I will start this review by saying that I don't know how to write a review of a book like this. I found this book through John Green's most excellent The Fault inOur Stars. And I'm so glad I did.
John Green accomplishes an impossible task in The Fault in Our Stars. He somehow is able to humanize an unhumanizable (yes, that's a word) subject - childhood cancer. And he does so in a beautifully written fictional narrative that I highly recommend.
But Esther Grace Earl quite literally gives us her magnum opus - her diaries, poems, prose, blogs - her life. And through her, we see life's beauty. We see God's greatest gift of love as it pours out through the heart of a young lady whose star shines brightly even now, four years after her death from thyroid cancer.
As a child, I read a few books that stand out in my mind as being "cancer books." But This Star Won't Go Out is not a cancer book. It's a book of love. It's a book of kindness, of creativity, of the exuberance of a teenager. Who also happens to be terminally ill. And through her love and her relationships with the people around her, we learn that our weaknesses do not have to define us. We learn that God's love triumphs, even in the most painful circumstances.
I know that everyone will take something different from this book. But whatever gift you are given as you turn that last page, it will leave you with a different outlook on your life. Don't let the subject matter frighten you. Just read it. You'll be glad you did.