Looking for Alaska in Penguin's Point of View Books

May 30, 2009 April rated it it was amazing

Shelves: own, highly-recommended, ya, printz-award

As a YA fan I feel a bit ashamed that I have never read any John Green before. As I have 3 copies of Looking For Alaska kicking around my humble abode, I thought it might be prudent to read this Printz award winner, so I can have some street cred as a YA fan.
Read the rest of my review here ...more

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Jan 16, 2009 Heidi rated it it was amazing

Tragically real yet hysterically funny and touching, LOOKING FOR ALASKA is a true treat to read--one of the rare books that made me laugh and cry and sometimes smile through tears. One of my favorite YA novels, Green's superbly written narrative with its richly drawn characters that stick with you long after the book is closed. What sets LFA apart is its smart, witty teens who explore deeper themes of life, philosophy and religion while at the same time being Strawberry Farm guzzling, boarding s ...more

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Sep 07, 2009 Mariana rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Miles is bored with his life, so he packs his things and leaves home and family for a boarding school, the same one his father went to.
He is different, he likes to learn famous Last Words and is obsessed with one, in particular, the one that made him change his mind about what he wanted; now he wants to find “the Great Perhaps” but he knows that Florida is not the place to find it, he has to go, and find a new life.
Excited for his new adventure, he arrives and finds new friends, the Colonel, T Miles is bored with his life, so he packs his things and leaves home and family for a boarding school, the same one his father went to.
He is different, he likes to learn famous Last Words and is obsessed with one, in particular, the one that made him change his mind about what he wanted; now he wants to find “the Great Perhaps” but he knows that Florida is not the place to find it, he has to go, and find a new life.
Excited for his new adventure, he arrives and finds new friends, the Colonel, Takumi and Alaska and it's then when he realizes that everything is about to change. He will find more than he was searching for, and he'll learn that life is not that simple, that our existence is like been in a labyrinth, and that some people have weird ways to get out of it, bringing sadness to others.

Looking for Alaska is a captivating, gripping story about a boy trying to find himself and trying to find the meaning of life. Thanks to his new friends, and the peculiar way they have to see life, Miles realizes that The Great Perhaps is not exactly what he imagined but much, much more, and that things happen and they change everything, and everyone.
The book is a fast read, it has a great pace and it's always interesting. The characters have so much life, they feel so real and they're really well constructed so it's easier to understand and sumerge into the story, getting lost in it. The dialogues are just awesome, witty, funny and most of the time very deep, but John Green manages to combine that deepness and the existencialism topics in an excellent way making it light and interesting but also in a way that makes you ask yourself some questions.
The plot is really well thought, I actually didn't see what happened coming and the mystery part about Alaska made everything more interesting. It's a complex book but it doesn't feel like that at all; instead, you find a great story, that is compelling and that you can really enjoy, it makes you think, laugh and almost cry, and it presents us a different point of view about life, a real one. ...more

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Jul 27, 2009 Sab H. (YA Bliss) rated it liked it

Shelves: male-pov, realistic-fiction, suicide

I'm confused about this book. I don't know how I feel about it. First, I like is that it's really funny! I mean I would laugh out loud reading it. But then, when "after" comes, I'm like pissed at the whole thing. He did a great job surprising the reader, such a great job that I was as pissed as Pudge!

Now, the characters, wow, are incredible! I can surely say I love Alaska too! And the original way he managed to write it was amazing. The cover is a big no no. Both of them! The story is good even ...more

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Nov 18, 2007 stephanie rated it it was amazing

Shelves: would-rec, young-adult, absolutely-must-read, prize-winners

umm. i don't even have words for how much i love this book. seriously. i never thought i could love a book with a male protagonist so much, especially in a boarding school setting. but. but i love every one of these characters, i love them so much that i bought the book today (because i read the copy from the library).

i will have to come back later, with quotes and more, but in mean time, how will you find your way out of the labryrinth?

(straight and fast, or struggling through?)

this is damn ...more

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Sep 30, 2008 Heidi (yabibliophile) rated it it was amazing

Shelves: very-best, own

Yep, pretty much it's official...John Green is amazing. This story manages to address so many different facets of YA life in a real way without being preachy or too serious. Well done! Yes, there are some parts that might be uncomfortable to say, read aloud to a room full of students, however, that's reality. Read it, read An Abundance of Katherines, and (when it's released) read Paper Towns. Also, check out Green's website to learn more about him/his books/random other facts like last words and ...more

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Jul 03, 2009 Stephanie rated it really liked it

This wasn't the best book I've ever ever read, but it was pretty awesome. I do have to stay, the story didn't really grip me until the "after" parts of the book. You'll know what I mean. ;) ...more

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Mar 18, 2009 Ashley rated it really liked it

Shelves: own, blog, printz-award

Originally reviewed on my blog, Books from Bleh to Basically Amazing.

Looking for Alaska by John Green is a story of friendship, betrayal, grief, happiness, hope, despair, laughter, tears, and growing up. I could go on and on about how many facets of life this book embodies, but I think you get the point.

Miles, Chip and Alaska were perfectly drawn characters. We were able to see both their strengths and their weaknesses, their perfections and their flaws. These characters each have so many dimens Originally reviewed on my blog, Books from Bleh to Basically Amazing.

Looking for Alaska by John Green is a story of friendship, betrayal, grief, happiness, hope, despair, laughter, tears, and growing up. I could go on and on about how many facets of life this book embodies, but I think you get the point.

Miles, Chip and Alaska were perfectly drawn characters. We were able to see both their strengths and their weaknesses, their perfections and their flaws. These characters each have so many dimensions to them, it's hard to believe they aren't actually real. Sometimes they get along, sometimes they make good choices, and other times they act recklessly, with a complete disregard for the rules and their own well being.

This is definitely not a perfectly wrapped story, decorated with ribbons, and wrapped with a bow, so if that's the story you're looking for, look elsewhere. However, if you are interested in reading a story that is going to alter the way you view your world, I highly, highly recommend this book.

The characters in this story are really stupid at times. But they learn. Miles went to boarding school, searching for his 'great perhaps'. He's lived a fairly boring life, nothing exciting ever happens to him, and he's looking for something, but he doesn't know quite what that something is. When he gets to school, he meets his new roommate, Chip, and one of his best friends, a beautiful and exciting girl named Alaska.

John Green shows an amazing talent for writing with this story. He manages to create in Miles a character who is intelligent, and able to think deep and philosophically without talking over the reader, or condescending to them. Miles thinks a lot about what he's learning, especially in his world religion course, and because he is our narrator, we hear a lot about what he's thinking and feeling. But, I never once felt preached to or overwhelmed.

This is a story about the hard parts of growing up. It's a story about those things every parent wishes didn't happen. But these things do happen and to ignore them, brush them under the rug and act as if they are not real is doing everyone a disservice. I makes kids feel like they are alone and that no one else has ever felt the way they do. But this story lets us know that there are other people out there who can relate to us, and that it's okay to hurt, okay to cry and okay to move on.

John Green, I think you are a brilliant man and I cannot wait to pick up your next story. ...more

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