Hazel is a 16-year-old girl living with a terminal form of thyroid cancer that has spread to her lungs. Because of her cancer she is forced to carry an oxygen tank. A precocious and conscientious girl, Hazel thinks deeply about her life and death, deciding to keep those around her at a distance because she believes her death will damage them. Through falling in love with Augustus, however, she develops a new perspective on life and death, and comes to terms with her impermanence