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3.81 AVERAGE
3.81 AVERAGE
I love the philosophy of this book. I, myself think that everything has a deeper Meaning and therefore I love philosophic books. I also got really affected in some ways by Alaska’s death (I also love the name Alaska). In the same time I am mad, still after reading this book. I am mad at Alaska for thinking that she needs to be strong and independent. You don’t always need to be mysterious and deep, it’s okey to fall apart. This review suddenly turned in to some sort of a psychological session. My point anyway is that I am really mad at this book! Partly because I loved the colonel for being wise at the same time a smart ass but I hated everyone else. But I am also mad at myself for not liking this book in the way I wanted to. Yeah, anyway nothing I’ve written does really make sense but that’s what I thought about so you’re welcome, here’s my thoughts.
UPDATE 28 februari 2023
Jag gillade den här boken sååå mycket mer den här gången. Den berörde mycket mer och jag kände på något sätt att jag kunde relatera mer till karaktärerna. Jag hatar att man inte kan ge halva stjärnor här men det är mitt betyg iallafall, 4.5⭐️
UPDATE 28 februari 2023
Jag gillade den här boken sååå mycket mer den här gången. Den berörde mycket mer och jag kände på något sätt att jag kunde relatera mer till karaktärerna. Jag hatar att man inte kan ge halva stjärnor här men det är mitt betyg iallafall, 4.5⭐️
⭐️2.5 rounded up
I certainly would have liked this a great deal more when I was 14. I cringed at the dialogue and the general vibe of quotes that feel as if they belong on r/ im14andthisisdeep
I’m not the target audience for this book, and absolutely found myself rolling my eyes frequently. The 2nd half of the book is noticeably more bearable than the 1st half. I’ve enjoyed other books by Green, like Turtles All the Way Down, but this was just not my vibe. I’m chalking that up to me aging out of YA style writing. Truthfully have not read YA since my senior year of high school, so I felt like I was getting war flashbacks from 2019 lol.
That being said, John Green knows how to write about grief. As someone who lost a friend to suicide during the tumultuous years of high school, I found myself relating to the characters’ struggle to find meaning and cope with the loss of Alaska. Is it melodramatic? Yes. But how else is a 16-17 year old supposed to reconcile the tragedies of life with what little they know about the world? In particular, Miles’s inner monologue about meaning, guilt, and forgiveness throughout the book was consistent and so well done. His arc waltzed in sync with Chip and Takumi. They each found their own answers in their own way.
It really bothered me how the characters engaged in the same self destructive behavior that Alaska did to see how she made the choices she did (I.e. drinking to her BAC level to see how intoxicated she was on the night she died, driving the same route, etc.). That’s morbid and incredibly twisted. I get that it’s this extreme depiction of trying to figure out the “mystery” of her death, but it was just… disturbing to me.
Alaska is a complicated and self destructive person. She is not good, and is certainly hard to like because she wreaks havoc on everyone else’s life with little to no remorse. I also genuinely can’t tell if she’s supposed to be a manic pixie dream girl. If she is, having her die as a device to teach Miles about the meaning life sucks the value out of the story completely. I don’t think that’s what she’s there for, but at the same time why is she so insufferable? I can’t get past that the “looking for alaska” plot line capitalizes off of her death, rather than giving her character any redemption or meaningful development.
This was a mostly enjoyable audio book companion to help me finish my laundry and clean my bathroom. I wouldn’t call it any great work of literature, but it has some redeemable quality.
CW: a brief and awkward sex scene (it serves the narrative, but yikes lol), language, discussions of suicide, and ⚠️edgy teenagers ⚠️
I certainly would have liked this a great deal more when I was 14. I cringed at the dialogue and the general vibe of quotes that feel as if they belong on r/ im14andthisisdeep
I’m not the target audience for this book, and absolutely found myself rolling my eyes frequently. The 2nd half of the book is noticeably more bearable than the 1st half. I’ve enjoyed other books by Green, like Turtles All the Way Down, but this was just not my vibe. I’m chalking that up to me aging out of YA style writing. Truthfully have not read YA since my senior year of high school, so I felt like I was getting war flashbacks from 2019 lol.
That being said, John Green knows how to write about grief. As someone who lost a friend to suicide during the tumultuous years of high school, I found myself relating to the characters’ struggle to find meaning and cope with the loss of Alaska. Is it melodramatic? Yes. But how else is a 16-17 year old supposed to reconcile the tragedies of life with what little they know about the world? In particular, Miles’s inner monologue about meaning, guilt, and forgiveness throughout the book was consistent and so well done. His arc waltzed in sync with Chip and Takumi. They each found their own answers in their own way.
It really bothered me how the characters engaged in the same self destructive behavior that Alaska did to see how she made the choices she did (I.e. drinking to her BAC level to see how intoxicated she was on the night she died, driving the same route, etc.). That’s morbid and incredibly twisted. I get that it’s this extreme depiction of trying to figure out the “mystery” of her death, but it was just… disturbing to me.
Alaska is a complicated and self destructive person. She is not good, and is certainly hard to like because she wreaks havoc on everyone else’s life with little to no remorse. I also genuinely can’t tell if she’s supposed to be a manic pixie dream girl. If she is, having her die as a device to teach Miles about the meaning life sucks the value out of the story completely. I don’t think that’s what she’s there for, but at the same time why is she so insufferable? I can’t get past that the “looking for alaska” plot line capitalizes off of her death, rather than giving her character any redemption or meaningful development.
This was a mostly enjoyable audio book companion to help me finish my laundry and clean my bathroom. I wouldn’t call it any great work of literature, but it has some redeemable quality.
CW: a brief and awkward sex scene (it serves the narrative, but yikes lol), language, discussions of suicide, and ⚠️edgy teenagers ⚠️
emotional
mysterious
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
emotional
inspiring
sad
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
In the first part of the book, I was like, why am I reading this?? A bunch of boarding school kids trying to find meaning in their lives through sex, parties, and drinking and pulling stupid pranks on their enemies. With some philosophical musings in between. The Asian character didn’t feel as well written as they could have been.
And then the second part HIT like a ton of bricks, and the book suddenly became much more than that.
Still a lot of drinking, but drinking for different reasons. There was a final prank in there for good measure. I have mixed feelings about the book, but ultimately I liked more of it than not. Its discussion about death and grieving was great. I love the idea of learning everyone’s last words to find out about how they lived and died,and ultimately scrapping that method for something else. I read this on audio, so Wil Wheaton being the narrator was amazing!
“If only we can see the endless string of consequences that result from our smallest actions. But we can’t know better until knowing better is useless.”
And then the second part HIT like a ton of bricks, and the book suddenly became much more than that.
Still a lot of drinking, but drinking for different reasons. There was a final prank in there for good measure. I have mixed feelings about the book, but ultimately I liked more of it than not. Its discussion about death and grieving was great. I love the idea of learning everyone’s last words to find out about how they lived and died,
“If only we can see the endless string of consequences that result from our smallest actions. But we can’t know better until knowing better is useless.”
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Suicide, Alcohol
Moderate: Suicidal thoughts, Vomit, Car accident, Death of parent
emotional
lighthearted
mysterious
sad
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
adventurous
emotional
mysterious
reflective
fast-paced
"You spend your whole life stuck in the labyrinth, thinking about how you'll escape it one day, and how awesome it will be, and imagining that future keeps you going, but you never do it. You just use the future to escape the present.”
alaska young, forever young. what a force of nature?
“goodbye lucy gray, we hardly knew you”
alaska young, forever young. what a force of nature?
“goodbye lucy gray, we hardly knew you”
adventurous
emotional
lighthearted
relaxing
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
adventurous
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
reflective
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Just as devastating as I remember, and also just as beautiful.
Rest in peace, Natalie, I miss you.
Rest in peace, Natalie, I miss you.
A short read but not quite what I'd expected (and I mean that in a good way).
Our narrator is a not-so-popular teen from Florida who wants to escape the monotonous drudgery of public school life by seeking the "Greater Perhaps" at a boarding school. And once he arrives he gets mixed up in just the kind of crowd his parents had warned him against. So far it seems like a typical coming-of-age novel, right? But it wasn't to be, even with the usual fare of drinking, smoking, and sex that accompanied it. The characters are not so stereotypical and their quirkiness makes them quite bearable if not lovable. For me it was the introspective second part of the book, the After section, which saved it from a 2-star rating.
By the way, this is one of those books which I feel like rating in halves; so this is really a 3.5 and not the 3 I gave above.
Our narrator is a not-so-popular teen from Florida who wants to escape the monotonous drudgery of public school life by seeking the "Greater Perhaps" at a boarding school. And once he arrives he gets mixed up in just the kind of crowd his parents had warned him against. So far it seems like a typical coming-of-age novel, right? But it wasn't to be, even with the usual fare of drinking, smoking, and sex that accompanied it. The characters are not so stereotypical and their quirkiness makes them quite bearable if not lovable. For me it was the introspective second part of the book, the After section, which saved it from a 2-star rating.
By the way, this is one of those books which I feel like rating in halves; so this is really a 3.5 and not the 3 I gave above.
adventurous
emotional
funny
inspiring
reflective
sad
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
Content Warnings
Moderate: Cursing, Death, Infidelity, Vomit, Grief, Car accident, Fire/Fire injury, Alcohol
Minor: Alcoholism, Bullying, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Blood, Death of parent