Looking for Alaska

by John Green

The unmissable first novel from bestselling and award-winning author of THE FAULT IN OUR STARS and TURTLES ALL THE WAY DOWN.

“In the dark beside me, she smelled of sweat and sunshine and vanilla and on that thin-mooned night I could see little more than her silhouette, but even in the dark, I could see her eyes – fierce emeralds. And beautiful.”

BEFORE. Miles Halter’s whole life has been one big non-event until he starts at anything-but-boring Culver Creek Boarding School and meets Alaska Young. Gorgeous, clever, funny and utterly fascinating she pulls Miles into her world, launches him into a new life, and steals his heart. But when tragedy strikes, and Miles comes face-to-face with death he discovers the value of living and loving unconditionally.

AFTER: Nothing will ever be the same.

Poignant, funny, heartbreaking and compelling, this novel will stay with you forever.

• ISBN13: 9780007523160
• Publish Date: 28 February 2013 (first published 3 March 2005)
• Publish Status: Active
• Publish Country: GB
• Publisher: HarperCollins Publishers
• Imprint: Harper Fire
• Format: Paperback
• Pages: 272
• Language: English
• URL: http://harpercollins.co.uk

Reviews

[Rach Wood]

This story isn't about a trip to Alaska, as the title might suggest, is about a boy who will seek his Great Perhaps and will find it in a hard and yet wonderful way.

Miles Halter, nicknamed Pudge by his roommate, Chip "the Colonel" Martin, arrives in Culver Creek Boarding School and then the journey begins. First, he's a lonely skinny boy from Florida who loves famous last words. Second, he gets in the Colonel's inner circle, composed by Takumi, a Japanese boy who loves rap, and Alaska Young, a clever, sexy and badly screwed-up girl. As they're all teens, there are bad vices (like drinking and smoking), unrequited love, sexual curiosity, friendship, family problems, a lot of pranks and so go on. Besides, as they're also in school, they've some classes and I really enjoyed the Old Man ones, 'cause it made me think about lots of stuff related to philosophical questions.

Regarding characters, I thought Pudge was really adorkable, but I just understood his love for Alaska after the accident. Alaska Young was a pain in the ass, so fucking bipolar! She's a feminist, but she just yells about it, making nothing really, and then she's mean to Pudge and speaks nonstop about her boyfriend, Jack, who doesn't even appear on the sad part of the story, as if it meant nothing to him, which is really dumb, though. Anyway, the Colonel was cool, 'cause he's a good friend and a wonderful son. His love for his mum touched me and I really liked the Best Day story he told in the game "Best Day, Worst day", which was one of my favourite parts of the book, btw. Takumi and Lara, who was Pudge's first girlfriend (even if he was deeply madly in love with Alaska), were minor characters, so I have little to say about them, only that the blow job scene with Lara was unnecessary, but it didn't bother me 'cause it was kind of fun when Pudge asked Alaska to teach them how to properly do it.

The book won me over in the After part, because of the mystery surrounding the accident and I also really liked that the Colonel didn't give up on Alaska and asked for Pudge's help to find answers. The After part was about suffering, loss, grief, coping and search the way to get out of the labyrinth or to bear it. I really cried, like a hungry baby, 'cause it was so emotional. They sought to understand why Alaska left them and they also sought the meaning of their own lives.

This isn't about youth and teen drama, it's an inspiring book about life and death, about how people's life touches our own life and changes our own ways to see the others and the world, about overcome the bad things and about the choices we must make. It's about discovery.

[Michael @ Knowledge Lost]

“How will I ever get out of this labyrinth?” — Simón Bolívar

I don’t think I’ve ever started a review with a quote, but these famous last words really are relevant to this book. Looking for Alaska tells the story of Miles; a kid obsessed with memorising famous last words. He is leaving a school where he has no friends to go to a boarding school. The reason; well according to Miles it is because of François Rabelais’ famous last words “I go to seek a Great Perhaps”. At this new school Miles experiences a lot of firsts, first friends, first cigarette, first kiss, first love and first heartbreak.

Alaska is the beautiful girl that Miles has a crush on and I can see why; she is a great character. She is an outspoken book nerd who, while she can get rather emotional, is the kind of female friend every high school boy dreams of having; obsessed with sex, flirting and teasing but ultimately one of the guys. But the thing I liked about Miles and Alaska (as well as the other characters) is their emotions and the way they act seem so familiar. It is easy to connect and understand what they are going through. It is hard to get the emotions right, and make them feel real; I know most YA books miss this completely but John Green makes it look so easy.

I really connected with Looking For Alaska, and I could probably talk about the awkwardness of the characters (including the awkward blow job), the views on religion and philosophy and even the pranks and mischief they get up to; but I will leave that for the readers to discover. I think the main thing I took away from this book is the fact that John Green wrote a book exactly like the stories I’ve attempted to write when I was in high school. The feeling of loneliness, being a geek, having a crush; Green captured this perfectly and he showed me how an expert writes a YA book about love and lost. I know I’ve been on a bit of a John Green kick lately, I’ve even been watching his YouTube channel constantly but I don’t think this will stop anytime soon, I can’t wait to read another one of his books.

This review originally appeared on my blog; http://www.knowledgelost.org/book-reviews/genre/young-adult/book-review-looking-for-alaska/

[anastasia]

Full Review on my blog!

I’ve been wanting to read this since one of my friends recommended it to me a few years ago, and I never got to it until now… Although I did buy it the same week it was recommended but… it was just been sitting on my bookshelf waiting to be read. haha.. Last week I finally picked it up and read it. I’ve only read two books by John Green, which are of course The Fault In Our Stars and Paper Towns-which are both sooo amazing btw. Sooo… I had a lot of expectations coming into reading Looking for Alaska. I’m finding it really hard to review/summarize this book. Love, friendship, life, death, before, after, finding meaning in life and learning to forgive.

It was hard writing a review about this book. I don’t love it, but I don’t hate it either, in fact, I kinda like it. It is a good book with a lot of quotable quotes and an interesting premise. This has got to be one of my favorite books because it is just so amazing. I recommend it 😀

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[thepunktheory]

Well, well. After reading The Fault in our Stars and Paper Towns I was very torn on my opinion about John Green. I loved one book but hated the other. Anyway, I figured he deserves another chance and I heard so many great things about Looking for Alaska.
But, yes here comes the big but, unfortunately this novel took more after Paper Towns than after The Fault in our Stars. Basically that means we get a female lead character that is supposed to be strong, independent and impressive. However, you end up getting nothing about annoyed with those girls. It was not quite as bad as Paper Towns, but after about one third of the book you could already see where Alaska was heading, and I didn't make her any more relatable. To be honest, the entire story was rather obvious and it was clear how the whole thing would end about halfway through the book.
John Green just didn't manage to create characters that you can really bond with. There was actually no one in this book it could really relate to. Some bits of the story were rather funny but most of time the humor seemed either forced or like a cliché.

I'm so disappointed to say that Looking for Alaska was a great disappointment for me. The characters are annoying, the story is very obvious and the book contains tons of clichés.

I really, really, really loved this heartbreaking book.

[Kim Deister]

Looking for Alaska I initially picked this book to read for a literature class I am taking for a module on the censorship and banning of books for children and young adults. Having absolutely loved The Fault in Our Stars, when I saw this John Green novel on the ALA's list of most frequently banned books in the 21st century, I jumped at it. The grounds for its censorship has been the presence of profanity, underage drinking and smoking, drug use, and sexual content. It is true, there is all of that, but presented in a realistic, true-to-life way. I am staunchly opposed to censorship and banning and this is a book that I not only don't believe deserves to be banned, but it is one that I have made a "must read" for my own kids.
 
The novel takes place within the Culver Creek Preparatory High School near Birmingham, Alabama. Miles “Pudge” Halter is the new student, obsessed with the last words of famous people. He has transferred to Culver Creek in the hopes that he can find his own “Great Perhaps,” an idea that has come from the last words of François Rabelais, “I go to seek a Great Perhaps.” At his last school, Miles was a bit socially awkward, more obsessed with reading biographies than with socializing with friends, and he wants to start fresh at Culver Creek. The first person he meets is Chip “The Colonel” Martin, his new roommate who introduces Miles to his own best friends. Takumi Hikohito is obsessed with hip hop and rapping and Alaska Young is a beautiful girl, although emotionally rather unstable, for whom Miles immediately falls.
 
In many ways, Alaska is the glue that holds the group of friends together. She is beautiful and intelligent and fun to be with and very enigmatic. Although we see different parts of her throughout the book, we, as readers, never really know her any more than her friends do. Even at the end, there are questions that leave you angsty and emotional. Her story is her own and threads of it run through the stories of all of her friends. She is irrevocably a part of their own histories in a myriad of ways.
 
More than anything, it is a story of coming of age, with all of the pain and angst that goes along with it. There are beautiful moments, funny moments heart wrenching moments, touching moments. There are moments of laughter and moments of sadness. It is an absolutely beautiful story.
 
One of the things I really enjoyed about the book was its structure. It is created in two parts, "Before" and "After," leading us to and from a pivotal point that I won't describe. The chapters underscored that concept, marking time like "forty-five days before." You know something is going to happen, but you have no idea what it is.
 
My Recommendation
 
I think that this is a beautiful book that touches on real situations in ways that are both touching and tragic.

[duchessofdiscord]

I read The Fault in Our Stars , and many people recommended Looking for Alaska , saying that if I liked The Fault in Our Stars , then I would like this. Sadly, this book did nothing for me.

I literally could not bring myself to finish this book. It was boring, like incredibly boring. The characters were whiny teenagers, with not-so original voices and a bit of drama. I very rarely do no finish a book, it saddened me that I in essence wasted money on a book everyone hyped up that in my opinion did not live up to any of that hype in any way, shape, or form.


Maybe I'll try reading it again in the distant future and see if my opinion about it changes.

[bumblingbookworm]

This review was originally posted on The Bumbling Bookworm

I think there might be something wrong with me, I feel like I'm the only person who didn't really enjoy this book... Perhaps I was a victim of the hype monster - I feel like maybe this was built up a bit too much for me, and then it completely fell flat instead.

I don't know why but I felt irritated the whole way through this book. I was irritated with the countdown as chapter headings, wishing it would all just hurry up. I knew something was going to happen to a particular character (and I knew which one that was), so I was just like "happen already!"

Check out the rest of my review here!

[Sam@WLABB]

This book is divided into "before" and "after". "Before" tells the tales of our rag-tag group of boarding school kids, and is mostly light-hearted and very amusing. "After" is appropriately darker, as they struggle with this event that has divided their lives into a before and after.

I loved it. I love John Green. He is unpredictable with a distinct voice that speaks volumes to me. My life with John Green:
"The Fault in Our Stars" -- WAAAHHHHHHHHH!
"Paper Towns" -- Awwwwe.
"Will Grayson, Will Grayson" -- LOL
"An Abundance of Katherines" --- Awwwwe
"Looking for Alaska" -- WAAAAAAHHHH!

I was stirred, I was touched, I had to stop riding my exercise bike because I was too choked up to breathe. I found myself highlighting. So many things in this novel hit me in so many ways. JGreen, you are just a great story teller with a huge heart.

[shannonmiz]

In Looking For Alaska, we meet Miles (henceforth known as "Pudge") who goes off to a boarding school to escape his humdrum reality. In doing so, he meets a tight group of friends, including "The Colonel" (Chip, his roommate), Alaska (of course, she is the title after all), Takumi, and Lara. First, I enjoyed the male characters in this story so, so much. They were so different, yet all so clever, so funny, so smart in their own ways. Pudge has an odd obsession with last words, The Colonel is the perfect leader for this bunch, and their conversations always had me either smiling, or in deep thought.

I didn't really read much about this book (quite frankly, I saw "by John Green", and clicked "buy"), so I just kind of assumed that it would be about some dude looking around for some girl named Alaska (which would have practically screamed Paper Towns, so I really should've known better I suppose). Sure, Pudge is "looking", but not in the sense you'd expect. Basically, Alaska is a big mystery to everyone, myself included. To be honest, I didn't really know what to make of her. Yes, I am aware that it was probably the point, but it infuriated me at times. I suppose I do get the draw of Alaska, and why Pudge would be interested, since she was so unique and mystifying.

The friendships in this book were so fleshed out, so amazingly well done. It helps that the characters were all so multifaceted that picturing them interacting was not just easy, it was a joy. I probably could have read two hundred more pages with just the witty banter alone.

The plot... There's a plot twist that I didn't see coming for awhile, but when I did realize what was going to happen.... sigh. We won't be speaking of this further, for obvious reasons. There are a few cliched moments, and a few eye-roll moments, but make no mistake, this is a good book. One I won't likely forget. This book is thought provoking. It will make you laugh, and it will certainly make you cry (and curse John Green for forcing you to buy stock in Kleenex). Ultimately, this is a book that forces you to look at your own feelings on some heavy stuff, but in a way that is so captivating you can't help but keep reading.