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blueshifted 's review for:
Looking for Alaska
by John Green
I'm a little confused about who the target audience for this book is. I can't imagine a lot of teenage boys picking it up, but it also doesn't quite feel like it's aimed at girls either.
Alaska, the titular character, is the classic manic pixie dream girl, moody, impulsive, profound, and self-destructive. She has that erratic brilliance that seems less like a quirky personality and more like an undiagnosed mental health condition, that no one in the story seems to recognize because they're all teenagers.
It reads a bit like a PSA in novel form Authors Against Drunk Driving - a cautionary tale wrapped in teenage angst. It’s clearly trying to capture the feelings of loss, guilt, and the lingering “what ifs” after a tragedy. I couldn’t help but think of the song The Freshman by The Verve Pipe:
“For the life of me, I cannot remember / what made us think that we were wise and we’d never compromise...”
That song’s melancholy and confusion matches the emotional tone of this book perfectly.
Alaska is idolized by a group of teenage boys, including our narrator, who sees her through a haze of adoration and objectification. I thought maybe the book’s purpose was to reach young readers grappling with grief, regret, or unanswered questions after losing someone. Alaska's death whether accidental or intentional is never fully known, and the characters are left to make peace with the ambiguity and their own inaction. That’s powerful in theory, but as a seasoned adult, those messages are already deeply embedded for me. It didn’t quite land.
Wil Wheaton narrates the audiobook, and while I didn’t know he did narration, his delivery is solid. That said, his voice made the teenage protagonist sound a bit pretentious. Though, to be fair, I don't think I would’ve related to the narrator even with a different voice this just didn’t feel like a story meant for me.
Alaska, the titular character, is the classic manic pixie dream girl, moody, impulsive, profound, and self-destructive. She has that erratic brilliance that seems less like a quirky personality and more like an undiagnosed mental health condition, that no one in the story seems to recognize because they're all teenagers.
It reads a bit like a PSA in novel form Authors Against Drunk Driving - a cautionary tale wrapped in teenage angst. It’s clearly trying to capture the feelings of loss, guilt, and the lingering “what ifs” after a tragedy. I couldn’t help but think of the song The Freshman by The Verve Pipe:
“For the life of me, I cannot remember / what made us think that we were wise and we’d never compromise...”
That song’s melancholy and confusion matches the emotional tone of this book perfectly.
Alaska is idolized by a group of teenage boys, including our narrator, who sees her through a haze of adoration and objectification. I thought maybe the book’s purpose was to reach young readers grappling with grief, regret, or unanswered questions after losing someone. Alaska's death whether accidental or intentional is never fully known, and the characters are left to make peace with the ambiguity and their own inaction. That’s powerful in theory, but as a seasoned adult, those messages are already deeply embedded for me. It didn’t quite land.
Wil Wheaton narrates the audiobook, and while I didn’t know he did narration, his delivery is solid. That said, his voice made the teenage protagonist sound a bit pretentious. Though, to be fair, I don't think I would’ve related to the narrator even with a different voice this just didn’t feel like a story meant for me.