Hollywood, Ending

by John Green

A behind-the-scenes Hollywood love story that brilliantly confronts the private cost of a public life

For rising young actors Kai Laramie and Juniper Castillo, being cast in the buzzy biopic Andy Warhol Never Gets Old is the opportunity they’ve been waiting for. They’re on the verge of breaking out, and maybe even falling in love. Soon the movie is blowing up and so are their lives—in exciting but also terrifying ways.

John Green artfully blends a behind-the-scenes Hollywood love story with an unflinching examination of the insatiable attention economy. Told through dual points of view, the novel follows Kai and Juniper from their first days on location to the movie’s premiere, brilliantly juxtaposing their story with the on-screen study of Warhol’s life at the dawn of celebrity culture.

Hollywood, Ending is a deeply observed novel about the tension between a public and a private life, and finding your safe someone to hold onto. Tender, heartbreaking, and shrewdly funny, this is a story as only Green can tell it.

Genres: Fiction, Romance, Contemporary, Literary Fiction, Adult, Adult Fiction, Audiobook

304 pages, Paperback

Expected publication September 22, 2026

About the author

Librarian Note: There is more than one author in the Goodreads database with this name.

John Green's first novel, Looking for Alaska, won the 2006 Michael L. Printz Award presented by the American Library Association. His second novel, An Abundance of Katherines, was a 2007 Michael L. Printz Award Honor Book and a finalist for the Los Angeles Times Book Prize. His next novel, Paper Towns, is a New York Times bestseller and won the Edgar Allen Poe Award for Best YA Mystery. In January 2012, his most recent novel, The Fault in Our Stars, was met with wide critical acclaim, unprecedented in Green's career. The praise included rave reviews in Time Magazine and The New York Times, on NPR, and from award-winning author Markus Zusak. The book also topped the New York Times Children's Paperback Bestseller list for several weeks. Green has also coauthored a book with David Levithan called Will Grayson, Will Grayson, published in 2010. The film rights for all his books, with the exception of Will Grayson Will Grayson, have been optioned to major Hollywood Studios.

In 2007, John and his brother Hank were the hosts of a popular internet blog, "Brotherhood 2.0," where they discussed their lives, books and current events every day for a year except for weekends and holidays. They still keep a video blog, now called "The Vlog Brothers," which can be found on the Nerdfighters website, or a direct link here.

Reviews

[levi (starboy) (s.ia)]

Pre read
This is giving Hollywoods dead by lana del rey (unreleased)

[Morgan]

new john green this is NOT a drill

[Nesa]

Dear John,

You say Hollywood, Ending, I say My World, Crumbling.

8 years ago, I had the best of times reading Paper Towns while I was having the worst of times in real life. I was unsure of what would become of me, had lost touch with my best friends, and felt far behind my peers.

5 months ago, my father passed on. This January, two people I knew and cared about passed away as well. Everything happened so quickly, in less than three months, that I didn’t even have the time to process the first blow before the second knocked me over and the third knocked me out.

This February, my brother and I watched you and Hank raising funds for the 2026 Project for Awesome, answering funny questions, interviewing amazing people, popping balloons, and eating exotic fruit. I hadn’t laughed that much in months. By the way, congratulations on breaking your own record—over $4 million raised! You were speechless but still talking, Hank was covered in confetti. I was overwhelmed. I couldn’t stop thinking about Paper Towns, so I ended up writing a review.

Yesterday, I found out you’re publishing Hollywood, Ending this year—a novel about two people in their 20s, Kai and Juniper, navigating fame, adulthood, love, and trauma as the movie they’re working on, Andy Warhol Never Gets Old (about the last year of Warhol’s life), blows up.

I’m curious to see how the movie within the book, a fiction within a fiction, plays out. Will the characters see parts of themselves in the roles they’re playing? Will the plot of the movie help them find clarity in their own lives, the way fiction books sometimes do for us as readers? I know your novels have already done that for me.

Once again, I might have the worst of times in real life, but I know I’ll have the best of times reading your new novel. It feels like meeting an old friend after many, many years. It feels like finding my the back home.

Dear John, you have no idea how much we needed this. Thank you for giving us something to look forward to. Funny how everything changes, people leave, some friends don’t stay, but books… books stay with us forever.

See you in September. Until then, take care.

And thanks for all the memories.

[ଘRory ( semi-hiatus)]

John Green is back to "Writing Fiction Era"😍

[꧁ ༺Minne༻ ꧂ (Back :))]

The number of books coming out in September and October 🤯​ If you need me, I'll be under house arrest.

I’m happy we're finally getting a new romance novel


I swear I love the non-fiction and I'll read whatever he writes (even though that blurb's not looking too enticing ​👀​​) but I'm over the moon right now.

[Ashley]

so happy to see him write adult fiction

[Rach]

30 year olds across america falling to our weak knees

[engy]

COVER ALERT

ok i will admit i was a bit disappointed when i first saw it but when he explained it i was like yk what its lowk genius. sorry for doubting you mr green will not happen again 🫡

ANYWAY IM SO FLIPPIN EXCITED MAN SEPTEMBER CANNOT COME SOON ENOUGH

----

john green fiction john green fiction john green fiction

he got his spark back 🥹🥹🥹🥹🥹🥹

[⋆｡ ﾟ sara (rinezha’s version) ☾ ﾟ｡⋆]

i am seated 🤭

[Kate Willis]

So happy to be a fan for the Greenaissance.

[Emma Griffioen]

Best news ever, I was screaming yesterday when the news broke!!!

[Anna]

A new John Green novel?!

In 2026?

Yeah. I'm in.

[Daphne]

Thank you Penguin Random House for gifting me an advance reader’s copy of Hollywood, Ending.

John Green is an author who defined my lived experience as a teenager. I owe so much of how I observe the world around me to his YA novels. Hollywood, Ending met and exceeded my expectations.

[Molly Moon]

If someone were to ask me what this book is about, I would have a few options. Two young actors starring in a Hollywood film. Sure. The deconstruction of celebrity and all the crooked gears that enable the machine. Definitely. Andy Warhol and the commodification of art. Of course. Fear and grief and trauma and love. Absolutely.

John Green makes me want to be a better writer, a better observer, of this life. My only complaint is that I cannot watch Andy Warhol Never Gets Old now. But, as we have learned with complaints from Andy himself, I suppose the only response is “so what.”

[Emily]

john green's adult debut....... i've prayed for times like these

[Whitney]

3/31/26

So happy to see him write some fiction again. Although I do love his nonfiction too!

2026 is becoming the best year for book releases!!

[Rebecca]

tbh the summary of this does not sound very appealing to me but I like to support John so on the TBR it goes

[Madison]

First heard snippets of this read on little livestreams by John during the pandemic, and have not gone a week without thinking about the potential of this book since. Eager doesn't even begin to cover it.

[Shauna]

I cant write a review yet, because I cant read this yet. And that is deeply disappointing. But just like every john green book, I will be buying it on day one, at my favorite independent book store. So excited!!!!!

[Kaylin]

4.5

[jaymarie{hiatus}]

will be waiting patiently 🧍🏻‍♀️

[Sam Litt]

Review of first draft:

As a member of John’s semi-secret Patreon, I feel so lucky to have been able to listen to him read us a new chapter of this book each week as it was being written/finalized. I loved the story, the characters, pacing, and tone, and I am so excited to get to read the finished book to see how much was added, changed, and removed from the version of the story that I heard (I personally preferred Juniper Stallwort but I guess Juniper Castillo works too). Getting to peak behind the curtain at his writing process, hearing how the author’s ideas and concepts changed over time, and watching the plot come together was an incredibly unique opportunity. Further, the book releases on my birthday, which makes it feel extra special to me, almost like a gift for myself and millions of other readers as well.

The story itself packs so many powerful messages and insights into our culture and relationship with fame. Juniper’s cold levelheadedness in the face of the day-to-day work of someone in the spotlight contrasts so well with Kai’s eagerness and naivety. Though I preferred Junipers narration style, I felt more connected with Kai’s search for purpose and meaning, his strong sense of desire to make something meaningful and yet his ambivalence with the systems of the world that his path brings him into. His candidness and self doubts felt so relatable and human, while Juniper’s need to succeed and pressure that she places on herself felt all too familiar in a society that puts so much emphasis on monetary accomplishment and public admiration. John expertly weaves his critique of fame and publicity into a story with contemplations on art, Warhol, and the temporal nature of life and everything, with analysis of what it means to realize your dreams and the costs that might come with that, with a genuinely compelling yet entirely unique love story. His distain for the systemic process of PR and publicity are clearly sourced from his years as a famous public figure, and yet he never seems to be targeting any one person or group; rather he is revealing to the reader how grueling and demanding it can be to be thrust into the modern day viral limelight, and how much agency one loses once their anonymity is lost in exchange for celebrity.

And lastly, to John Green, since I know you are likely reading all the available reviews of H,E as the release date approaches, thank you so much for letting some of us into your writing process and sharing with us your ideas, drafts, and musings. It was genuinely one of the coolest and most unique artistic experiences I’ve ever been a part of, and I’ll be flying to see you on the tour as a sort of capstone to that art piece. You often say that a book is a collaboration between the author and the readers, and that has been extra true for this book. I’m honored to be part of that collaboration, and I find all of your work so inspiring and prescient- from your videos on global health and advocating for those less fortunate, to your RDR2 livestreams, and everything in between. Your persistent reminders that everything is fleeting and that we must make the most of our present moment are as grounding as they are motivating, and your deep love and support for all mediums of art have a profound way of pushing others to make their own art and appreciate all the art that is around them. I’m reminded of a quote that one of my favorite teachers in high school kept in his office and read every morning:
“You cannot force commitment, what you can do... You nudge a little here, inspire a little there, and provide a role model.
Your primary influence is the environment you create.” -Peter Senge
Thank you for the many amazing environments you cultivate and for the energy you put into the world, it is such a positive influence on those who come into your orbit, and in so doing you not only make the world a better and brighter place, but you encourage others to do their best to do the same. In a few days, when everyone gets to read your latest book, I’m confident that your positive influence and impact will continue to grow ever stronger, and bring even more people into your fight for a better and more just world.

DFBTA! We’re here because we’re here because we’re here because we’re here

[Jenn]

August 2026: A dear friend once shared how important it is to recognize your birthday week and your birthday month, and she was a believer in self-care and treating yourself. Therefore, since this book release falls in both those categories, I preordered a signed copy to treat myself with birthday gift of all the feels.

[Makayla MacGregor]

So glad we got this news on March 31st and not April 1st or I wouldn't have dared believe it. John Green - an adult novel - this year?? It feels too good to be true!!

[Melissa]

this entire plot is right up my alley

[Hayley]

Well, fuck.
(Deeply moving, so beautiful, cried at least seven times, highly recommend.)

[Katie (cozynatured)]

Excuse me, a new John Green book after 9 years??? About two people in their 20s and touches on falling in love, trauma, survival, internet/attention and finding love despite it all??? I’m so sat
I will not be waiting patiently until September :)

[The Bookish Elf]

When Juniper Castillo was six, her mother taught her to take her own pulse: fifteen seconds at the wrist, multiply by four. Get it down to eighty. Then her mother would hit her and ask for the number again, and Juniper learned to hold it at eighty while it was happening. She is twenty-two now, and she can still do it on request. She demonstrates it once, on a couch in a rented Pittsburgh apartment, holding out her arm so a boy she has known three weeks can feel the trick work. Acting, she calls it. Just like she taught me. That scene sits forty pages into Hollywood, Ending by John Green and it explains almost everything that comes after it.

Which is not to say the book is grim. It is very funny, and it is considerably harder than funny.

What Hollywood, Ending Knows About a Film Set

The premise is small and the execution is not. A former Nickelodeon child star and a boy from Indianapolis who has never been in a movie are cast opposite a Marvel superstar in a modest biopic about the last year of Andy Warhol's life. It is a thirty-four day shoot on a fourteen million dollar budget. Nobody expects much. Then the test scores come back at ninety-two percent, and the machine switches on.

Green has done the work here, and it shows in the vocabulary rather than in tourism. Trailers are ranked: a full trailer, then a double-banger you share with your costar and through whose wall you can hear everything, then a triple, then the honeywagon for day players. Producers watch from Video Village. A line producer knows to the dollar what a forgotten line costs. When a star stays on set to read his lines off camera during someone else's coverage, that is treated as an act of real generosity, because it is.

Matthew Malone, the superstar, delivers the book's thesis at a raw vegan restaurant on day one. Every industry converts human time into money, he says, but in this one they are not using your labour to turn iron into steel. They are using your labour to turn you into ticket sales. You are not just the labour. You are also the raw material.

Hollywood, Ending by John Green then spends four hundred pages proving him right in ways he did not intend.

The Pronoun John Green Never Defines

Kai Laramie was abused by his high school English teacher from the age of fourteen. He was chosen to testify at the trial because he was the straight-presenting athlete and the boy who actually reported it had a drug charge. The teacher is dead now. Kai has never once said the word out loud if he can help it. Throughout the novel it is only ever it — a pronoun that needs no antecedent, that saturates a room the moment anyone finds out. In a way, he says, it made me the it.

This is where the book earns its adult designation, and not because of the sex. Green writes desire from inside somebody whose desire was defined for him before he had one. Kai cannot work out whether wanting Juniper is permitted, whether imagining her is itself a violation, whether an evening he initiated at fifteen was indulgence or survival. He asks that last question of himself in a hotel room at two in the morning, and Hollywood, Ending by John Green refuses to answer it for him, which is the correct and the harder choice.

Then his abuse leaks, and the industry converts it. A gossip headline makes him a hero who put a predator away. Another survivor, correctly furious, posts a thread saying that is not what happened. His agent tells him it helps. His publicist tells him to get out in front of it. And for the next three weeks he sits in windowless conference rooms while a new reporter arrives every seven minutes and says, you have been very public about this, which is the phrase that grants permission.

The junket chapters are the best formal writing Green has done. Part three eventually gives up on scenes altogether and becomes an unbroken run of talking points — Matthew is a legend, I love Juniper, our favourite animal is the rhinoceros that escaped from the Prague Zoo, victims have nothing to be ashamed of — repeated until Kai notes that all of it is true and saying it this often has started to feel like a betrayal.

Where Hollywood, Ending Gives Ground

Almost everything wrong with Hollywood, Ending by John Green happens in the last hundred pages, and none of it is fatal.

Part four is the conventional stretch. Six chapters headed DAY 1 through DAY 6, a reconciliation in Jamaica, and beats that arrive in roughly the order you expect them to. It is warm and well-observed and it is the only section where you can see the outline.
The villain confesses. The reveal of who leaked Kai's history is delivered by the culprit himself, unprompted, on a red carpet, in dialogue that explains his own motive. After three hundred pages of characters saying the opposite of what they mean, the moment plays a little easy.
Two narrators, one cadence. Juniper is a compulsive note-taker and Kai is dyslexic and slow to read, and yet both produce aphorisms in the same shapely, essayistic rhythm. Green's nonfiction voice keeps surfacing through people who should not sound like it.
The agent and the executive are broad. Bob's profane monologues and Todd's endless jokes are genuinely funny, and they are cartoons standing next to the precision of Ellen, who is the finest character in the book and knows exactly what she is complicit in.
The Warhol material occasionally arrives as research. Two or three passages read like the biography Juniper is holding rather than something she thought.
Content Notes

Child sexual abuse by a teacher, treated without graphic description but with real specificity about grooming, testimony and the aftermath. Physical abuse of a child by a parent, and parental alcoholism. A recent parental death. Drug use and a bleeding nose staged within a film scene. Disordered eating touched on lightly. Explicit consensual sex between adults. The long-term effects of childhood sexual abuse that Hollywood, Ending by John Green describes are recognisable and accurately drawn, which is part of why the book lands so hard.

Worth Your Shelf

The romance at the centre of Hollywood, Ending by John Green works because both of these people are running the same broken calculation. Juniper wants to be great and cannot separate that from her dead mother's approval. Kai has natural gifts he did not ask for and no idea what he wants, having never been permitted to find out. Their obstacle, when they finally name it, is that neither can disentangle what they want from what they are supposed to want. Very few novels about famous people bother to be that specific.

What stays is the smaller stuff. A boy telling a woman he has just met that he loves her a little, because love is big and reckless and he says it whenever he feels it. A publicist admitting that caring about her client is an impediment to doing her job. A stick of mint gum, chewed hard, because when you are chewing it you cannot smell anything else. Hollywood, Ending by John Green is his best book, and the first one where the machine grinding away underneath the story is the story.

[hannah]

oh hell yes... we are SO back

[jo (taylor’s version)]

NEW JOHN GREEN IN THE BIG 2026???