Looking for Alaska Review

Looking for Alaska is John Green’s fascinating and unique first novel, one that has been banned in certain libraries and schools for inappropriate content. It's a dark and emotional read, one that caused me to cry and simultaneously want to throw the book in John Green's face.

Our overall rating: 4.3 stars ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

John Green’s writing style is interesting, but for a person who doesn’t particularly care to see the most violent curse words on every. single. page and reading about teenagers drinking and making inappropriate jokes half the time wouldn’t enjoy Looking for Alaska.

(Or any of John Green’s other novels.)

The Short Premise of Looking for Alaska:

—Don't worry! No Spoilers—

The subject of LFA is intriguing; a nerdy boy (Why does John Green always have the guys as handsome geeks?) named Miles (later nicknamed Pudge as a joke on his tall, but skinny frame) moves to a boarding school in search of something exciting to liven his life up.

(The boarding school part reminds me of another book, A Separate Peace by John Knowles. When taking a look at other people's LFA reviews, this seemed to be a common thought between readers.)

Once Miles arrives at Culver Creek Boarding School, he discovers it’s not what he expected. The extreme summer heat, a wild roommate named Chip “The Colonel” Martin who smokes (if you were wondering what the cover is of, it’s cigarette smoke) and a unique girl named Alaska who has painted blue toenails.

(That aspect of her really stuck out to me, perhaps because I also love blue polish (= )

The Colonel and Alaska quickly accept the innocent and non-smoking Miles as apart of their inner group, showing him the ropes of living at a boarding school.

The book is separated into two sections labeled “Before” and “After”. Each chapter in Before counts down the days until After. It peaked my interest while reading the Before section for the first time, and I just could not wait till I could read the After and see what Green was counting down to. Good move, John Green.

~The Characters~

(Three main characters)

Miles “Pudge” Halter

Miles, whose point of view we see throughout the whole book, is described as nerdy, kind of innocent, and nervous. (I don’t blame him, if I had friends who behaved like The Colonel and Alaska I’d be anxious, too.)

Getting out of Mile’s comfort zone is really what the book is about. The reason Pudge moved out of his beautifully air-conditioned house and to the boarding school in the first place is because he was bored with his life and wanted to discover his ”Great Perhaps”.

Altogether, Pudge is a pretty decent character. I could relate to his feelings of impending dread and anxiousness, and I did like how he was trying to get out of his comfort zone a bit. When looking over book reviews that included character reviews of Miles, many readers felt that he was a bit 2D, just your classic, stereotypical geeky but attractive guy. And he is, of course, but he's also lovable and relatable.

I'm such a sap for geeky dudes.

I didn't like how far he got out of his comfort zone, though. Drinking alcohol and smoking are controversial subjects, not to mention deadly poisonous. Pudge and his friends were far too young to ruin their lives. It really disappointed me that the characters were so focused on alcohol and cigarettes. The Colonel, of course, introduces these thighs to Pudge, but he didn’t even think twice before going along with the group. I guess I expected him to show more integrity.

Oh, well.

Alaska Young

Alaska was my favorite character in the book named for her. 😁 What else can I say? What’s there not to love about her? (Besides her inappropriateness. And yes, I know some people out there are feeling frustrated that I keep going on about how...blunt this book is on certain topics. But there's a reason it's been banned from schools and libraries.)

Even though I could not relate to her drinking and smoking, and all the inappropriate comments and discussions she had, I could relate to some of her personality.

SCRATCH THAT OUT! I could totally relate to her personality. While reading the book, I felt like John Green had stolen my personal temperament, had added a lot more rebelliousness to it, and had forgotten to ask my permission for him to use me in a book.

Her dorm room, with the thousands of books in piles on the floor. My room, with its random piles of books all over the floor. Gosh, I love, love, love this character. She's so relatable. While reading the book, I was constantly nodding my head and thinking, gee, this girl is my twin.

(I'm sure there are millions of people out there, however, who read this novel and feel exactly the same way. Alaska Young is so understandable, and she speaks the truth. I love characters like her.)

In terms of personality, her free spirit appealed to me, as did her fast changing emotions. I’m not a licensed psychologist, nor can you really diagnose characters with mental illness, but I believe that Alaska has a type of bipolar disorder. She’s tragic, her history is filled with sadness. (I can’t get too into that because it’ll spoil the book, for those of you who have not read it.)

As a person who's struggled with mental illness, I love the fact that John Green puts mental health problems into his books. It adds to the relatable factor!

Alaska is described as wild, moody, mischievous (She and The Colonel carry out some pretty rotten pranks) sometimes mean, but also kind. I’m pretty sure almost everyone who has read this book has attached themselves to her free and rebellious, but loveable spirit.

I know I did.

And Miles fell for her also, though he took more of a romantic interest in her.

I just love a good romance novel. 💕

Chip “The Colonel” Martin

The Colonel, Miles and Alaska’s mutual best friend, is the infamous mastermind of the novel. All the mischievous pranks that Alaska does are usually planned by The Colonel. Dang, this boy is smart. He comes from a poor family, and his single mom still lives in a trailer. I liked his relationship with his mom, and how much she trusted him to make the right choices in his life.

Not that he always did.

The Colonel wasn’t my favorite character, but he isn’t the worst guy. He’s the humorous character, the smart but funny guy. He introduced Pudge to the smoking obsessions of Culver Creek Boarding School, which I didn't approve of.

(Oh, well, I won’t always agree with everything.)

He was a mutual best friend, which I thought was interesting. Both Alaska and Pudge considered him their best friend, but really he was the glue that held Alaska and Miles together. Whenever Alaska blew up at Miles, The Colonel reminded him that she has mood swings, that it's normal for her.

My personal favorite aspects of his personality was how he held his friends close, and how he added a light, funny side to a otherwise darker book.

I would rate Looking for Alaska a full five stars, but some of the inappropriate content seemed unnecessary and annoying to me. I feel like he could've left out a scene where Miles and Alaska watch an extremely dirty movie on the school hall screen, and several other details.

All in all, I love Green's style of writing and the characters in LFA. It's the perfect read for fans of Green's masterpiece, The Fault in Our Stars, or for mature teens and adults.

Any questions or comments? What's your favorite character in Looking for Alaska? Did you love the book, or hate it? Do you prefer John Green's other books? Comment below with thoughts. (:

Interested in John Green's fabulous style of writing and unique ideas?

Check out his other books below. (my personal top favorites are in bold (: )

An Abundance of Katherines

Let it Snow: Three Holiday Romances (written with two other fabulous authors)

Paper Towns

Will Grayson, Will Grayson

The Fault in Our Stars

Turtles All the Way Down