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Looking for Alaska

John Green (Goodreads Author)

4.01 · Rating details · 1,151,330 ratings · 57,001 reviews

Before. Miles “Pudge” Halter is done with his safe life at home. His whole life has been one big non-event, and his obsession with famous last words has only made him crave “the Great Perhaps” even more (Francois Rabelais, poet). He heads off to the sometimes crazy and anything-but-boring world of Culver Creek Boarding School, and his life becomes the opposite of safe. Bec ...more

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Paperback, 221 pages

Published December 28th 2006 by Speak (first published March 3rd 2005)

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Average rating 4.01 ·

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· 1,151,330 ratings · 57,001 reviews

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Apr 01, 2010 Cristina rated it did not like it

Shelves: 2010

WROTE THIS IN 2010!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Now I am TEN YEARS OLDER.

****

I didn't like this book.

This is not what I expected to be. I hoped to find a book in the style of Stargirl (or something novel) and what did I find? A bunch of teens who try to ease their anxieties in their not-so-original vices and a sudden drama which leads to nonsense talking. All hiding, of course, in a couple of beautiful quotes that wrap all the 'inspiring-sites' on the internet, the reason I got to the book and I bet that yo ...more

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Mar 30, 2014 Patrick rated it it was amazing

Shelves: books-i-would-blurb

My assistant Amanda has been a John Green fan for ages, which is one of the reasons I decided to start giving his stuff a read.

I decided to start here because it was one of his first books.

After I finished this book, I went to her and asked, "Are all of John Green's books going to leave me feeling like I've had a hole kicked straight through my guts?"

"Not all of them," she said. "But yeah. Some."

I thought about this for a while, then asked her. "In Name of the Wind, when X happens, did it fee ...more

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Sep 11, 2010 karen rated it really liked it

Shelves: and-so-this-is-grad-school, welcome-author, pretty-girls-make-graves, why-yes-i-ya

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 among my very favorite book ...more

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Jul 22, 2015 Shelby *trains flying monkeys* rated it did not like it

Shelves: the-trolls-will-come, young-adult, liburry-book, read-2015

That's me, realizing I was about to give a big one star to a super popular book on Goodreads.

It didn't stop me. This book was beyond stupid.

Miles is a little nerd boy from Florida, he is going away to boarding school hoping for a new life or maybe his "Great Perhaps". The Great Perhaps comes from a minute reference to some poet. Thrown in to this book to make it all edgy and shit. Fail.

Once he gets there his roommate (the requisite character that is so poor but super smart) befriends hi ...more

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Jan 17, 2013 Sarah ❤ rated it it was amazing

Shelves: favorites, romance

I'm going to explain my emotions about this book in a billion of gifs because I love this book too much to put into words <3

So first I was like...

because Pudge was pretty cool.

Then we met the Colonel, and I did this

because the Colonel is awesome! and he got my approval.

Then we met Alaska and I go

because, who knows? She's really not that bad.

Then we really get to know her and I'm like

Then ALL this stuff happens and I don't know what to expect, because now we're at the After part, and I'm excited ...more

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Mar 08, 2010 Todd rated it did not like it

Shelves: 12s-13s, mature, sad, 12s-13s-contemporary-realistic

Wow. I must've skipped a bunch of pages or read the Hebrew translation or was having root canal or something because that was one terrible book. All those awards-- WHAT??? Such a clumsy story— every move of the author was heavy-handed and so transparent I felt like I was a fly on John Green's ceiling watching him go "Oh that's good-- oh that's just precious" and fall asleep in his soup again.
Miles—I mean "Pudge,"as he is deemed within minutes of his arrival at his School of Great Perhaps— may b Wow. I must've skipped a bunch of pages or read the Hebrew translation or was having root canal or something because that was one terrible book. All those awards-- WHAT??? Such a clumsy story— every move of the author was heavy-handed and so transparent I felt like I was a fly on John Green's ceiling watching him go "Oh that's good-- oh that's just precious" and fall asleep in his soup again.
Miles—I mean "Pudge,"as he is deemed within minutes of his arrival at his School of Great Perhaps— may be looking for Alaska throughout this story but I sure knew her right away. She's the pretty girl who's even prettier because she's a bit damaged and makes you feel like you have a chance with her because she's a flirt. Yes, she's a hopelessly thin character, as are they all (with the exception of The Colonel). Takumi, for example, who is supposed to be one of the Big Four around whom this story revolves, is completely characterized by his unrealistic rap improvs ("My rhymin' is old school, sort of like the ancient Romans/ The Colonel's beats is sad like Arthur Miller's Willy Loman") and basically disappears from the story until required by the plot to re-emerge with More Information. Lara, Pudge's first girlfriend, is so bland she is given a Russian accent complete with long e's for short i's ("I put the stuff een the gel... and then I deed the same thing een Jeff's room") to prevent her from evaporating off the page and into THEEN ARE. In fact, each character is carefully provided with a shtick, often a savant-like "talent" that would in reality win game shows but is meant to be That Thing That Makes Him Special: The Colonel can remember capitals of countries to the point of extreme autism! Pudge knows the last words of famous people— only he's so doggone quirky that he reads the biography but not the work of the famous person! And our precious Alaska? She keeps stacks and stacks of books in her room that she intends to read (when she's done selling cigarettes to high school kids, I guess), called her life library (or something), but has wrestled with life's Big Questions alongside some very Heavy Thinking Authors, and can recite poetry, of course. Everybody is way too philosophical and literary for their own good, but god forbid the reader is allowed to think. Lest you miss the point, every moment is interpreted for you:

I finally understood that day at the Jury: Alaska wanted to show us we could trust her. Survival at Culver Creek meant loyalty, and she had ignored that. But then she'd shown me the way. She and the Colonel had taken the fall for me to show me how it was done, so I would know what to do when the time came

Ok, then—I guess that's what happened, except that's just not the way high school kids work.
Even word choice reveals fear we won't get it; if an author has to tell you FIVE TIMES in the book that the character "deadpanned" instead of "said" (the Colonel"deadpanned" three times and Pudge, just a little less dry I guess, "deadpanned" twice) then either the dialogue is not written well or the author believes it is not written well. (The former, at least).
So just hanging with these kids leaves one searching for a third dimension, but then the story itself pretty much jumps genres halfway through, from slacker-YA-Holden-mentioned-on-the-back-cover to straight mystery. Why'd she do what she did? Lest I "spoil" this story for you, I won't go into this part, but suffice it to say the above question is left out in the sun to rot while we are forced to look on, sniffing the decay.
The story doesn't work in any genre anyway. I know what the story is supposed to do— make me fall in love with Alaska, feel all warm and cozy when the four friends smoke cigarettes, shoot the breeze, and look out for one another, and care when one of them screams with cosmic agony, but alas. Maybe if I wasn't basically tapped on the shoulder and demanded these reactions I would be better at having them, but lines fall flat and soggy like cigarettes tossed casually into some cliche prep-school lake:

The Colonel let go of my sweater and I reached down and picked up the cigarettes. Not screaming, not through clenched teeth, not with the veins pulsing in my forehead, but calmly. Calmly. I looked down at the Colonel and said, "F— you."

My first Kindle read, too!

...more

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Feb 29, 2012 Michelle, the Bookshelf Stalker Queen of the Undead rated it did not like it

Update- 4/12/14

This review/rant receives more comments than any other book review I have. I decided to reply to a few of the comments in my review because the people that don't like my review/rant don't like it for pretty much the same reasons. First, please note there are spoilers. However, the spoilers aren't really spoilers since it doesn't affect your enjoyment or lack of enjoyment if you know the big secret. Nevertheless, a helpful few have pointed out that I have spoilers and I didn't mark ...more

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Oct 17, 2016 Kai rated it it was ok · review of another edition

Shelves: owned, 2016

“We need never be hopeless because we can never be irreperably broken.”

Again, I know, I'm late. This book is incredibly popular, and it's been waiting patiently in my bookshelf for at least two years now. I've read Paper Towns (which was boring af) and The Fault In Our Stars (which is one of my favourite books). Looking for Alaska was something in between.

Characters:
Miles, the main character, is as interesting and charming as toast. So are his parents, but their lack of character depth is even w ...more

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Mar 07, 2020 Maria rated it it was ok · review of another edition

yup. this is not the right book to read for the first time at 23 years old in 2020. yup

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Jun 28, 2011 Megs ♥ rated it it was amazing

Shelves: favs, e-books

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 together at boar ...more

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Aug 27, 2014 NReads rated it really liked it

My favorite from John Green. This reminds me of high school.

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Feb 22, 2020 daph pink ♡ rated it it was ok · review of another edition

Shelves: genre-young-adult, genre-mf-romance, owned, 2-star

I just want to know what weed addicted brunette broke JOHN GREEN heart in highs school and gave him enough material for a decade’s worth of identical books.

I have really got nothing to say about this book. It’s shitty like all of this other books no doubt about that!!

Speaking of MILES PUDGE HALTER is a misogynistic piece of shit. Throughout the book he objectifies Alaska and cheats on Lara , he belittles Takumi and is just a whining piss baby.

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Nov 04, 2012 Kat (Lost in Neverland) rated it really liked it

Shelves: beautiful-writing

First time hearing about this book;

Friend online gushes on how amazing and fantabulous this book is.

Me: Okay, I'll check it out. Plus it's cool since I was born in Alaska. The book is about Alaska right?

Friend: *laughs*

Me: O__o It's not about Alaska?

Friend: *still laughing*

Me: IT'S NOT ABOUT ALASKA?

The End.

True Story. ...more

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Mar 04, 2017 Sarah rated it did not like it

Shelves: a-failed-romance, how-very-original, read-something-else, because-villainesses, beware-of-mary-sue, whine-and-cheese, because-shock-value, raging-hormones, was-that-really-necessary, beware-of-draco-in-leather-pants

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

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Jul 01, 2015 Darth J rated it it was ok

Shelves: disappointing

I had been putting off reviewing this book for a while. It also took me much longer to read than I thought it would. Having read An Abundance of Katherines and Paper Towns first, I can say that Green seems to repeat a lot of the same themes and personalities. This may have been his first book, but it was probably my least favorite of the ones I've already read. (And no, I will not read The Fault in Our Stars for reasons.)

The one thing I did like about this book and saved it from being a 1 star w ...more

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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. ...more

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Aug 02, 2015 Fabian rated it really liked it

Here's me acknowledging the power of John Green. & hats off!

No, this one is not as bittersweet as "The Fault in Our Stars", but still, this is unputdownable supreme! Its the type of literature that gets one excited about reading, about reminiscing about adolescence and school. Because everyone has had a childhood, a first love, a stage of rebellion, this type of book strikes inner chords & you swiftly become infected with the virus of nostalgia.

To read one of his novels is to remember that you ...more

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Aug 18, 2017 jessica rated it really liked it · review of another edition

i really wish i had read this when it first came out, because i think john greens writing has become stronger over time, so i didnt quite love this as much as his more recent stuff. but its still classic JG - need i say more?

i know JG is one of those polarising authors - you either hate him or you love him with no in between - but i find his characterisation of teens really fascinating. many claim his characters are pretentious. i mean, how many teenagers do you know literally searching for thei ...more

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May 12, 2011 K.D. Absolutely rated it liked it · review of another edition

Recommended to K.D. by: Aaron Vincent

Shelves: borrowed, ya

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 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 the malls.

So, now at 47, graying and with joints aching especially during cold mornings, I am just too old to appreciate a story about a bunch of young (college) kids who get into all troubles precisely because they are young. They drink booze, smoke, defy school rules, swear, have free sex and, in their attempt to cover their foolishness, do various kinds of franks towards the school authorities.

I definitely had my share of foolishness when I was at their age. I guess it had something to do with being young – the feeling when you want to assert myself, make a territorial mark between your generation and that of your parent’s or test the extent of their patience (and in so doing test whether they really care or not). Last Sunday, my daughter had an outburst inside the car saying that she did not have a friend at school. My daughter who was very active in school leading the Robotics Team, emceeing school programs, leading the daily prayer as one of the school DJs, being class president for at least two years and playing various kinds of sports during annual intramurals. She said that she felt alone (she is an only child) and she oftentimes ate lunch alone. My wife and I felt sad about her revelations. We thought that she was doing fine as whenever we were in her school, we oftentimes heard many of her fellow students greeting her “hi.” We even joked that she should be the most popular student in school. This was something that I and my wife did not experience when we were in high school as we were low-profile people then and even now in our respective life circles. We advised her to just make the most of what can still be done for the rest of the senior year - probably concentrate with a few friends instead of reaching out to all – as it is just 8 months before graduation. In college, she will probably have a totally new set of friends so she can forge new ties and hope those will be stronger and more lasting. Anyway, friends come and go. Those classmates-friends we had in college tend to stick with us after our school years as we normally land in the same field or industry. Moreover, in the end what really matter are the learnings from each friend we encounter in our lives. Learnings that help us to become better persons as we take our journey in this thing called life.

That’s why I was able to relate to this novel. I could imagine the disappointment Miles “Pudge” Halter felt when nobody but two attended his goodbye party for him. That’s why I could imagine the anxiety he felt facing his own “Great Perhaps” when he made his first step towards the boarding school, Culver Creek. That’s why I felt the pain and suprise when he was thrown off the creek just because he was sharing his room with Chip “The Colonel” Martin. That’s why I understood when Pudge and Chip cried with guilt and sadness with longing and fondness when Alaska Young disappeared from their lives.

This is a novel about being young and what goes with it – emotionally vulnerable, trying to fit in, trying to find one’s place under the sun, trying to face the whole world armed with what little knowledge and strength gained in the first one or two decades of stay on this treacherous yet still beautiful earth.

John Green shows us the generation of today. His characters may not be totally different from the St. Elmo’s buddies I used to relate with. However, this is their time. We had ours. So, let’s step down and give them the stage but keep ourselves at bay to coach if they ask us to. Otherwise, let’s leave them and let them strengthen their wings for them to fly away and fulfill the hearts’ wishes.

Thanks to Dra. Ranee for lending to me her copy of this book! ...more

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Dec 06, 2020 Sofia rated it did not like it

Recommends it for: edgy people

Shelves: dnf, mary-sue, misplaced-hype, failed-romance, how-was-this-published, new-level-of-trash, i-am-disgusted, tries-to-be-sad, idek-anymore-guys, le-sigh

The bar was so low.

THE BAR WAS SO LOW.

I loathe this book. Everything about it makes me want to rip out its pages, burn them, and then throw their ashes into the ocean. Actually, that would be cruel to the fish. Poor fish don't deserve it.

Anyway, I need to break this up because there is no way I'm going to be remotely coherent without it.

THE WRITING

Two words: pretentious trash. I've heard a lot of negative and positive things about John Green's writing, but it was so much worse than I ever ...more

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Jan 13, 2013 Kristalia rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: buddy-reads, 4-to-5-stars, favorites, own-physical-copy, gifted-to-me, type-standalone-story, age-mature-young-adult, made-me-smile-or-laugh, reviewed

Final rating: 4.5/5 stars

"Teenagers think they are invincible" with that sly, stupid smile on their faces, they don't know how right they are. We need never be hopeless, because we can never be irreparably broken. We think that we are invincible because we are."

Loved it! I couldn't put it down - just like i expected. John Green is seriously talented, and even though i don't like this book as much as i love his "The Fault in Our Stars", it was still wonderful book.

I have to admit that ...more

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Jun 14, 2010 Madeline rated it it was amazing

Shelves: kids-and-young-adult

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

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Feb 18, 2014 Lotte rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: a-young-adult-fiction, x-made-me-cry, x-deserves-the-hype, all-time-favourites, ge-ya-contemporary

I first read this book in 2008 when I was 14 and it turned out to be the book that sparked my love for literature.
I've always loved reading, but before that I only read for the sake of entertainment. Looking for Alaska was the first book that I thoroughly enjoyed reading, but that simultaneously and more importantly, made me think about greater issues in life for a long time after I had finished reading.
Now that I'm 21, I understand that while this remains to be a highly philosophical book, it's ...more

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Jun 20, 2015 Ahmad Sharabiani rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: young-adult, contemporary, 21th-century, realistic-fiction, mystery, fiction, romance

Looking for Alaska, John Green

Looking for Alaska is John Green's first novel, published in March 2005 by Dutton Juvenile.
Before. Miles “Pudge” Halter is done with his safe life at home. His whole life has been one big non-event, and his obsession with famous last words has only made him crave “the Great Perhaps” even more (Francois Rabelais, poet).

He heads off to the sometimes crazy and anything-but-boring world of Culver Creek Boarding School, and his life becomes the opposite of safe.

Because Looking for Alaska, John Green

Looking for Alaska is John Green's first novel, published in March 2005 by Dutton Juvenile.
Before. Miles “Pudge” Halter is done with his safe life at home. His whole life has been one big non-event, and his obsession with famous last words has only made him crave “the Great Perhaps” even more (Francois Rabelais, poet).

He heads off to the sometimes crazy and anything-but-boring world of Culver Creek Boarding School, and his life becomes the opposite of safe.

Because down the hall is Alaska Young. The gorgeous, clever, funny, sexy, self-destructive, screwed up, and utterly fascinating Alaska Young.

She is an event unto herself. She pulls Pudge into her world, launches him into the Great Perhaps, and steals his heart. Then. . . .

After. Nothing is ever the same.

تاریخ نخستین خوانش: روز یازدهم ماه دسامبر سال 2018میلادی

عنوان: در جست‌وجوی آلاسکا؛ نویسنده: جان گرین؛ مترجم: فاطمه جابیک؛ ویراسته ی سایه سار؛ تهران، میلکان؛ 1397؛ در 256ص؛ شابک 9786008812531؛ موضوع داستانهای نویسندگان امریکایی برای نوجوانان - سده 21م

داستان، بین نوجوانان، و در فضای مدرسه می‌گذرد، و از عشق‌های نوجوانانه، و نارواییهایی که در دبیرستان، و بین فرزندان خانواده‌ های طبقات مختلف برقرار است، سخن می‌گوید؛ «مایلز هالتر»، زندگی بی‌ماجرایی را می‌گذراند؛ او تصمیم می‌گیرد، به مدرسه‌ ی شبانه‌ روزی «کلور کریک»، در «فلوریدا» برود؛ تنها سرگرمی، و علاقه ی «مایلز»، خواندن آخرین جملات نویسنده‌ ها، و انسان‌های بزرگ است؛

جمله‌ ای از: «فرانسوا رابله»؛ در کتاب زندگینامه ی ایشان، توجه «مایلز» را، جلب کرده است: «من به جست‌وجوی شایدِ بزرگ می‌روم.» و این‌جاست که «مایلز»، تصمیم می‌گیرد در جستجوی «شایدِ بزرگ خود» باشد؛ در شبانه‌ روزی، او با دختری به نام «آلاسکا یانگ»، آشنا می‌شود؛ دختری زیبا، جذاب، باهوش، و بامزه، که ذهن پیچیده‌ ای دارد؛ دختری حیرت‌ انگیز، که وجودش به‌ خودی خود، نوعی رخداد است؛ او «مایلز» را، به دنیای خود می‌برد، و راه رسیدن به «شایدِ بزرگ» را، برایش هموار می‌کند، و البته چیزی را (دلش را) از او می‌گیرد؛ شخصیت‌های «در جست‌وجوی آلاسکا»، همگی نوجوانانی هستند که می‌خواهند از زندگی لذت ببرند، و از فرصت‌ها نهایت استفاده را بکنند

تاریخ بهنگام رساینی 24/10/1399هجری خورشیدی؛ ا. شربیانی ...more

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Oct 03, 2011 Ariel rated it really liked it

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here. Well, I finished this book this morning, and let me just say it was excellent.
Everyone says it because it's true. This is a pure and thought-provoking book.

This review cannot be without spoilers, so if you haven't read this book or don't want to be spoiled, don't continue. Basically, just read this book.

The book follows Miles, a slightly disconnected teenager, who has just moved to a boarding school. He befriends his roommate and his roommate's friends. One of these friends is Alaska, and he qui Well, I finished this book this morning, and let me just say it was excellent.
Everyone says it because it's true. This is a pure and thought-provoking book.

This review cannot be without spoilers, so if you haven't read this book or don't want to be spoiled, don't continue. Basically, just read this book.

The book follows Miles, a slightly disconnected teenager, who has just moved to a boarding school. He befriends his roommate and his roommate's friends. One of these friends is Alaska, and he quickly falls in love with her. And then, she dies.

I can honestly say I did not see this coming. The truth is, I have not read any books that deal with death and the way that others respond to it.

The characters were wonderful. Miles was usually intelligent and very relatable. Pudge, his roommate, sounded like a friend I would want to have. He was super smart and had lots of fortitude. Takumi, in the end, was a beautiful character and I really wanted to know more about him. Lara was also great. I've known some exchange students, and she really portrayed one well. You can tell that exchange students are intelligent, but with their accents and simply worded sentences they seem adorable and lovely as well. Finally, Alaska. She was simply beautiful. In the trashiest way. She was one of the most mysterious characters I have ever read about. Near the end of the book, I realized we barely know anything about her. And yet I mourned her loss alongside with Miles.

I think that this is the most "deep" YA novel I have ever read. It was wonderfully written, and John Green's use of last words was intriguing and interesting. The way that the book was split, with "before" and "after" really showed what a big event Alaska's death was.

I'm really glad that John Green also put some comedy into this book through all of the pranks though, because otherwise it would have been extremely depressing. I'm also glad we never found out if it was suicide or an accident. It seemed right not to know.

It is actually difficult to explain the impact this book had on me. It really made me think about others and the power of death and life.

I recommend this book to everyone. ...more

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Sep 12, 2012 Emma rated it did not like it · review of another edition

Shelves: young-adult

I was recommended this by a good friend and I was really looking forward to it. I love the vlogbrothers videos and the first chapter really made me want to read it and find out more but it didn't live up to the expectation that the first few chapters set up.

My main problem with the book was the characters. It wasn't even that they were underdeveloped. Alaska and Miles just pissed me off. I let some of it slide by because I understand certain parts were intentional but Miles was just so whiny. I ...more

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Apr 26, 2008 Kristopher Jansma rated it liked it

Shelves: bookblog

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 told me I'd h 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 told me I'd have to take out part of my own book because it sounded very similar to this book she'd heard about on NPR, which had not even come yet out at that point. Stubbornly I refused to cut the section (and even read it at my thesis reading) and when Alaska finally did come out, I flipped through just enough of it to decide my book was way better and then abandoned it. Sadly, Alaska has dogged me ever since. Agents and editors alike have told me that my book is too similar to it - which is apparently not a good thing - despite Alaska having won a number of awards and such. Anyway, sour grapes aside, I decided that if the comparisons are inevitable, I might as well know what I'm being held up against.

So what do the young adults of this world really want? Sex, apparently. And a stiff drink or twelve.

Looking for Alaska is about normal, skinny Miles Halter, quickly nicknamed Pudge, who gets into Culver Creek Boarding School and leaves in search of something more interesting. His quirky personality trait is that he memorizes the famous last words of various historical figures - a party trick that he uses to successfully get in with his roommate, who goes by "the Colonel" and the smoky little sexpot down the hall, Alaska Young. Wait, you might be saying, what's with all these funny nicknames? Well, Alaska turns out to be nearly the only name in the book that isn't a nickname - though we do find out that her parents decided to let her name herself at the age of 5. Even the Dean is referred to as The Eagle by the Culver Creekians. Try as I might I can't recall a lot of excessive nicknaming in my youth. I suppose there were a few guys I knew who pretty much went by their last names, when there were too many Adams or Brians in the bunch. I had one friend who referred to himself as the Emperor... but we didn't really call him that on a daily basis. Anyway, I digress.

The story is split into two parts - Before & After - and I won't give away the event that divides the two. All I will say is that the structure and the subject matter reminded me immensely of The Secret History by Donna Tartt (which incidentally was my main inspiration as well...) But just as I felt that the second half of History sags, Alaska does too. It's hard to talk about why without spoiling the twist, so I'll focus my energy on the Before section, which will give you the gist.

As I said earlier, Pudge loves Famous Last Words, (this is actually the facet that the snarky workshop girl told me was too close to my own book) and I expected to hate this quirk - but in fact it grew on me. The whole book grew on me - the romantic tension between him and Alaska is perfect, and there are an awful lot of incredibly poignant moments as Pudge grows accustomed to the school and it's strange rules and rhythms. Ultimately the book becomes a youthful meditation on life and death, which made me realize part of the joy of YA writing - just as in the Death Cab songs, the emotions can be laid much barer than in more serious literary works where things always seem to have to stay sort of ambiguous and sophisticated. Teenagers are supposed to be a little melodramatic, and that's sort of the joy of it. Badly done, you get Gossip Girl style antics, a lot of who-cheated-on-whom-with-whomever-else. But rightly done, you get something like the better parts of Looking for Alaska.

So what's leftover? A lot of ridiculous stuff. The Colonel and Alaska are more or less perpetually drunk (she buries wine bottles in the woods) and there's a good deal of cigarette smoking going on as well - for which they are occasionally punished. Fellatio is simulated on a tube of toothpaste (then performed in real life). Alaska's big hunky boyfriend from another school comes by frequently and everyone talks racily about how much sex they seem to have and just how much Alaska loves it. Worse than anything, when the characters are good and drunk (which is often) they will break out in absurd, spontaneous, freestyle rapping. In between all the genuine, poignant moments of the book, are a million moments where they're all so jaded and edgy and wacky you almost wish you could reach in and smack all their heads together. Maybe that's just me.

A friend of mine who actually went to boarding school observed to me the other day that none of the boarding school books she's ever read (including Alaska, which she did not like) give any realistic idea of the sheer volume of WORK that needs to be done. There's essentially no time leftover to get up to any trouble, she said. At any rate, Culver seems to be a somewhat less romanticised boarding school than the Exeters and Andovers of the world. It's in Alabama for one thing. Most of the rich kids head home on the weekends (leaving only our protagonists to get up to trouble). There's very little sense that any of them feel pressure to do well or accomplish anything extraordinary in life. The overriding question of the book is how one can escape the constant sufferings of life - not suffering like having to work hard or being humiliated or anything - think more like a teenager - it is the suffering of unrequited love, parents that just don't get it, the fear of getting expelled for one's various illicit pleasures, the embarrassment of puking on a girl... etc. Ultimately the book hinges on a more deeply serious moment - the sort that makes this philosophical question really important for them, and puts their previous, childish problems in perspective. However, as I said earlier, this moment comes halfway through, making the final half of the book one very tedious denouement.

Ultimately, the good in this book will stick in my mind far more than the bad. The character's absurdities and the shaky structure are both quickly forgotten upon putting the book down. I'm genuinely glad that I read it, and not only because now I have a better idea of what to avoid with my own book. Alaska is a great character, when she's not a little bit over the top. And maybe that's just what being a teenager is all about.

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Dec 29, 2020 Layla rated it did not like it · review of another edition

Recommends it for: No one

Recommended to Layla by: Emma

Shelves: the-quirky-didnt-work-y, torture-device

~ .5 stars ~

Me after reading yet another bad book:

CW/TW: underage drinking/overdrinking, substance abuse, smoking, death (car accident), grief, talk of possible suicide, sexual scene/behavior, mention of parental neglection, mention of cheating

Recommended to me by Emma for this reason. Thank you so much!

I don't know what I was expecting with this book, but this wasn't it. Honestly the fact that it was the last book I read in 2020 says a lot about that year. Already knew it was going to probably ...more

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Aug 22, 2016 emi rated it it was ok

The only way out of the labyrinth of suffering is to forgive.

John Green has established himself a very large fan base of readers, who are very fond of his work and writing.

Unfortunately, after reading a lot of his work, I can't say that I belong to that fanbase. Neither his characters nor writing nor plot make me swoon.

Alright, that was a very formal way of saying that his books are not for me.

Now, let's cut to the chase, shall we?

Everybody loves to read a good, ol' raging review about a con ...more

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Jun 05, 2015 Jasmine rated it it was amazing

Shelves: strong-emotions, realism, will-reread, all-time-favorites, practical-methods, highly-recommend, preciously-owned, positive-ideas, thought-provoking

If people were rain, I was drizzle and she was a hurricane.

Throughout the book, extremely loud and incredibly close soundtrack came to my mind the whole time. The melody fits the story so well.

I never thought Miles "Pudge" Halter's turning point in life would be like that. Absolutely, totally, completely life-changing difference before and after. It's like, well, experiencing a heartbroken and mysterious loss at school. Ironically, he went to Alabama in search of his so-called "Great Perhaps ...more

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topics	posts	views	last activity
Play Book Tag: Looking For Alaska by John Green 3 stars	1	9	Jan 08, 2021 04:57PM
Do you think Alaska's death was suicide or not? Why?	36	2179	Jan 04, 2021 01:38PM
FLASHLIGHT READERS: Looking For Alaska	2	9	Oct 16, 2020 01:13AM
YA Book Club!: Looking for Alaska	6	23	Sep 22, 2020 09:35AM
Play Book Tag: Looking for Alaska - John Green (4 stars)	1	8	Sep 03, 2020 10:11AM
SCPL Teens: Looking For Alaska Book Review	1	2	Aug 30, 2020 05:20PM
What's the Name o...: SOLVED. Smart stranger comes to town becomes best friend with jock, falls for this girl who dies in accident and had secrets. [s]	6	69	Aug 28, 2020 09:11AM

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About John Green

John Green

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Librarian Note: There is more than one author in the Goodreads database with this name.

John Green's first novel, Looking for Alaska, won the 2006 Michael L. Printz Award presented by the American Library Association. His second novel, An Abundance of Katherines, was a 2007 Michael L. Printz Award Honor Book and a finalist for the Los Angeles Times Book Prize. His next novel, Paper Towns, is a New ...more

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