Looking for Alaska by John Green

Photo from Goodreads

Summary From Goodreads

Before. Miles "Pudge" Halter's whole existence has been one big nonevent, and his obsession with famous last words has only made him crave the "Great Perhaps" (François Rabelais, poet) even more. He heads off to the sometimes crazy, possibly unstable, and anything-but-boring world of Culver Creek Boarding School, and his life becomes the opposite of safe. Because down the hall is Alaska Young. The gorgeous, clever, funny, sexy, self-destructive, screwed-up, and utterly fascinating Alaska Young, who is an event unto herself. She pulls Pudge into her world, launches him into the Great Perhaps, and steals his heart.

My Thoughts

Rated 2 Stars

The first book I read by John Green.  I thought Green really brought Miles to life in this book.  You can feel his pain, hurt, emotion throughout the story.  A new kid in a new school, he felt out of place.  That is a naturally feeling.  I'm sure many of us have been there at some point.  I just don't like how Green made Miles give into peer pressure.  Not every teen gives in to it when they're in school.  But in this book, Green made it seem like most do.  What would've been better to see is if the main character actually stood up against peer pressure.  Show that it's just as cool not to give in as other who believe the best thing to do is give into the pressure.

The parts of the book when Miles felt that he was a loner and had no friends was what I could relate to the most.  But other than that, it was hard to relate to any of the other characters in this book.  Their personalities just weren't something that you could really like.

I wish I could say there was a scene that particularly stood out to me, but there wasn't.  Everything was redundant with the just going out, getting drunk, smoking, breaking school rules.  Really?  Green should have put different scenes in it.  Give us more of a feeling of what life was like in the boarding school.

To be honest, Green got me good with the ending.  The whole time, I kept thinking (which I'm sure many who read it thought) that something else would've happened.  (Don't want to give away the ending.)  But in the end...it was just that.  The book ended and it wasn't anything special.  A mediocre ending to a mediocre book.

My lasting impression of this book would be WHY?  Why was it written?  What was the meaning behind it?  I just finished reading it yesterday and I'm already forgetting parts of it.

In the end, this book was just alright.  It could have been better.  Green could've found a way to show a side of teens that don't follow the crowd.  That is a better example to set for people.  Not what message was sent through this book.  But it was a fast read, which I liked also.

I would recommend this book to those who want a quick book to read.  But other than that, I wouldn't bother reading it if you're looking for a captivating story line.




 

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