A review by isabelthearcher
Looking for Alaska by John Green

dark emotional slow-paced

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

3.0

 This wasn’t as good as I had expected it to be, honestly. I think it was the themes of death and suffering and ‘the labrinth’, the presence of Alaska Young and the vivid southern atmosphere that kept me reading. I think, as many other reviewers have pointed out, it’s a classic John Green novel. It’s polarising and his interpretation of high schoolers tends to have people either loving or hating him. But I’m in the middle of the road for this one. I’m more excited to watch the TV show more than anything, as I think seeing the book from outside of Miles’ perspective will be like a breath of fresh air.

As a narrator Miles (or Pudge) is supposed to be unlikable and unreliable. However I think authors have to be careful not to cross the line with that excuse. Pudge felt like a hormonal teenager lusting over girls with no regard for feelings and without taking any responsibility for his actions. This isn’t inherently bad, however I always felt off and slightly uncomfortable in those types of situations with Pudge.

I firmly believe that if I wasn’t in the place I am in my life now with religion and reading and growing up, I would not have liked this book at all. The setting felt like a warm summer camp, a holiday in Alabama - one which I have done many times to see my relatives. It felt mildly nostalgic and a welcomed escape from cold England. I also really liked the Colonel, his humour was funny, however he always reminded me how bland and annoying Pudge was. Takumi, Lara and other side characters, including the Weekday Warriors were all two-dimensional and only served to further Pudge in the plot, or act as some redeeming plotline at the end of the book.

Alaska Young was the highlight of this book, however I don’t think she is as amazing as many reviews I have seen of this book. She was ‘quirky’

by being depressed and using alcohol as a coping mechanism

- she was too young! She’s only a junior! Yet Alaska’s love for reading and Pudge’s memorisation of Last Words was really the only redeemable part of this book:

She exhaled and read to me:

“He - that’s Simon Bolivar - was shaken by the overwhelming revelation that the headlong race between his misfortunes and his dreams was at that moment reaching the finish line. The rest was darkness. ‘Damn it,’ he sighed. ‘How will I ever get out of this labyrinth?’”

Her mouth close enough to me that I could feel her breath warmer than the air, she said, “That’s the mystery, isn’t it? Is the labyrinth living or dying? Which is he trying to escape - the world or the end of it?” 

Was it pretentious? Yes. But this constant theme being intertwined,

especially with the revelation of Alaska’s death in the ‘After’ portion of this book

really kept me reading. It added the coming of age theme to this book, the representation of growing older and thinking about the nature of life. Something, that at this point in my personal life, I’m very interested in and so it spoke to me. 

Overall, it was forgettable. All I’m going to remember is despite how Alaska protested against it, she was completely and utterly sexualised by Pudge. How everyone smoked on every page of this book whilst thinking about the point of life and how they got drunk every other chapter. 

To everyone who thinks this book is the best thing since sliced bread, I would like to share a quote from my friend the Colonel.

“Hold on.” He grabbed a pencil and scrawled excitedly at the paper as if he’d just made a mathematical breakthrough, and then looked back up at me. “I just did some calculations and I’ve been able to determine that you’re full of shit.” 

Buuuuuut, all that aside. I am so excited to watch the TV show :) Everyone should watch that instead of reading the book, honestly.