--- description: Find out why 'The Fault in Our Stars' by John Green is on TIME's list of best YA books of all time. title: 'The Fault in Our Stars' Is on TIME’s List of the 100 Best YA Books image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt447ebb035b83cfab/698a1bc9e76ad2d3576391cd/the-fault-in-our-stars-best-YA.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 --- Aug 11, 2021 # The Fault in Our Stars by John Green by [TIME Staff](/author/time-staff/) ## TIME Staff Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close  As one of the most popular young-adult writers of the 21st century, internationally best-selling author John Green has become an entry point to the genre for many readers. His most-beloved book takes inspiration for its title from a famous line in Shakespeare’s _Julius Caesar_: “The fault, dear Brutus, is not in our stars, but in ourselves.” _The Fault in Our_ _Stars_ charts the love story of Hazel Grace Lancaster, a 16-year-old with stage IV thyroid cancer, and Augustus Waters, a 17-year-old in remission from osteosarcoma, a type of bone cancer that caused him to lose a leg, after they meet in a cancer support group. The 2012 release of the highly anticipated teen drama, Green’s fifth, made it an instant No. 1 best seller, and the book went on to spend [78 consecutive weeks](https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/arts-and-entertainment/wp/2014/06/04/the-fault-in-our-stars-by-the-numbers-just-how-huge-is-this-movie-going-to-be/ "undefined") on the New York _Times_ best-seller list and sell more than 23 million copies worldwide. The cultural fanfare surrounding Green’s electric story continued when a movie adaptation starring Shailene Woodley and Ansel Elgort hit theaters in 2014\. While so-called[ “sick lit”](https://www.refinery29.com/en-us/2019/03/226006/what-is-sick-lit-books "undefined") has in recent years faced criticism for [romanticizing terminal illness and death](https://medium.com/inter-alia/sick-lit-a-new-and-debatable-phenomenon-in-young-adult-ya-literature-90a7b7a98f72 "undefined"), _The Fault in Our Stars_ is an undeniable juggernaut of YA literature, offering a heart-wrenching portrait of the intensity of young love. —_Megan McCluskey_ **Buy Now:** _The Fault in Our Stars_ on [Bookshop](https://bookshop.org/a/4973/9780142424179 "undefined") | [Amazon](https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/014242417X/ref=as%5Fli%5Fqf%5Fasin%5Fil%5Ftl?ie=UTF8&tag=time-books-20&creative=9325&linkCode=as2&creativeASIN=014242417X&linkId=9eee76e4ff01806db301be358c3cb692 "undefined") ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"Article","@id":"https://time.com/collections/100-best-ya-books/6084679/the-fault-in-our-stars/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/collections/100-best-ya-books/6084679/the-fault-in-our-stars/"},"headline":"The Fault in Our Stars","datePublished":"2021-08-11T11:36:36.000Z","dateModified":"2026-03-02T23:52:23.618Z","description":"Find out why 'The Fault in Our Stars' by John Green is on TIME's list of best YA books of all time.","url":"https://time.com/collections/100-best-ya-books/6084679/the-fault-in-our-stars/","keywords":["Books","Lists","best YA books"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt447ebb035b83cfab/698a1bc9e76ad2d3576391cd/the-fault-in-our-stars-best-YA.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"TIME Staff","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/time-staff/"}],"creator":"TIME Staff","articleSection":"","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt447ebb035b83cfab/698a1bc9e76ad2d3576391cd/the-fault-in-our-stars-best-YA.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/collections/100-best-ya-books/6084679/the-fault-in-our-stars/","name":"The Fault in Our Stars"}}]}] ```