Okay. I was a fanatical nerd, who couldn’t wait, so I went to the movie premiere of The Fault in Our Stars, which if you’ve been living under a rock, is the story of two teens with terminal cancer who fall in love. The Night Before Our Stars was an opportunity for the Fault Fanatics (that would be me) who couldn’t wait for June 6 to see the movie.

I have to say that moviegoers and fans of the book will probably fall in love with TFiOS the way Hazel Grace fell in love with Augustus Waters, slowly then all at once.

I know it sounds cheesy, but it is true. Maybe it is my natural distaste of book-movies that made me hold back in instantly loving this movie. Filmmakers often don’t do justice to the books they turn into films, but there are always the exceptions. It is especially hard if the book is outstanding and extremely well written. And of course, as much as I enjoyed the film adaption, the book is better…okay? Okay. Don’t throw eggs at me just because I wasn’t instantly smitten with the film and the actors. I was committed to trying to like them, which is why in the end I love them.

Josh Boone and the filmmakers at Fox did a superb job at capturing the elements of John Green’s bestselling novel. I won’t go into details of the film, but I will say you need to read the book before you see the movie. I think reading the book makes the movie so much better (not that it can’t stand alone…because it can). You get all the unsaid jokes, all the emotions that had to go unfelt, all the words that had to be cut, if you read the book.

Ansel Elgort and his winning smile will win you over, too. He’s pretty adorable and I’m a bit disappointed that more reviews aren’t commenting on his performance. Shailene Woodley is stealing the limelight. I’m not saying she wasn’t good, but Elgort shows you that even cute boys are ugly criers. He does a great job of bring Gus to life and being as boyishly charming as John Green wrote the character to be. You can’t help but like Augustus Waters.

Woodley’s performance is also well done. Some reviews are saying her performance deserves an Oscar nomination, but I wasn’t THAT impressed. Don’t get me wrong, I thought she did an outstanding job of making Hazel Grace real for so many people including me. Her chemistry with Elgort is obvious and plays out well for the storyline. The girl can shed some tears, I’ll give her that.

One thing I didn’t like about the movie was the pop up, animated text messages. I thought it was a little too silly, but it was easy to get over because it was meant to make you laugh. In a way, it brought a lightheartedness to an extremely sad story.

Beautifully written, well acted, heartbreaking tale of first love — it will make you laugh and cry just like the book.

Take a box of tissues. It’s okay…even grown men will cry.