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Dec 01, 2011

karen rated it:

some people are careless, and in an adrenaline-fueled all-caps teen reviewing frenzy, will inadvertently give a major spoiler for this book.

avoid these people, even though ordinarily, they are pretty cool.

this is a really well-written teen fiction book. i mean, it won the printz award, i'm not discovering america here. i think i wanted to emphasize that it definitely reads like a book intended for a teen audience. and i think that me as a teen would have numbered this am More...

74 comments like (83 people liked it)

Feb 06, 2012

Meg ♥ rated it:

This was the first book I ever read by John Green. It was given to me in 2007 when I had no idea who John Green was. I wish this book had been around when I was a teen. I really enjoyed the story, but I think I would have liked it even more if I wasn't already past that point in my life. Even still, I loved this book.

Miles is in search for the great perhaps, and has a fascination with famous last words. He meets Alaska Young who is basically the girl of his dreams. Their journey toge More...

13 comments like (49 people liked it)

May 20, 2011

Mariel rated it:

What was I doing reading John Green's Looking for Alaska when I famously (coughs) despised large parts of the author's An Abundance of Katherines? (I'm emulating Miles here. Wait, I already talk like that!) 1. I disliked it enough to feel mean and want to give John Green another shot before writing him off forever as a potential book friend. 2. It was super cheap in the closing local Borders. 3. I'm not that original about selecting books. 4. What else are the late hours of the night for if not More...

9 comments like (35 people liked it)

Aug 04, 2011

K.D. rated it:

I belong to the generation that enjoyed St. Elmo’s Fire, a 1985 American coming-of-age film that starred the then showbiz newbies, Emilio Estevez, Rob Lowe, Andre McCarthy and Demi Moore. That was shown here in the Philippines when I was in my first year of working after college and I was able to relate to many of its characters so I watched it twice or thrice. Oh well, I was with my girlfriend then and you know how dark and cold were the theatres during those years when they were not yet inside More...

12 comments like (37 people liked it)

Dec 01, 2011

Jillian -always aspiring- rated it:

(Actual Rating: 3.5 stars)

For the longest time, I thought that Looking for Alaska, John Green's Printz award-winning first novel, was about teenage boys taking a road trip to Alaska. (Way for me to assume too much from a title, huh?) But this novel isn't about the state known as Alaska but a girl named Alaska. Well, that changed things. ~~Will someone write the Alaskan road trip story for me, though? I'd really love to read one if there is one, preferably YA. If not, I'll add it t~~ More...

12 comments like (18 people liked it)

Apr 26, 2008

Kristopher rated it:

I've been getting in touch with my inner Young Adult this week, in preparation for yet another final rewrite on my own YA book. This has, for the most part, amounted to listening to Death Cab for Cutie and reading Looking for Alaska - a book that I have been actively avoiding. The story of this is long and somewhat personal, so feel free to skip this part if you just want to know if the book is good.

I first heard of Looking for Alaska in my thesis workshop, when a girl very snidely t More...

11 comments like (55 people liked it)

Feb 13, 2011

Carrie rated it:

In Looking For Alaska, John Green tells the story of Miles, a smart, skinny teen who decides to go to the same boarding school his father attended in the hopes of finding a different life. The reader gets a glimpse of what Miles’ home life is like at the beginning of the novel when his mother throws a going-away party for him, and only two people show up. Once at boarding school, Miles quickly befriends his roommate, nicknamed The Colonel. The Colonel introduces him to the rest of his inner circ More...

0 comments like (20 people liked it)

Feb 09, 2011

Joyzi rated it:

Book Review...down there somewhere

Caution : This book review was ridiculously self-absorbed and will not be entirely wholesome (R-16 will do).

***************************************
(You can skim this through, these are just self-absorbed anecdotes, scroll down for the Pros and Cons <that was my Book Review>)

First off I'd like to say that I've seen like this book Looking for Alaska for so many times in Listopia( a feature here in goodreads) and when More...

33 comments like (16 people liked it)

Feb 20, 2011

jzhunagev rated it:

Grand Possibilities: Things we Seek, Sometimes Lose and Always Gain
(A Book Review of John Green’s Looking for Alaska)

In Looking for Alaska, John Green explores the themes of friendship, suffering, loss, grief and coping. The novel follows a year in the life of high school junior Miles Halter (a.k.a. Pudge) a friendless Floridian who begged his parents to enroll him in Culver Creek Preparatory School, his dad’s Alma Mater. Miles dreams of starting anew at his elite Alabama prep More...

16 comments like (17 people liked it)

May 11, 2011

Leslie rated it:

This is a decent book. I pretty much devoured it despite a big qualm. Perhaps it's sour grapes but why perpetuate the age-old idea that hot teen girls who are emotionally tore up = glittery/alluring? What about girls with tore-up physiques AND tore-up emotions? Oh, silly me. They’re repugnant.

1 comment like (24 people liked it)

Jan 24, 2012

Heather rated it:

This book had been living in my TBR stack for ages and out of sheer boredom, I finally picked it up and began reading. Now that I have, I kind of feel bad that I waited to so long to do so. The book was quirky and completely hilarious at moments, although those moments tended to be completely ridiculous and over the top, but I have a weird sense of humor, so what can ya do? I don't remember being nearly as witty as these teenage characters when I was 16, nor do I recall pondering any serious More...

0 comments like (6 people liked it)

Nov 11, 2011

Alyssa rated it:

“I wanted to be one of those people who have streaks to maintain, who scorch the ground with their intensity. But for now, at least I knew such people, and they needed me, just like comets need tails.”

Boy genius Miles Halter is looking for the “Great Perhaps,” and he finds it at Culver Creek Boarding School, a selective institution for the intelligent and rich. Never does Miles believe he’ll find his "Perhaps" in the cigarette-smoking, Mountain Dew-drinking, beautiful cur More...

9 comments like (8 people liked it)

Oct 10, 2009

Anna rated it:

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here

11 comments like (28 people liked it)

Dec 16, 2009

Brooke rated it:

*SPOILER ALERT* This review contains plot information that some people feel gives away too much of the book. To me, the story isn't about the event occurring as much as it is about how it is dealt with among the characters - it's not the "surprise ending" I'm giving away. Don't read this review if you don't want to know anything about what happens in the book, event wise. A warning seemed fair.

Alaska Young, though the aching reincarnate of every High Scho More...

6 comments like (11 people liked it)

Feb 03, 2012

Eunice rated it:

Before: I find the characters 'too much'. Too much smoke, too much booze, too much rap, too much porn and too much prank. But I continued reading nevertheless and then, POOF!

After: The book made me look for Alaska too. She's moody. She's unpredictable. But I never thought she'd be a pretty mysterious figure here. This book is unpredictable.

In spite all the booze and mischiefs, this book is thought-provoking and it will leave your mind dancing with questions too.

0 comments like (5 people liked it)

Dec 16, 2011

rachel rated it:

Before I head to book club tomorrow night to share my feelings about this book with a group of girls whose opinions of John Green range from indifferent to love, I’m going to try to explain here why I’m not a fan of the whole John Green thing -- Looking For Alaska being in one big way indistinguishable from the other two books of his that I’ve read and in another way, refreshingly different.

Whether or not you love John Green depends heavily, I think, on whether or not you like his More...

2 comments like (4 people liked it)

Aug 10, 2008

Jessica rated it:

Looking for Alaska, by John Green, was the winner of the 2006 Michael L. Printz Award.

“I go to seek a Great Perhaps.” - Last words of Francois Rabelais

“How will I ever get out of this labyrinth!” - Last words of Simon Bolivar

Miles Halter, a sixteen year old with a passion for last words, has decided to leave his high school and home to find his Great Perhaps at a boarding school in Alabama. Upon arriving, he falls in with “the Colonel,” his roommate, Takumi More...

0 comments like (28 people liked it)

Feb 08, 2008

Caryn rated it:

Oh. My. Goodness.

Let's have a chat about Looking for Alaska, yes?

I discovered this book on a video blog in which the author was attempting to explain why parents were trying to censor his book in public schools without actually reading because "you don't need to have cancer to diagnose cancer."

And then I found his video blog with his younger brother and decided that I should read his book to see if his writing sounds anything like his vlogging.
More...

4 comments like (12 people liked it)

Nov 08, 2010

Tina rated it:

Original post at One More Page

I have been seeing John green's novels for a while now, but I never had the time to pick them up. I think I saw Paper Towns first, but they reviews were saying that Looking for Alaska has more awards, so I was always on the lookout for it. Of course, I promptly forgot all about it, until I saw other book bloggers I am following posting reviews on his books. After one particularly boring night at work where I wrestled with the urge to buy a new book, I go More...

5 comments like (6 people liked it)

May 07, 2010

Kat rated it:

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here

1 comment like (6 people liked it)

Dec 01, 2008

Staci rated it:

O.K. I think that this must be the best book I've read this year! This one has been on my list for over a year and I finally checked it out to see what all the fuss was about. First off, let me explain about the fuss. The media specialist that I worked with purchased this book for the middle school library. The library lady (at-the-time) was fanning through the book, when the words "blow-job" jumped off the page and slapped her in the face! From there it just spiraled out-of-control an More...

11 comments like (6 people liked it)

Jun 23, 2011

Ryan rated it:

Miles leaves his parents to attend a boarding school in Alabama. His life in suburban Florida has hit a dead end in which he avoids people so that he can avoid suffering. Culver Creek Preparatory School is Miles' way of following in the footsteps of Francois Rabelais, who reportedly declared on his deathbed that he was leaving to seek a "Great Perhaps." At Culver Creek, Miles discovers smoking, drinking and girls, and more than a few commentators have taken issue with Green's treatment More...

0 comments like (3 people liked it)

Jun 16, 2008

Casey rated it:

Before:
I bought this for my class forever ago, but I haven't had the chance to read it because I have a group of girls who devour my Printz winners. Anyway, they wouldn't let me have it. I threated, I cajoled, I pleaded. They wouldn't budge. They all finally finished it, though, so it's going to be my first book of the summer.

Oh, and by the way, I've become mildly obsessed with the author. John Green claims to be a nerd, but he's clearly very cool. And he thinks The Foun More...

6 comments like (13 people liked it)

Aug 29, 2010

Carla Jean rated it:

The only reason I didn’t cry—both in laughter and in sorrow—was because I finished the book in a food court. And I'm in a fairly happy-go-lucky state of mind these days. Were I anything less, I think I would be shattered on the floor (in the best possible way).

I was skeptical when friends claimed Alaska was even better than Abundance. But friends were right. I wish my five star rating had the power to express just how much I loved this book.

--Read again April 17, 2008... More...

2 comments like (8 people liked it)

Feb 24, 2008

Sam rated it:

I might adjust my 5 star rating to four after a little time has passed, but at the moment, only minutes after finishing the book, I am still feeling deeply satisfied. This is what it is to be a teenager. These are the questions you deal with. No matter how distant or similar your high school experience is or was to that of the main character's Alabama boarding prep school, the characters and their experiences are real and relevant. And heartbreaking as this is - as heartbreaking as being a teen More...

1 comment like (8 people liked it)

Sep 29, 2010

Phoebe rated it:

A few months ago, I reviewed John Green's Paper Towns on here. I was disheartened by the clever distancing, the self-conscious cheekiness, the manic pixie dream girl paired with the bland narrator. I'd heard that Green's first book, Looking for Alaska, was similar, but better. That's very true.

There's this phrase I've read about that's used in Thailand, "same same, but different". I'd say that's the case with Paper Towns and Looking for Alaska. Superficially, they're pretty More...

0 comments like (25 people liked it)

Oct 22, 2011

BritishWotsit rated it:

A brilliant book for a number of reasons, but the main reason above all, was that it had soul!
You get book's that read off the pages like an instruction manual, and then you get books that replace your dreams and inspire you to live.
This book triumphantly finds itself in that second category.

So I'm on my way to France, and this book struck me as the one to read. My gut instinct has never been so right. I consumed this whole book in my 12 hour car journey across England an More...

3 comments like (3 people liked it)

Feb 05, 2009

Tricia added it

Did not finish.

This book was just too much--too much smoking, drinking, sex, and foul language. As a teenager, I hated it then and I don't want to rehash it now. I didn't care about any of the characters except Miles and I hated how he just went along with everything thrown in his path without a second thought--the smoking, drinking, porn, etc.

8 comments like (16 people liked it)

Apr 16, 2009

Michael rated it:

Miles Halter is a young man who is fascinated by the last words of people. He's read a ton of biographies about various personalities from history and collects their final words.

Miles decides to attend a boarding school in Alabama, where he meets his new roommate, the Colonel and the mysterious, quirky girl Alaska. Miles falls instantly head over heels for Alaska, though she does have a boyfriend who attends another school. The two have a vibe and a flirty banter than dominates th More...

0 comments like (8 people liked it)

Jan 03, 2012

KeepCalmKelsey rated it:

Hmmmm.... Where to begin?
Okay, I shall start by saying that I don't like bad endings. I don't like un-romantic, depressing endings. And this is not to say that I am completely disregarding the depressing, and heart-wrenching moments contained in books like Harry Potter and The Hunger Games.

I'm not saying that Looking For Alaska has a bad, un-romantic, or depressing ending, on the contrary, but there is a point to which I almost stopped reading because of a specific, unfortunate More...

2 comments like (2 people liked it)