A review by matchababesandbooks
Looking for Alaska, by John Green

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.
SpoilerHow 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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