Reviews with content warning for Alcohol - Looking for Alaska

Reviews tagging 'Alcohol'

Looking for Alaska by John Green

241 reviews

bookish_bell's review against another edition

dark medium-paced

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

5.0

Alaska is not a manic pixie dream girl.

I fell in love with this book as a teen and reread it recently at almost 30. I was shocked at the many (and frankly lazy) reviewers who insist that Alaska is a MPDG. I wonder if these people have ever lost or grieved for someone who died far too young? She's a complex and mercurial character and she exists as a fully formed, imperfect individual outside of the male protagonist's gaze. Yes, Miles idealizes her, but that's pretty normal for anyone to do when they meet someone new who seems mysterious and cool. Not to mention, the Colonel arguably has a greater impact on Pudge's character development than Alaska ever has a chance to.

Stop calling Alasksa a manic pixie dream girl, it's mysogynistic, lazy, and just untrue to describe such a complicated and tragic young female character with an outdated and sexist term.

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imlaurenshelton's review against another edition

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dark emotional reflective sad tense medium-paced

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

3.5

This book was okay, the plot reminds me of Paper Towns but with more angst and Alaska is a reflection of Peyton from OTH. The book is well written (duh it’s John Green) and can be enjoyable but the teen angst is nearly unbearable, combined with the vulgarity of these teenagers words and actions.

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swiftiesophie's review against another edition

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emotional funny reflective sad fast-paced

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

4.0

i hate miles

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buttermellow's review against another edition

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dark emotional mysterious 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

4.0

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kenfrommars's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging emotional inspiring 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

4.0

“I go to seek a Great Perhaps”

The theme of the book. The question that hung over the whole 221-page novel about the main character, Miles Halter, trying to find just that.

I won’t sugarcoat it. My journey in reading this book is very mixed. The first half of the novel was hard for me to get through at times. I took some days of not reading it and was considering I might drop it, but there was a point where something about it just hooked me. Was it the mystery of Alaska? Was it me finding myself frustrated with the characters and just wanting to finish it because I had made it so far into it as it was?

Not sure, but there was something about this story that just grabbed me, also. I liked the character of Alaska Young. I liked the main group and the side characters. It was very John Green in the sense of these characters being witty, insightful, simultaneously enlightened and ignorant, and just this overall message of hope.

This book came out when I was in high school, but I didn’t read it until now. I wished I had read it when I was in high school, but with the perspective of both a teenager and an adult who has made his own mistakes, I appreciate the themes of hope. Because we all seek that great perhaps of life. The Great Perhaps that gives us purpose. Some of us don’t find it and some of us find then lose it.

I’ve had my issues with John Green in a number of his books, but I thoroughly enjoyed this and it should be read by everyone at least once. It should be experienced by everyone at least once. It’s thought-provoking and insightful and heartwarming, despite the themes of grief.

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