Friday Finale: TFiOS

This week on Elsewhere, we celebrated the truly wonderful bestselling novel by John Green, THE FAULT IN OUR STARS...

On Monday...
We caused a bit of Mayhem together by suggesting the book to a member of our family. There were no responses to this week's challenge, BUT thank you to all of you who read THE FAULT IN OUR STARS via my recommendation and thank you to all of you who recommended it to others!

On Tuesday...
We went to Twitter and had a look at what people were saying about TFiOS with and without us! Though I would've loved to get a #teamelsewhere hashtag going, it was unsuccessful because this week there were so few of us. However! So many people were participating in the thread, it was crazy! There were so many good things being said about the book even without us! It was a happy day in Elsewhere, my friends, to know we didn't have to do ALL the work. And it made me really, really proud of how successful the book is doing over all around the country and even the world!

On Wednesday...
We opened the floor for you guys to either write a response to Hazel's oblivion monologue or to write a creative sequel to his made up novel An Imperial Affliction. Unfortunately, since there were no entries to the Wednesday Writes Challenge, you all had to put up with me giving Hazel's speech a piece of my mind. I've been sick all week so I admit, I sound a little... let's just say it, then. CRAZY. But the gist of it all was that, while I agreed with her in chunks, I found her speech much too gloom-and-doom to actually hold up against her previous convictions of wanting to live for as long as she possibly could.

On Thursday...
We went all around my internets and I showed you all the thoughts people have shared with me (and a few that others have shared with others) regarding THE FAULT IN OUR STARS. It's a great feeling when, no matter where you turn, you are met with people who like the same things you do. And although not everyone is head over heels for Hazel and Augustus, it's pretty unanimous that the book is good! And honestly, guys it IS good. You should definitely check it out if you haven't already. I highly--- HIGHLY!--- recommend it.

And now it's Friday! 
And on top of the obvious thing that you can do--- ahem! Join me on Livestream at 2 P.M. PST to talk TFiOS and Ally Carter's LOVE YOU, KILL YOU!--- here are some other things that you can occupy your time with if you haven't had enough TFiOS!

1. You can listen to the THE FAULT IN OUR STARS inspired playlist I've compiled based on the music featured in this week's Daily Doses. There's a bonus track included AND if you listen to it before noon, you'll know today's song before anyone else does!

2. You can visit this awesome Tumblr that has a bunch of epic John Green quotes. At the moment, a lot of TFiOS quotes are gracing its pages, but there are quotes from his other novels, too, so if you're a big John Green fan or if you just love quotes (like moi!), you should check it out! It's a great source of inspiration.

3. You can continue to spread the word about it and get people reading. Honestly, our work as book lovers is never done. We must keep on, keeping on and as I've said before, when you love a book, you should keep talking about it--- that's how they live on, you know! And this is one of those stories I'm hoping will live forever.

4. There's also a special Tumblr for those of us who have finished reading TFiOS and have questions about it. Only visit this page if you have finished it because there are LOADS of spoilers and I know spoilers can be detrimental to whether some of us read a story or not. It's password protected so all you have to do to access it is to type in the last word of the acknowledgments exactly as you see it (it's case sensitive).

We had an awesome first week, I think! Here's to many, many more to come. We'll be back on Monday talking about Robin Mellom's debut novel DITCHED. The writing prompts for it can be found here and will be accepted starting now up until midnight PST on Sunday. Speaking of Sunday, that's when you'll be able to catch my review of it! So if you're still not sure whether you want to buy it or not, you will know then. I'll post early so that you have the day to decide what you want to do!

Lots of love, you guys,
Deserae

Thursday Thoughts -1-

Good morrow, Gentlefolk,

This week we've been spreading the word about THE FAULT IN OUR STARS like crazy people, and if you want to know how crazy crazy can be, here is what I've been doing to get the word out just in the past four days:

-I've been posting everyday here on My Ticket Elsewhere.
-I've been participating in the #TFiOS thread on Twitter.
-I've recommended it to two more people!
-I've been emailing my good friend Aria and my sister and we've been talking for hours on end about the book.
-I'm hosting a giveaway for a prize pack! Today is the last day(ish) to win it, but a lot can happen in a day! I believe in you!

So based on the review I posted this Sunday and on the pre-review review I wrote as soon as I finished the book, you guys have a pretty good idea of how I feel about TFiOS. Today, though, I want to celebrate other people's thoughts on the book. First I want you to hear what people just like you and me have said about it, and then I'll post links to book blogger reviews. I'll link each pic to the person or place I was talking to or found it. Cool? Here we go!

Twitter!

Alice and Me!

My sister and Me!

My blog!

Arianna!

Nicole, Sonal, and Karly!

Your blogs!

Sonal's Review!

Other blogs and v-logs!

HD's Review at Reading, Writing, Breathing, his book blog!

The Booksmugglers' Almost-not-quite Review

John Green discussing TFiOS

An interview w/John Green RE: TFiOS

John Green Reading the First Ch. TFiOS

And if that wasn't enough to convince you to get down and dirty with THE FAULT IN OUR STARS, you can always join us tomorrow as I discuss TFiOS live! Join me here at 2 P.M. PST to talk about this book and Ally Carter's I'D TELL YOU I'D LOVE YOU, BUT THEN I'D HAVE TO KILL YOU.

Until then, mon amies!
Deserae
P.S. As this is our first week of Elsewhere and our first week doing book talks, I'm not expecting a huge crowd. But I encourage you to come anyway! Invite a friend! You need an account to join the chat but that only takes a few seconds and I'll even be taking questions/ discussion topics from my blog and Twitter.

Tuesday in Tweets -1-

Better late than never, right? Maybe next week we can get a #teamelsewhere thread going. We shall see, Orange Ones, but the conversation for TFiOS is on-going over in the Twitterverse. Check it out and please, keep spreading the word!

Cheers,
Deserae

Monday Mayhem -1- The Mayhem Ensues

The Fault in Our Stars

by John Green

Diagnosed with Stage IV thyroid cancer at 12, Hazel was prepared to die until, at 14, a medical miracle shrunk the tumours in her lungs... for now. 

Two years post-miracle, sixteen-year-old Hazel is post-everything else, too; post-high school, post-friends and post-normalcy. And even though she could live for a long time (whatever that means), Hazel lives tethered to an oxygen tank, the tumours tenuously kept at bay with a constant chemical assault. 

Enter Augustus Waters. A match made at cancer kid support group, Augustus is gorgeous, in remission, and shockingly to her, interested in Hazel. Being with Augustus is both an unexpected destination and a long-needed journey, pushing Hazel to re-examine how sickness and health, life and death, will define her and the legacy that everyone leaves behind.

Hey, hey, Party People! 

It's Monday... finally! And this week, we're talking THE FAULT IN OUR STARS. If you visit my channel sometime today, you will see three very important things: 

1. Me being awkward! (which is always important)

2. My sister being awkward! (which is usually important)

3. And me dishing out this week's Mayhem Challenge (which you might've have known had you read this month's calendar) IN ADDITION TO disclosing what's going to be included in this week's prize pack (which I know you know you want to know!)! 

So if you're even slightly interested in any of the aforementioned pieces of insanity, click on the link above to be instantly transported Elsewhere!

In the spirit of spreading insane amounts of love for THE FAULT IN OUR STARS, I want to encourage you to do your best to get people reading it this week. You can join us on Twitter, you can write a review, you can do a vlog, or you can tell a friend... It is officially your duty to do ANYTHING that gets people all over this thing, okay?

Tell you what? While you consider going down to your local library to make sure they've got a copy or two in their possession, why don't you watch one of these insanely awesome reviews of TFiOS? Or better yet, why don't you embed one on your blog beneath the review I KNOW you're going to write! Or BETTER YET!!! Why don't you watch one, while you make one of your own, of you telling the ENTIRE WORLD about TFiOS. No? Too crazy?

Let us know about your Mayhem pursuits here or over on today's Mayhem video. And be sure to invite a friend to Elsewhere. The more Wanderers we have, the less lost we'll feel. :)

Want more TFiOS?

Read my review here and, in the comments, leave links to your own. Also, you can check out awesome TFiOS quotes by visiting My Ticket Home every day this week, and following this Tumblr that provided a lot of the ones I used! 


Ciao, Bellas,
Deserae

Book Review: The Fault in Our Stars

This book changed my life.

Okay. Not my entire life. But the part of me that was tired of reading books.

Yeah. I said it. I was tired of reading books. And I didn't for the longest while but then, MAGIC... THE FAULT IN OUR STARS.

This book--- this book, you guys--- has instantly become one of my favorites. It's because of this book that I decided to pick up another book, and then another. It's because of this book that I wanted to start My Ticket Elsewhere up again as a book blog...

THE FAULT IN OUR STARS, essentially, is about a girl named Hazel who meets a boy named Augustus. And from the start we know Augustus likes Hazel, but here's the crux: she's dying of cancer.

You wouldn't know this girl was a "grenade" unless you saw her. Because her lungs literally "suck at being lungs," she has to wheel around an oxygen tank by day, and use a respirator to help her breathe by night. But he doesn't see the oxygen tank, or the tubes up her nose, or the chubbiness in her cheeks... Augustus sees Natalie Portman from V for Vendetta. Is it any wonder why I'm in love with this guy, ya'll?

Hazel's to-the-point, slightly sarcastic attitude meshes well with Augustus' sarcastic, but slightly care-free one. To him, life is "grand;" to her, life is death's waiting room. And it's this constant back-and-forth between the two of them--- between the good days, and the bad ones--- that reflects in their personalities. Hazel's not pessimistic, she's realistic, and she knows that one day (and maybe one day, soon) she is going to die and he is going to die and for a majority of the book this thought stands as an elephant in the room because, as the readers, we know it's true.

We want Hazel and Augustus to end up together. To have a happily ever after. To live in remission for years and years and years. But we know it's not going to happen. She is very, very sick. And though she's not bedridden (YET), the thought kind of creeps in... Maybe she's right. Maybe it IS better to be a grenade all on your own, so the people you love don't get hurt when you inevitably do what grenades do (i.e. explode--- a metaphor for when she dies. She's quite intent on making this clear).

But although THE FAULT IN OUR STARS focuses on life and death and what it means to be somewhere in between, what it really shows you is that, despite Hazel's best efforts to deny it, she becomes hopeful again. This book, ya'll, is filled with hope.

When she meets Augustus her whole world changes, and I have to say, mine did, too. She always saw the world, but was never really a part of it, and Gus changes that--- he brings her friendship, and he brings her love, he shows her happiness, and sadness, and he literally shows her the world. And, you know, if you read this far, you must be wondering why I want you to read the darned thing. The reason I'm so pushy about you reading this story is because I have never been so humbled by a book before in my life since reading the Bible (which is the only book I own that humbles me every single day).

You want to know life? Read about this girl who only knows the brink of death. You want to know death? Read about this girl, fighting for her life! You want to know romance? Read about a boy who is the hottest thing to walk the Earth since Heath Ledger, prosthetic leg and all. You want to know love? Read about the friends, and the family, and the friends of the family that care for these two characters and you want to feel something? Read this story about a life outside of your own--- this fictional life that some man who talks to his brother via video created in his spare time--- and tell me you don't feel everything. Tell me I'm imagining the wealth of awesome this book successfully explores, and tell me that you, upon reading it, did not enjoy it.

You will laugh. You may cry. And that's okay, you know? It really is. Because, essentially, if you laugh, it's because you related, and if you cry, it's because you understood. There is more to life than me, than you... This book? It makes you see that.