Reviews with content warning for Death of parent - Looking for Alaska

Reviews tagging 'Death of parent'

Looking for Alaska by John Green

175 reviews

mandycantsleep's review against another edition

dark emotional sad tense 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

I remember reading this in middle school and absolutely loving it. So I decided to reread it now, as a 22-year-old, and I cannot say it resulted in the same outcome. I feel like a lot of the book was ... completely unnecessary.
The second half of the book felt super drawn out, I think it could have been wrapped up in just a few chapters. I was listening to the audiobook, so it ended up being 3.5 hours of the second half. Honestly, I started to lose interest after an hour in.
It was fairly obvious to me why Alaska was going out (maybe it was my memory from 10 years ago? Or more likely, just the fact that she talked about her worst day prior (her mom's death), and the date she drove off was around the same time in January.) I was just getting really annoyed at the characters, I felt like screaming through my screen, "SHE WAS GOING TO SEE HER MOM! OBVIOUSLY!" So when they finally figured it out, it wasn't some big conclusion for me.
I also think maybe it was just a bit young for me. While I was definitely too young to be reading this in middle school, I think maybe high school is the best demographic for this book. Overall, it's a really intense story and had me hooked in the first half, but lost me in the second.

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q_bert13's review against another edition

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dark emotional hopeful reflective fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

My first time reading a book by John Green, can only compliment his writing style, and his ability to make characters that are truly fleshed out and flawed, but characters you enjoy as well.

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rookthomas's review against another edition

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emotional funny hopeful inspiring reflective sad fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.25

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aljduran27's review against another edition

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emotional reflective slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

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dusbunny's review against another edition

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inspiring mysterious reflective sad 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

5.0

This book has been on my mind for years. I first read it myself as a suicidal teenager and I related to the character of Alaska so much. I remember my first read feeling like I wanted her life so much. It's amazing going back as an adult and realizing how much pain she was in, and so was I, and also how horrible the people around her treated her. It's eye opening for someone who survived being Alaska to see her and realize that. Forever a favorite book.

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allysm0llbean's review against another edition

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emotional funny mysterious sad medium-paced

3.0

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chelsea2reads's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional reflective sad tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

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carina_dreamer's review against another edition

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emotional inspiring reflective fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

Sendo isto um livro com personagens no 11° ano num colégio interno que são amantes de partidas e de espírito livre, já não sinti que tinha a idade certa para os adorar.
Esta é uma leitura essencial para os adolescentes porque os temas que aborda são interessantes e causa reflexão sobre a mortalidade que eles não sentem alcançá-los.
Eu gostei mais da parte do "depois", já tinha identificado os sinais e deitei umas lágrimas, mas não foi um pranto como fiz com outros livros. O "antes" foi um pouco enfadonho para mim, mas a escrita do John Green é fluída e isso é um grande ponto positivo.
Adorei como o autor também começou a estória no dia 136 antes e terminou no 136 depois, é o tipo de planeamento caricato que gosto por parte dos escritores.

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_sushmita_7's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

Well the book was pretty goodish and the ending did make sense to me but I'd have preferred more closure but I think that was the whole point of the book (the unknown, the great perhaps).

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in_themoonlight's review against another edition

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hopeful mysterious reflective sad fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.75

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