Despite the tumor-shrinking medical miracle that has bought her a few years, Hazel has never been anything but terminal, her final chapter inscribed upon diagnosis. But when a patient named Augustus Waters suddenly appears at Cancer Kid Support Group, Hazel's story is about to be completely rewritten.
The seventeen year-old Hazel Grace has lung cancer and needs to carry an oxygen tank wherever she goes. Her mother Frannie encourages her to go to a cancer support group against her will. However, when Hazel meets the eighteen year-old Gus, who lost part of one leg with cancer but apparently is cured, they fall in love with each other. Hazel introduces her favorite novel to Gus and tells that she dreams of having a conversation with the author, Peter Van Houten, who lives in Amsterdam, about the ending of the novel. Gus contacts him through his assistant, and Van Houten invites them to visit him in Amsterdam. They travel to The Netherlands with Frannie where Hazel will learn that Peter Van Houten is not like they expected at all.