Looking for Alaska in Overdue Podcast

Jan 23, 2013 Heather rated it really liked it

Shelves: read-2013

4 stars for writing, characterization and for making me think, but beyond that, I'm pretty sure I had an atypical reaction to the book. I must be going through a cynical phase or something.

I did not find Alaska fascinating, nor mysterious, nor alluring. I found her tiring. Some people are broken and self-destructive, and they only spread chaos and suffering until they decide that they want to get their sh*t together. So I thought it was a bit dubious to be obsessed with someone like that.

I also ...more

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May 26, 2019 Sarah rated it liked it

Shelves: young-adult

Meh. I think I need to conclude that while I am a fan of John Green (vlog brothers & podcast) I'm not a fan of his books so much which is ostensibly his "real job". It's weird because I agree with most of the 5 star reviews but I also agree with the 1 star ones.

There are things to like about his books...
-he is certainly clever
-has plenty of quotables
-and can address heavy topics in a real way
and things to dislike...
-the same old pixie dream girl revamp with a twist in every single book
-the sa ...more

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Mar 30, 2012 Sarah rated it really liked it

Shelves: 100-in-2013, young-adult

This is a really interesting book. It is a story of cliches that I could see going into the book, yet I still found a lot to like here. The cliches include: A) and mysterious, pixie-ish, adventurous girl that is infuriating and yet changes the main characters life forever. B) the aforementioned main character who is a moody teenage boy who goes off to a boarding school and really learns about life, man. C) A group a kids that love to learn and read and have adventures that pull them together.

I s ...more

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Aug 07, 2012 Stacy rated it liked it

Shelves: 2014-books-read, young-adult

Miles has recently decided he'd like to attend the boarding school his dad attended in an effort to find The Great Perhaps. Once at school, he quickly becomes friends with an eclectic group that includes The Colonel, Takumi, and of course Alaska. She's the sort of girl I imagine most teenage boys dream of - pretty, smart, likes sex, smokes, and drinks quite a bit. She seems hell bent on destroying herself but in the meantime wants to have fun doing it. Miles seems happy to pick up whatever bad h ...more

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Mar 04, 2020 Liesl rated it really liked it

Shelves: ssr, young-adult, adapted-for-tv, 2020, overdue

Memorable and quite enjoyable. The characters here really shine; Green has created a group of very realistic and appealingly multifaceted teens. The construction of the book is strong as well as unique, lulling readers into complacency while experiencing everything at Culver Creek for the first time with protagonist Miles before pulling the rug out from underneath everyone halfway through to change gears, transforming into a mystery of sorts. I'm glad that I went into reading this knowing so lit ...more

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