Augustus Waters, although you may be head over heals in love with another girl and you live four hours and 18 minutes away from me. I actually have a real boyfriend who might not approve of this, and you are a fictitious character in a devastatingly beautiful novel, will you marry me?

Like you said, “I know that love is just a shout into the void,” but  I am in love with you, Augustus Waters – my dreamed and imagined version of you.

As I sat in the theatre wiping the waterfall of tears from my mascara covered face, I could not find one fault in John Green’s novel, The Fault In Our Stars, and the brilliantly directed movie version by Josh Boone. Mind you, shedding a tear due to a fictional death in a movie, or crying over a book, is a very rare occasion for me. I am not the horrible Grinch that stole Christmas and I really do show some emotion while tearing through the pages of a book, but it takes a lot for an author to make me engage in a full on sobfest. However, The Fault In Our Stars had me pathetically rushing to the tissue box from the moment I began this beautiful tragic love story.      

I wish I had more sets of hands for The Fault In Our Stars, because this story deserves more than merely two thumbs up, it merits at least 10. It's not just the plot twists and romantic endeavors. The characters played in both the film and the book truly create a masterpiece. Boys, take it from me, Augustus Waters sets your girl’s expectations sky high and, although I did not do so hot in my statistics class, I know for a fact that the probability of any of you men meeting these expectations is probably nonexistent. So, fellas, I implore you to take a page from John Green’s book and learn from his beautifully imagined character. Maybe you will even understand why girls become weak at the knees for a guy like Gus.       

Gus is a hopeless romantic. No matter how amazing a date seemed to you at one point, Gus probably topped it when he took Hazel to Amsterdam. He is the perfect gentleman. It is not every day someone pines for you and your affection with such class and respect. He is not afraid to love someone, imperfections and all. When he loved Hazel, he loved every part of her. He is, oh, so handsome and witty.  Ladies, you know what I am talking about. He is the perfect fairy tale.      

I know it is silly to be so invested in imagined characters, but just like Noah from The Notebook, Jacob from Water for Elephants, or Jack from the Titanic, these leading men give us girls hope that we will someday find our prince charming. These men allow us to dream that one day we will have our own little infinity and a passionate love affair with someone, just like Hazel and Augustus once had. To the gentlemen reading this, please do not take offense, because we are big girls and we know that a fantasy is just that – a fantasy. But, it is still fun to dream and revel in fictional characters.    

So thank you, John Green, for creating a character like Augustus Waters. I know he is a fairy tale and I cannot literally marry him, but that boy melted my heart from start to finish.

Everyone, go out and read this wonderful story or buy a ticket to watch it on the big screen. Like John Green wrote, “Sometimes, you read a book and it fills you with this weird evangelical zeal, and you become convinced that the shattered world will never be put back together unless, and until, all living humans read the book.” This is how I feel about The Fault In Our Stars.