She tells him that she isn’t well and that she doesn’t want
this particular life. Augustus comes to Hazel’s house and as they’re having a conversation,
he tells her that he likes her but, she says that she can’t let their situation go any further than
friendship because she doesn’t want to hurt him. Even though Augustus wants to be more than that,
he agrees to them being just friends. One morning as Hazel is checking her mail she notices a mail
from the author’s assistant. In the mail it said that the author was expecting them on the
fourth. Hazel calls out to her mom and asks her whether she had forgotten to cancel their trip to
Amsterdam. Her mother looks at her with excitement and reveals that they are going to Amsterdam after
all. As they’re getting out of the house, ready to go to the airport, Augustus arrives with a limo,
claiming that he travels with style. They get on a plane and Augustus says that he has never flown on
a plane before and gets a little bit scared. Hazel jokes about it and helps Augustus relax. When they
arrive at the hotel, they get an invitation to a dinner in the restaurant called “Oranjee” paid
by the author. Hazel starts getting ready and her mother gifts her a beautiful blue dress so
she can wear it to the dinner. Augustus knocks at their door and is greeted by Hazel’s mom.
She complements him and lets him inside. He sees Hazel and tells her that she’s gorgeous.
They arrive at the restaurant and are gifted with champagne by the restaurant. They order the chef’s
choice and enjoy their night. After some casual conversation Augustus tells Hazel that he loves
her, he knows that we are all doomed and that one day all of our labor will turn into dust, but he
wanted Hazel to know that he is in love with her. The next morning both Hazel and Augustus get ready
to meet the author, their wish is finally about to come true. They get to the author’s house and
are greeted with the assistant who lets them inside. They are greeted with the author who
doesn’t really exceed their expectations. The author is an alcoholic, he doesn’t look well,
nor is he nice. His behavior is absurd and it looks like he’s making fun of them. The author
makes fun of Augustus’ intelligence and asks him if the cancer had gone to his brain. Hazel
tries to ease the tension and asks the author about Anna’s family. The author says that he
is not interested in answering question about the book. Hazel insists and he tells her that nothing
happens, they’re fiction. Hazel and the author get into an argument and he asks them to leave.
After they get out of the house the assistant chases after them. She apologizes and asks to
take them to the Ann Franks house. They get to the house and find out that there are no lifts. They
need a lift because of Hazel’s breathing. Hazel is brave and decides to go up the stairs; she makes
a couple of pauses throughout the climbing but never gives up. As she’s climbing the stairs, Ann
Frank’s words echoing through the house are what motivates her to keep going. They climb at the
top and everyone is proud of her. Ann’s words of wisdom, about capturing the beauty around us are
what motivate Hazel to kiss Augustus. They kiss and everyone around them is in awe. They spent the
night making love and holding each other. The next morning Augustus wakes up and instead of seeing
Hazel by his side he sees a note. On the note is a drawing of the circle of virginity and outside of
the circle was Augustus. They have breakfast with Hazel’s mom. As they’re talking Augustus remembers
that he has to tell something to Hazel and asks her mom if they could have some time alone.
They go and take a walk. As they’re sitting on a bench Augustus finally reveals to her that the
cancer has spread everywhere. Hazel is devastated but Augustus asks her not to treat him like he’s
dying. They agree that they’re going to live to the fullest no matter how much they’ve got left.
Couples of days later, after they had come back from Amsterdam, Hazel, Augustus and Isaac are
hanging out at Augustus’ place. Isaac had had the surgery and reveals that his ex Monica
didn’t even call him to ask his whether he was alright. Augustus gets a crazy idea,
they go and egg Monica’s car. Late into the night Hazel receives a phone call from Augustus,
asking her to come to the gas station because he doesn’t feel well. Hazel arrives and sees
that Augustus’ stomach tube had been infected. She calls the ambulance and they take him to the
hospital. Even though Hazel wasn’t allowed to see him she stayed at the hospital praying for him.
Augustus is released from the hospital a couple of days later. He is now in a wheelchair. Hazel
waits for him and takes him to their favorite place which is the picnic. Augustus is down;
he doesn’t want to go from this world unnoticed. Hazel gets angry as she explains that he is a
hero to her and that’s all that matters. Augustus had previously asked Hazel and Isaac to write a
eulogy for his funeral, so one day he calls Hazel and askes her to come to church. As she arrives
he tells her that he wants to hear their eulogies and that he had prepared a pre-funeral. First goes
Isaac and his speech is both funny and beautiful. Hazel’s speech is what makes Augustus’ heart melt.
Hazel refers to Augstus as the star-crossed love of her life and that their story is an epic one.
She speaks to Gus and thanks him for their little infinity. Augustus dies eight days later in the
ICU. The cancer stops his heart which results to his death. The pain is unbearable to Hazel,
she rates it a ten as she’s reminded of situation when she would go to the ER and they would ask her
to rate the pain out of ten. As Hazel’s waiting to give her speech at the funeral, Peter Van
Houten himself stands next to Hazel. He tells her something but she doesn’t respond to him. She’s
next to give a speech. The speech she delivers is not the one she read to Augustus at his “pretend
funeral”, she kept those words for him only as she delivered an unplanned speech. After the funeral
is done she heads to her car to drive around for a little and clear her head. She gets into the car
and as she’s about to drive off, the author climbs into the car with her. He tells her that Augustus
was persistent on him coming to the funeral and answering the questions they were once dying to
know. She tells him that she doesn’t want to know and asks him to leave her car. He tries to talk
to her but doesn’t let him. He gives her a letter which she crushes between her hands and kicks the
author out of the car. As she seating at home, Isaac comes to visit her. They have a chat about
Augustus. When Isaac asks Hazel about the author, she reacts in annoyance. Isaac asks her if she had
read the letter and tells her that it was written by Augustus. Hazes rushes to the car to see the
crumbled piece of paper. In the letter Augustus asks the author to help him fix his writing,
because that was a eulogy for Hazel. He goes on expressing his love for Hazel in a beautiful way;
reminiscing every moment they have spent together. He finishes the letter thanking Hazel with,
“Okay Hazel Grace?” Hazel lies on the grass, holding Augusts’ letter to her heart.
Looking at the sky and thinking of Augustus, and saying “Okay" In the end.