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A review by simonvoneuler
Efter Alaska by John Green
adventurous
emotional
funny
lighthearted
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.5
I have very mixed feelings about this book. On one hand, I had a great time reading this book. It was one of the books that first got me into reading as a hobby and getting to experience that again as a more avid reader was really great. On the other hand, the writing is poor and the characters are very flawed, and not in a way where you still root for the characters, or at least understand them.
All of the female characters in the book exist only in relation to male ones. In some cases issues like that can be ignored, at least during the period of reading the book, but in this case the whole storyline revolved around the main character falling for this flawed sort of "manic pixie dream-girl." When describing the female characters the author put way more emphasis on their looks and bodies than he does when describing the male characters. The female characters are also shamed for how much or little sex they have, and with whom they are having sex. The main female character, Alaska, is quickly labeled as a slut. This label is established partly because of the fact that all of the men in the book want to have sex with her, and partly because of her good looks. She is also continuously sexualized by the main character.The same sort of labeling of girls as either sluts or prudes continues on throughout the book, and is something that worsens the reader-experience greatly. This is especially problematic considering the main audience of this book is girls in their early teens.
The depiction of mental health in this book is also very poor. All of the discussions on the topic of suicide, for example, are very shallow. There is a particular discussion between the main character, Miles, and his best friend, where they discuss wether or not Alaska could have killed herself. In this discussion they look up "signs of a person being suicidal" and decide that since not many of them applied to Alaska, the death must have been an accident. After the death of Alaska Miles mourns. But the thing he focuses on the most is that he and Alaska made out the same day she died, and he was sure that that meant that his feelings for her were requited. This could have been fleshed-out and talked about as an issue, that to Miles, and a lot of the other characters, all of Alaska value was who she was in relation to him, but this is never brought up. Never in the novel does anyone discuss the fact that she was her own person, they just spend time arguing about who knew her the best and who loved her the most, but she never gets to exist as herself. Once again, this could have made an interesting topic for the book, if the belief that Alaska just existed in relation to others was ever questioned. Miles belief that he loved Alaska the most is questioned a few times, but only to tell him that someone else knew her more, or that she was this inexplicable mystery that no one would ever figure out. Her character is so romanticized that everything she does is just described as something beautiful. She even says once in the novel that she "smokes to die, " and this is something that just seems to make Miles have even stronger feelings for her. She drinks and smokes excessively, she sometimes pushes everyone away and after a while comes back like nothing has happened, and she suffers from trauma. None of this is brought up in any other context than to make her more "interesting" and "complicated." This is a textbook example of mental illness in women being written by a man. The pain is always beautiful and all of the problems the women has are seen as quirks that make her special.
Instead of reading this book, I would recommend reading Turtles all the way down by the same author. The writing is so much better and the depiction of mental health is much more realistic.
All of the female characters in the book exist only in relation to male ones. In some cases issues like that can be ignored, at least during the period of reading the book, but in this case the whole storyline revolved around the main character falling for this flawed sort of "manic pixie dream-girl." When describing the female characters the author put way more emphasis on their looks and bodies than he does when describing the male characters. The female characters are also shamed for how much or little sex they have, and with whom they are having sex. The main female character, Alaska, is quickly labeled as a slut. This label is established partly because of the fact that all of the men in the book want to have sex with her, and partly because of her good looks. She is also continuously sexualized by the main character.The same sort of labeling of girls as either sluts or prudes continues on throughout the book, and is something that worsens the reader-experience greatly. This is especially problematic considering the main audience of this book is girls in their early teens.
The depiction of mental health in this book is also very poor. All of the discussions on the topic of suicide, for example, are very shallow. There is a particular discussion between the main character, Miles, and his best friend, where they discuss wether or not Alaska could have killed herself. In this discussion they look up "signs of a person being suicidal" and decide that since not many of them applied to Alaska, the death must have been an accident. After the death of Alaska Miles mourns. But the thing he focuses on the most is that he and Alaska made out the same day she died, and he was sure that that meant that his feelings for her were requited. This could have been fleshed-out and talked about as an issue, that to Miles, and a lot of the other characters, all of Alaska value was who she was in relation to him, but this is never brought up. Never in the novel does anyone discuss the fact that she was her own person, they just spend time arguing about who knew her the best and who loved her the most, but she never gets to exist as herself. Once again, this could have made an interesting topic for the book, if the belief that Alaska just existed in relation to others was ever questioned. Miles belief that he loved Alaska the most is questioned a few times, but only to tell him that someone else knew her more, or that she was this inexplicable mystery that no one would ever figure out. Her character is so romanticized that everything she does is just described as something beautiful. She even says once in the novel that she "smokes to die, " and this is something that just seems to make Miles have even stronger feelings for her. She drinks and smokes excessively, she sometimes pushes everyone away and after a while comes back like nothing has happened, and she suffers from trauma. None of this is brought up in any other context than to make her more "interesting" and "complicated." This is a textbook example of mental illness in women being written by a man. The pain is always beautiful and all of the problems the women has are seen as quirks that make her special.
Instead of reading this book, I would recommend reading Turtles all the way down by the same author. The writing is so much better and the depiction of mental health is much more realistic.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Death, Mental illness, Misogyny, Grief, Death of parent, and Alcohol
Minor: Suicide
There are mentions of suicide in the novel, but not in a graphic way and not in detail.