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A review by kenfrommars
Looking for Alaska by John Green
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.
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.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Bullying, Cursing, Drug use, Grief, Suicide, Alcoholism, Suicidal thoughts, Alcohol, Misogyny, and Drug abuse