The Fault in Our Stars Book Club Questions

Ten discussion questions for John Green’s The Fault in Our Stars (2012) - written for groups who have finished the book and want an argument, not a summary. Full spoilers ahead. The first six are anchored to this novel’s specific turns; the last four keep the room talking when the wine runs low.

Print questions

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1. 1. Hazel calls herself a grenade to keep people away. Is that wisdom or self-punishment - and where does the book land?

2. 2. Augustus fears oblivion; Hazel fears hurting people. Which fear does the novel treat as the more dangerous?

3. 3. An Imperial Affliction ends mid-sentence. How does that device comment on every ending a novel can offer?

4. 4. Van Houten is a cruel drunk - and wrote the book that saved Hazel's life. What does the novel argue about artists and their art?

5. 5. The Amsterdam trip is both the book's best and cruelest section. Why does Green put the confession on the flight home?

6. 6. 'You don't get to choose if you get hurt in this world... but you do have some say in who hurts you.' Is that comfort or hard truth?

7. 7. What did The Fault in Our Stars make you feel that you didn't want to feel?

8. 8. If you had to cut one plotline from The Fault in Our Stars entirely, which goes — and what does the book lose?

9. 9. Whose story in The Fault in Our Stars deserved its own novel instead of a chapter?

10. 10. The first line of The Fault in Our Stars — does the book keep the promise it makes? Where best and where worst?

How to run the meeting

Don’t go in order. Open with whichever question matches your group’s mood - a quiet room starts with a character question, a lively one starts with an argument about the ending. Let one question run until it genuinely dies, then jump. Two rules keep it alive: every claim gets pointed at the text (someone will have the book on their phone), and “I hated it” counts as an opinion that must be defended like any other.

The Fault in Our Stars runs about 65,752 words - roughly 313 pages - so a month between meetings is comfortable at 30 minutes a day; the full session math is on the reading time page. For a quicker take on who actually finished it, open the meeting with the The Fault in Our Stars quiz - scores settle grudges faster than discussion. The book’s famous quotes make good meeting-openers too, and if the group wants a next pick built like this one, the books like The Fault in Our Stars list is the handout.

Taking the club through the whole author? Our John Green books in order guide orders the full shelf.

Ground rules that save meetings

Three habits keep a club alive past the first bottle. First, the person who picked the book opens the discussion - they owe the group one sentence on why they chose it, which is usually the strongest prompt of the night. Second, silence is allowed to sit for a full ten seconds; the second answer is always better than the first. Third, end on the next pick while everyone is still arguing, because momentum is the only renewable fuel a book club has. The questions above are written to survive all three rules.

More book club question sets

Twilight questions, It Ends with Us questions, The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo questions, The Midnight Library questions - or grab questions for all 133 classics. For the end-of-season meeting, the mixed-classics book quiz settles who read the most.

Frequently asked questions