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mortibella's review against another edition
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.75
Content Warnings
Moderate: Death
emilaxx's review against another edition
challenging
emotional
reflective
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.75
b0hemian_graham's review against another edition
5.0
Read in honour of Banned Books week. John Green can do no wrong. I actually liked this better than The Fault in Our Stars, it was emotional, but it didn't feel sucker punchish.
theoalt's review against another edition
adventurous
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
Fine but wouldn’t read it again
nina_christine's review against another edition
reflective
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.25
vroun's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
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? It's complicated
4.0
wishfulfillment's review against another edition
2.0
First 30%
Earth had wanted us to read this book in 2013. I picked it up, hated the e-book copy that I had, and generally found it extremely boring and uninteresting. I put it down.
31% through 100%
I picked the book back up, compelled to finish it. I did end up getting into it. I’ve decided that it is a reasonably okay story. In terms of plot, I don’t have many complaints. The main character was extremely unlikable and boring, and I’m not sure if that was intentional. I did like The Colonel a lot, but otherwise the characters felt strangely boring, I guess in a way that most normal people are.
/Was Alaska Young a Manic Pixie Dream Girl?/
Maybe. I’ve thought long and hard about this and I feel like there are millions of other Manic Pixie Dream Girl movies and books and characters and that using Alaska Young as one of them is kind of desperate. For one thing, Alaska was a multidimensional character and her purpose in the story did not seem, to me, to be about the growth of the male character(s). I also feel that Alaska was not whimsical or interesting or magical in any way, but maybe that has more to do with how I read her and less with how she was actually written, so I don’t want to give John Green credit if the positive interpretation comes from me and not from his writing.
I read her as a very troubled and hurt girl, a girl very similar to girls I’ve known (I’m female, btw, so this is not a comment about gender) which made her seem a little more real and a little less magical to me. I also felt like she was the main character of the story and that everyone else’s lives revolved around her, which I enjoyed. However, I’m 25 and I imagine that my take on a book like this is going to be a lot more positive and realistic than the thoughts that I imagine 16 year old reading it are having.
So was she a Manic Pixie Dream Girl? Maybe. I would not argue that she wasn’t but I won’t argue that she was.
In the end, all that matters is whether or not I would recommend this book to anyone and I do not think that I would. However, if someone was reading it, I wouldn’t tell them to stop. It’s an okay story. I don’t think it’ll make your life worse if you read it.
Earth had wanted us to read this book in 2013. I picked it up, hated the e-book copy that I had, and generally found it extremely boring and uninteresting. I put it down.
31% through 100%
I picked the book back up, compelled to finish it. I did end up getting into it. I’ve decided that it is a reasonably okay story. In terms of plot, I don’t have many complaints. The main character was extremely unlikable and boring, and I’m not sure if that was intentional. I did like The Colonel a lot, but otherwise the characters felt strangely boring, I guess in a way that most normal people are.
/Was Alaska Young a Manic Pixie Dream Girl?/
Maybe. I’ve thought long and hard about this and I feel like there are millions of other Manic Pixie Dream Girl movies and books and characters and that using Alaska Young as one of them is kind of desperate. For one thing, Alaska was a multidimensional character and her purpose in the story did not seem, to me, to be about the growth of the male character(s). I also feel that Alaska was not whimsical or interesting or magical in any way, but maybe that has more to do with how I read her and less with how she was actually written, so I don’t want to give John Green credit if the positive interpretation comes from me and not from his writing.
I read her as a very troubled and hurt girl, a girl very similar to girls I’ve known (I’m female, btw, so this is not a comment about gender) which made her seem a little more real and a little less magical to me. I also felt like she was the main character of the story and that everyone else’s lives revolved around her, which I enjoyed. However, I’m 25 and I imagine that my take on a book like this is going to be a lot more positive and realistic than the thoughts that I imagine 16 year old reading it are having.
So was she a Manic Pixie Dream Girl? Maybe. I would not argue that she wasn’t but I won’t argue that she was.
In the end, all that matters is whether or not I would recommend this book to anyone and I do not think that I would. However, if someone was reading it, I wouldn’t tell them to stop. It’s an okay story. I don’t think it’ll make your life worse if you read it.
aubreereads's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
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? It's complicated
4.5