Thursday, December 8, 2011

Review: Looking for Alaska

Author: John Green
Publish date: 2005
Source: Library
"Miles Halter is fascinated by famous last words and tired of his safe life at home. He leaves for boarding school to seek what the dying poet Francois Rabelais called the "Great Perhaps." Much awaits Miles at Culver Creek, including Alaska Young. Clever, funny, screwed-up, and dead sexy, Alaska will pull Miles into her labyrinth and catapult him into the Great Perhaps. 

Looking for Alaska brilliantly chronicles the indelible impact one life can have on another. A stunning debut, it marks John Green's arrival as an important new voice in contemporary fiction
."

I read Paper Towns over the summer and immediately decided that I needed to read the rest of John Green's novels. I'm not sure why it took me so long to read this one, but I'll definitely be getting to An Abundance of Katherines much sooner. I really enjoyed Looking for Alaska and can't believe I hadn't read it sooner.

John Green gets teenagers. I don't know how else to say it. He writes amazing, real characters that I can only wish were actual people. I loved all the characters in this one: Pudge/Miles, the Colonel/Chip, Alaska, Takumi, even the Eagle. They all had their own lovable quirks and just meshed to make the story work. I loved all the characters in Paper Towns too, so I'm thinking John Green is pretty damn good at this thing. I love that he writes from a male's perspective, which is sorely lacking in YA literature.

I thought the setting of a boarding school was one of the best things about this book. Pudge got to meet new friends, plus there is the added bonus of limited parental involvement, although his parents were in the story. The boarding school setting really helped set up the major theme of the story: the impact that people have on your life, no matter when you meet them or how long you know them. 

I'm looking forward to reading An Abundance of Katherines soon! 

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