Review Detail
4.7 41
Young Adult Fiction
335
John Green changes YA lit forever
Overall rating
5.0
Plot
N/A
Characters
N/A
Writing Style
N/A
Illustrations/Photos (if applicable)
N/A
Reader reviewed by Jonathon Arntson
Writing: 5/5
Originality: 5/5
Cover: 5/5
Characters: 5/5
Reading experience: 5/5
Candid and prolifically expressive, John Green's "Looking for Alaska" is a first-person novel about a scrawny kid nick-named Pudge. Obsessed with people's last words, Pudge gets inspired to search for the Great Perhaps by transferring to a boarding school in Alabama, similar to the one the author attended. While Miles, 'Pudge', searches for this Great Perhaps, he encounters some well-rounded and vividly three dimensional characters. First, we meet his roommate Chip, 'the Colonel', a short, stocky and cocky poverty-stricken scholarship student from downstate. Through the Colonel, we meet Alaska, who cannot be described in a few words, though Green does a fantastic job throughout the novel. We also meet a few other characters who keep the book grounded, while providing an intense dramatic foil for Pudge, Alaska, and the Colonel, further popping them off the page.
The first two-thirds of the book are chapters titled by the days left until the After. Although you are wondering what the After is, Green's cleverly crafted plot keeps you distracted and entertained enough to not peek. While this is a precarious tactic for an author to choose, we often find ourselves a rabbit with a carrot hanging an inch from our nose, Green uses techniques otherwise complex and simplifies them. He uses homework assignments and school pranks as a catalyst for blossoming friendships, rivalries, and complicating Miles search for the Great Perhaps, and I ate it up.
I cannot talk about the After. Not because it would be a spoiler, but because Green's writing is so exemplary, I almost feel incongruous just mentioning his finale, even though this is a review.
I wish I had read this years ago, but I put it off until this week. I strongly recommend this book and, in fact, I urge both young adults and adults to read this novel. You will find yourself in a pursuit for knowledge yourself, and while it may not be the Great Perhaps, "Looking for Alaska" will certainly get your juices flowing.
Writing: 5/5
Originality: 5/5
Cover: 5/5
Characters: 5/5
Reading experience: 5/5
Candid and prolifically expressive, John Green's "Looking for Alaska" is a first-person novel about a scrawny kid nick-named Pudge. Obsessed with people's last words, Pudge gets inspired to search for the Great Perhaps by transferring to a boarding school in Alabama, similar to the one the author attended. While Miles, 'Pudge', searches for this Great Perhaps, he encounters some well-rounded and vividly three dimensional characters. First, we meet his roommate Chip, 'the Colonel', a short, stocky and cocky poverty-stricken scholarship student from downstate. Through the Colonel, we meet Alaska, who cannot be described in a few words, though Green does a fantastic job throughout the novel. We also meet a few other characters who keep the book grounded, while providing an intense dramatic foil for Pudge, Alaska, and the Colonel, further popping them off the page.
The first two-thirds of the book are chapters titled by the days left until the After. Although you are wondering what the After is, Green's cleverly crafted plot keeps you distracted and entertained enough to not peek. While this is a precarious tactic for an author to choose, we often find ourselves a rabbit with a carrot hanging an inch from our nose, Green uses techniques otherwise complex and simplifies them. He uses homework assignments and school pranks as a catalyst for blossoming friendships, rivalries, and complicating Miles search for the Great Perhaps, and I ate it up.
I cannot talk about the After. Not because it would be a spoiler, but because Green's writing is so exemplary, I almost feel incongruous just mentioning his finale, even though this is a review.
I wish I had read this years ago, but I put it off until this week. I strongly recommend this book and, in fact, I urge both young adults and adults to read this novel. You will find yourself in a pursuit for knowledge yourself, and while it may not be the Great Perhaps, "Looking for Alaska" will certainly get your juices flowing.
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#1 Reviewer
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