Reviews with content warning for Child death - Looking for Alaska

Reviews tagging 'Child death'

Looking for Alaska, by John Green

42 reviews

average's review against another edition

adventurous inspiring fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.5

The first time I tried to read this I was in highschool and I couldn't stand Alaska, because she reminded me so much of people I knew.

I picked it up again this year, 6 years later and I felt more empathy for all the characters and for myself and my friends in highschool.

It was a great and terrible time and how I wish I could go back sometimes.

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lily_alybaba's review against another edition

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emotional hopeful sad medium-paced

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

3.5

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goodreadgoodtea's review against another edition

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emotional sad medium-paced

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

3.0

I didn't love this one. I had high expectations with the hype around John Green, but I was left feeling meh about this story. I think it brings up important topics like mental health, trauma, and substance use, however it didn't feel like there was much more to it than bringing up the topics. I don't hate that I read this one, but I don't think it will be a go-to for recommendations.

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cozygrovereads's review against another edition

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emotional sad medium-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

5.0

this may be too high of a rating for most people but idc i love it so much and it holds such a special place in my heart

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matchababesandbooks's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional funny hopeful lighthearted reflective relaxing medium-paced

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

3.5

Very interesting. This was my second John Green book (the first being The Fault in Our Stars), and I’m not totally sure which one I enjoyed more. I don’t mind John Green’s writing, in fact, I think I like it more than most people, but it’s not my absolute favorite. However, it didn’t take away from the story. The characters were likable but a little irritable, as all teenagers are lmao. I’m a sucker for a good boarding school trope, so I already knew I’d at least like this. And I did. Although, I bought this book and was eager to read it because I read reviews and watched videos of people grouping this in with the likes of The Perks of Being a Wallflower. Maybe I’m a little biased because Perks is one of my favorite books, but I wouldn’t say Looking for Alaska is on the same level. I think there could’ve been so much more. I understand that a big plot point in the story is that Pudge nor the reader knows all that much about Alaska, but this makes it very hard for me to connect emotionally with the book.

Spoiler

How am I supposed to be utterly devastated when Alaska dies when I don’t even know her? And in regards to her death, almost all of the “After” section just feels really repetitive. It picked up more toward the end, but that’s because Pudge and the Colonel were finally starting to function normally again. I feel like I’m shitting too much. I really did like the book I swear.

While I was a little underwhelmed, I think it’s just a common thing for a book to be immensely overhyped on social media. But I will say that I giggled a little at most of the jokes cracked in the book, and I haven’t watched the series yet but I’m really excited to!

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