Reviews tagging Child death

Looking for Alaska, by John Green

40 reviews

goodreadgoodtea's review against another edition

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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Content Warnings

Moderate: Child death, Drug abuse, Grief, Alcohol, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Car accident, and Drug use

cozygrovereads's review

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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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcohol and Child death

Minor: Suicide

matchababesandbooks's review

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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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Child death, Alcoholism, Suicide, and Alcohol

Moderate: Death of parent, Addiction, and Sexual content

Minor: Blood, Vomit, Injury/injury detail, and Suicidal thoughts

verikamarkova's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional mysterious 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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Car accident, Child death, Death, and Grief

Moderate: Alcohol and Suicide

shlymiller's review against another edition

emotional hopeful reflective sad medium-paced

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

3.75

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Child death, Death of parent, and Suicide

rory_john14's review against another edition

dark emotional hopeful mysterious reflective sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Car accident, Death, Sexism, Suicide, Addiction, Alcohol, Alcoholism, Child death, Death of parent, Grief, Infidelity, Misogyny, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, and Vomit

Moderate: Mental illness, Cursing, Drug abuse, Drug use, and Toxic friendship

Minor: Toxic relationship, Classism, and Medical content

rat_girly's review

emotional reflective sad

• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Suicide, Child death, Death, Mental illness, and Car accident

ashleereadsbooks692's review

emotional funny hopeful sad medium-paced

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

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcohol, Grief, Child death, Death, Car accident, Mental illness, Self harm, and Suicidal thoughts

laraineelizabeth's review

medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

“You never know what someone is going through. Be kind. Always.” - is the quote that best describes this book for me.

Every character, every flaw, all the differences between them, their childhood & every struggle they went through makes it real. Someone in our world is one of these characters. You’ll just never know who. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcohol, Alcoholism, Car accident, Child death, Cursing, Death, Death of parent, Drug use, Panic attacks/disorders, Suicide, Suicide attempt, and Suicidal thoughts

Moderate: Blood, Death of parent, Body shaming, and Bullying

lindsayerin's review

dark reflective sad tense medium-paced

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

3.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Death, and Suicide