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_sophonie_ 's review for:
Looking for Alaska
by John Green
reflective
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
*MAY CONTAIN SPOILER** FOR ACTUAL BOOK REVIEW, SCROLL ALL THE WAY DOWN TO "MY REVIEW"
SYNOPSIS
Looking for Alaska by John Green is a coming-of-age novel that follows Miles “Pudge” Halter, a socially awkward, bookish teenager obsessed with famous last words. Seeking a more exciting life, he transfers to Culver Creek, a prestigious boarding school in Alabama, in search of what poet François Rabelais called the “Great Perhaps.” At Culver Creek, Miles befriends a group of rebellious yet intelligent students, including the charismatic and enigmatic Alaska Young, who captivates him with her beauty, wit, and unpredictable nature.
As Miles becomes entangled in Alaska’s chaotic world of pranks, late-night philosophical discussions, and reckless behavior, he quickly falls for her. However, tragedy strikes, and Miles is left to grapple with grief, love, and the mysteries that Alaska leaves behind. The novel is split into a “Before” and “After” structure, emphasizing the life-changing impact of a single moment and forcing Miles to confront the complexities of life, death, and self-discovery.
THEMES
1. The Search for Meaning (The “Great Perhaps”) - Miles’s journey is driven by his desire to seek a deeper purpose in life. He idolizes famous last words, hoping they will reveal profound truths, but his experiences at Culver Creek show him that meaning is something one must create rather than find.
2. Coming of Age and Identity - The novel explores the transition from adolescence to adulthood as Miles and his friends navigate love, loss, and self-discovery. They struggle with their identities, questioning their beliefs and choices as they try to make sense of the world.
3. Love and Unattainability - Miles falls deeply for Alaska, but she remains distant and unknowable. His love for her is built on an idealized version of who he wants her to be rather than who she really is. The novel challenges the idea of putting people on pedestals and highlights the dangers of romanticizing someone.
4. Death, Grief, and Guilt - The novel’s turning point revolves around a tragic event that forces Miles and his friends to confront mortality. They wrestle with guilt, wondering if they could have done something differently to change the outcome, and ultimately try to make peace with the uncertainties of life and death.
5. The Labyrinth of Suffering - Alaska frequently references a quote from Simón Bolívar about escaping the “labyrinth of suffering.” This metaphor becomes central to the novel as the characters struggle to understand how to move forward after loss. Is the way out of suffering to accept it, or to escape it entirely?
PLOT
Before
Miles Halter, a 16-year-old outsider, leaves his home in Florida to attend Culver Creek Boarding School. He quickly befriends his roommate, Chip “The Colonel” Martin, who introduces him to his close-knit circle of misfits, including Takumi, Lara, and the captivating but troubled Alaska Young. Alaska is intelligent, rebellious, and unpredictable, drawing Miles in despite her emotional walls and erratic behavior.
Miles experiences a world of firsts at Culver Creek—his first cigarette, first alcohol-fueled adventure, first girlfriend (Lara), and most importantly, his first true friendships. However, his infatuation with Alaska overshadows everything else. Despite her flirtations, she has a boyfriend, Jake, which frustrates Miles but doesn’t stop him from yearning for her.
Throughout the “Before” section, Alaska’s personality is a mix of highs and lows—she is charming and fun one moment, withdrawn and self-destructive the next. She hints at a dark past, particularly regarding her mother’s death, which she blames herself for. Despite these glimpses into her pain, Alaska remains elusive, keeping her true emotions at arm’s length.
One night, after an evening of drinking and dares, Alaska and Miles finally share a passionate kiss. However, their moment is short-lived when Alaska suddenly panics, insisting she must leave immediately. Distraught and drunk, she drives away into the night.
After
The next morning, Miles and The Colonel are woken up by their headmaster and informed that Alaska has died in a car accident. She crashed into a police cruiser at full speed with no attempt to swerve.
Miles and his friends are devastated and overwhelmed with guilt. They obsess over the details of her final night, questioning whether her death was an accident or suicide. Did they fail her? Could they have stopped her? Why did she leave so suddenly?
As they investigate, they discover that the night she died was the anniversary of her mother’s death—the event that had haunted her for years. They theorize that she had remembered too late, was overcome with guilt, and tried to visit her mother’s grave in a drunken panic, leading to her fatal crash.
In the aftermath, Miles and his friends struggle to accept that they will never have all the answers. Alaska remains a mystery, and no amount of searching will provide closure. Miles ultimately comes to terms with the fact that life is filled with unknowns, and the only way out of suffering is to forgive, let go, and move forward.
The novel ends with Miles writing a school essay about escaping the labyrinth of suffering. He realizes that while death is inevitable, love and memory allow people to live on.
MY REVIEW
I’m not 100% sure what I expected when starting Looking for Alaska, but whatever it was, I didn’t get it. I swear I must have misread the synopsis or completely made up my own version of the plot because I was under the impression this book was about a journalist investigating the disappearance of a girl named Alaska. Imagine my disappointment when I realized that wasn’t even remotely close to what this was about. Instead, I got a bunch of pretentious teenagers smoking cigarettes, drinking like 40-year-old alcoholics, pulling the most irritating pranks imaginable, and romanticizing the worst girl imaginable.
The Pros: (There Are Barely Any, But Let’s Pretend)
1. The Premise Sounded Nice - A kid goes to a boarding school, falls for a girl, she dies, and then he tries to solve the mystery of her death. Sounds pretty interesting, right? Too bad that’s the best part of the book—the idea of it.
2. Characters Calling Each Other Out - Since these characters were already a hot mess, it was nice to see them occasionally acknowledge it. Unfortunately, that didn’t happen nearly enough, and most of the time, they just enabled each other’s nonsense.
The Cons: (Where Do I Even Begin?)
1. The Plot Was a Mess - The book had potential, but the author completely fumbled it. Instead of focusing on the actual story, John Green threw in a bunch of unnecessary garbage that added nothing except secondhand embarrassment. The excessive drinking and smoking? Forced. I’m all for rebellious teens, but at least make it believable. Here, it just felt like they were doing it for the sake of being cool and edgy. The pranks? Stupid. They weren’t harmless fun—they were just obnoxious and made every single character even more unlikable. But the worst offender? The weirdly excessive focus on sex.
First, we have Alaska randomly watching porn with Miles like that’s a totally normal bonding activity. Then there’s the awkward, unnecessary scene where Lara gives Miles a terrible blowjob (which, by the way, he literally describes as “wet and messy”), and then they ask Alaska for pointers. WHY DID THIS NEED TO BE IN THE BOOK? What purpose did it serve? Nothing about it added to the story or the characters. It was just… there. So many things felt like they were thrown in just for shock value rather than actual plot or character development.
2. The Characters Were the Worst
* Miles "Pudge" Halter: The Delusional One - The human definition of delusional. Miles spends the whole book obsessing over Alaska, convinced she secretly loves him, even though she literally never acts like she does. The fact that she kissed him once (while she was clearly out of it) is enough for him to believe they were meant to be together. It’s honestly pathetic. Even after she dies, he’s less focused on grieving and more focused on whether she meant the kiss. Meanwhile, he completely ignores Lara, who actually does like him. He was a terrible love interest, and he deserved to be alone.
* Alaska Young: The Walking Red Flag - Oh, where do I begin with this one? The book desperately wants you to believe Alaska is this deep, complex, tortured soul, but in reality, she’s just a selfish, manipulative, unstable mess. She’s mean, rude, and constantly crosses boundaries. Instead of holding her accountable, her friends excuse her behavior with “That’s just Alaska.” No, that’s just being an awful person. She flirts with Miles while constantly reminding him she has a boyfriend, which is so irritating. Also, can we talk about how she clearly knew Miles liked her and kept stringing him along for her own amusement? “Oh, you’re cute, but I love my boyfriend.” Girl, shut up. We all know you’re a cheater. Even Chip (the Colonel) said so in the beginning of the book. She pushes Miles to date Lara, only to later kiss him while he’s dating Lara. The girl was a walking contradiction. And let’s be real—her “obsession” with sex was another thing the book kept bringing up for no reason. It’s mentioned repeatedly, but never explored in a meaningful way. Why bring it up at all?
* Chip “The Colonel” Martin: The Bitter One – He had potential, but he threw it away by being a bitter, angry mess. He was smart, but also so irritating. His hatred of rich kids is exhausting. His entire personality is built around resenting people who have more money than him, and it’s just not that deep. Also, for someone who supposedly has a bright future, he sure makes a lot of stupid decisions. Constantly drinking, smoking, and pulling pranks that could get him expelled? Not the smartest way to secure your future. Oh, and his obsession with hating “snitches” is ridiculous. Sorry, but if I see something wrong, I’m not risking my own future to cover for your dumb decisions.
Final Thoughts
At the very least, Looking for Alaska wasn’t boring. It kept me entertained—mostly because I was trying to figure out how much worse these characters could get. But was it good? Absolutely not. The plot was weak, the characters were unbearable, and the constant attempts to be “edgy” made it feel like it was trying way too hard. I’ve heard John Green’s books all follow a similar formula, and if that’s the case, I think I’ll be skipping the rest of his work.
SYNOPSIS
Looking for Alaska by John Green is a coming-of-age novel that follows Miles “Pudge” Halter, a socially awkward, bookish teenager obsessed with famous last words. Seeking a more exciting life, he transfers to Culver Creek, a prestigious boarding school in Alabama, in search of what poet François Rabelais called the “Great Perhaps.” At Culver Creek, Miles befriends a group of rebellious yet intelligent students, including the charismatic and enigmatic Alaska Young, who captivates him with her beauty, wit, and unpredictable nature.
As Miles becomes entangled in Alaska’s chaotic world of pranks, late-night philosophical discussions, and reckless behavior, he quickly falls for her. However, tragedy strikes, and Miles is left to grapple with grief, love, and the mysteries that Alaska leaves behind. The novel is split into a “Before” and “After” structure, emphasizing the life-changing impact of a single moment and forcing Miles to confront the complexities of life, death, and self-discovery.
THEMES
1. The Search for Meaning (The “Great Perhaps”) - Miles’s journey is driven by his desire to seek a deeper purpose in life. He idolizes famous last words, hoping they will reveal profound truths, but his experiences at Culver Creek show him that meaning is something one must create rather than find.
2. Coming of Age and Identity - The novel explores the transition from adolescence to adulthood as Miles and his friends navigate love, loss, and self-discovery. They struggle with their identities, questioning their beliefs and choices as they try to make sense of the world.
3. Love and Unattainability - Miles falls deeply for Alaska, but she remains distant and unknowable. His love for her is built on an idealized version of who he wants her to be rather than who she really is. The novel challenges the idea of putting people on pedestals and highlights the dangers of romanticizing someone.
4. Death, Grief, and Guilt - The novel’s turning point revolves around a tragic event that forces Miles and his friends to confront mortality. They wrestle with guilt, wondering if they could have done something differently to change the outcome, and ultimately try to make peace with the uncertainties of life and death.
5. The Labyrinth of Suffering - Alaska frequently references a quote from Simón Bolívar about escaping the “labyrinth of suffering.” This metaphor becomes central to the novel as the characters struggle to understand how to move forward after loss. Is the way out of suffering to accept it, or to escape it entirely?
PLOT
Before
Miles Halter, a 16-year-old outsider, leaves his home in Florida to attend Culver Creek Boarding School. He quickly befriends his roommate, Chip “The Colonel” Martin, who introduces him to his close-knit circle of misfits, including Takumi, Lara, and the captivating but troubled Alaska Young. Alaska is intelligent, rebellious, and unpredictable, drawing Miles in despite her emotional walls and erratic behavior.
Miles experiences a world of firsts at Culver Creek—his first cigarette, first alcohol-fueled adventure, first girlfriend (Lara), and most importantly, his first true friendships. However, his infatuation with Alaska overshadows everything else. Despite her flirtations, she has a boyfriend, Jake, which frustrates Miles but doesn’t stop him from yearning for her.
Throughout the “Before” section, Alaska’s personality is a mix of highs and lows—she is charming and fun one moment, withdrawn and self-destructive the next. She hints at a dark past, particularly regarding her mother’s death, which she blames herself for. Despite these glimpses into her pain, Alaska remains elusive, keeping her true emotions at arm’s length.
One night, after an evening of drinking and dares, Alaska and Miles finally share a passionate kiss. However, their moment is short-lived when Alaska suddenly panics, insisting she must leave immediately. Distraught and drunk, she drives away into the night.
After
The next morning, Miles and The Colonel are woken up by their headmaster and informed that Alaska has died in a car accident. She crashed into a police cruiser at full speed with no attempt to swerve.
Miles and his friends are devastated and overwhelmed with guilt. They obsess over the details of her final night, questioning whether her death was an accident or suicide. Did they fail her? Could they have stopped her? Why did she leave so suddenly?
As they investigate, they discover that the night she died was the anniversary of her mother’s death—the event that had haunted her for years. They theorize that she had remembered too late, was overcome with guilt, and tried to visit her mother’s grave in a drunken panic, leading to her fatal crash.
In the aftermath, Miles and his friends struggle to accept that they will never have all the answers. Alaska remains a mystery, and no amount of searching will provide closure. Miles ultimately comes to terms with the fact that life is filled with unknowns, and the only way out of suffering is to forgive, let go, and move forward.
The novel ends with Miles writing a school essay about escaping the labyrinth of suffering. He realizes that while death is inevitable, love and memory allow people to live on.
MY REVIEW
I’m not 100% sure what I expected when starting Looking for Alaska, but whatever it was, I didn’t get it. I swear I must have misread the synopsis or completely made up my own version of the plot because I was under the impression this book was about a journalist investigating the disappearance of a girl named Alaska. Imagine my disappointment when I realized that wasn’t even remotely close to what this was about. Instead, I got a bunch of pretentious teenagers smoking cigarettes, drinking like 40-year-old alcoholics, pulling the most irritating pranks imaginable, and romanticizing the worst girl imaginable.
The Pros: (There Are Barely Any, But Let’s Pretend)
1. The Premise Sounded Nice - A kid goes to a boarding school, falls for a girl, she dies, and then he tries to solve the mystery of her death. Sounds pretty interesting, right? Too bad that’s the best part of the book—the idea of it.
2. Characters Calling Each Other Out - Since these characters were already a hot mess, it was nice to see them occasionally acknowledge it. Unfortunately, that didn’t happen nearly enough, and most of the time, they just enabled each other’s nonsense.
The Cons: (Where Do I Even Begin?)
1. The Plot Was a Mess - The book had potential, but the author completely fumbled it. Instead of focusing on the actual story, John Green threw in a bunch of unnecessary garbage that added nothing except secondhand embarrassment. The excessive drinking and smoking? Forced. I’m all for rebellious teens, but at least make it believable. Here, it just felt like they were doing it for the sake of being cool and edgy. The pranks? Stupid. They weren’t harmless fun—they were just obnoxious and made every single character even more unlikable. But the worst offender? The weirdly excessive focus on sex.
First, we have Alaska randomly watching porn with Miles like that’s a totally normal bonding activity. Then there’s the awkward, unnecessary scene where Lara gives Miles a terrible blowjob (which, by the way, he literally describes as “wet and messy”), and then they ask Alaska for pointers. WHY DID THIS NEED TO BE IN THE BOOK? What purpose did it serve? Nothing about it added to the story or the characters. It was just… there. So many things felt like they were thrown in just for shock value rather than actual plot or character development.
2. The Characters Were the Worst
* Miles "Pudge" Halter: The Delusional One - The human definition of delusional. Miles spends the whole book obsessing over Alaska, convinced she secretly loves him, even though she literally never acts like she does. The fact that she kissed him once (while she was clearly out of it) is enough for him to believe they were meant to be together. It’s honestly pathetic. Even after she dies, he’s less focused on grieving and more focused on whether she meant the kiss. Meanwhile, he completely ignores Lara, who actually does like him. He was a terrible love interest, and he deserved to be alone.
* Alaska Young: The Walking Red Flag - Oh, where do I begin with this one? The book desperately wants you to believe Alaska is this deep, complex, tortured soul, but in reality, she’s just a selfish, manipulative, unstable mess. She’s mean, rude, and constantly crosses boundaries. Instead of holding her accountable, her friends excuse her behavior with “That’s just Alaska.” No, that’s just being an awful person. She flirts with Miles while constantly reminding him she has a boyfriend, which is so irritating. Also, can we talk about how she clearly knew Miles liked her and kept stringing him along for her own amusement? “Oh, you’re cute, but I love my boyfriend.” Girl, shut up. We all know you’re a cheater. Even Chip (the Colonel) said so in the beginning of the book. She pushes Miles to date Lara, only to later kiss him while he’s dating Lara. The girl was a walking contradiction. And let’s be real—her “obsession” with sex was another thing the book kept bringing up for no reason. It’s mentioned repeatedly, but never explored in a meaningful way. Why bring it up at all?
* Chip “The Colonel” Martin: The Bitter One – He had potential, but he threw it away by being a bitter, angry mess. He was smart, but also so irritating. His hatred of rich kids is exhausting. His entire personality is built around resenting people who have more money than him, and it’s just not that deep. Also, for someone who supposedly has a bright future, he sure makes a lot of stupid decisions. Constantly drinking, smoking, and pulling pranks that could get him expelled? Not the smartest way to secure your future. Oh, and his obsession with hating “snitches” is ridiculous. Sorry, but if I see something wrong, I’m not risking my own future to cover for your dumb decisions.
Final Thoughts
At the very least, Looking for Alaska wasn’t boring. It kept me entertained—mostly because I was trying to figure out how much worse these characters could get. But was it good? Absolutely not. The plot was weak, the characters were unbearable, and the constant attempts to be “edgy” made it feel like it was trying way too hard. I’ve heard John Green’s books all follow a similar formula, and if that’s the case, I think I’ll be skipping the rest of his work.