Classic Novel 1: Looking for Alaska

Hello readers!

Today, I'm reviewing John Green's Looking for Alaska.  If you haven't read it and don't want spoilers, I suggest you turn away now.

Up until this point, I had never read anything by John Green.  I think it had to do with the hype.  Last year, after all, was when The Fault in Our Stars blew up all over the big screen and social media.  So I stayed away.  Nothing personal to John Green, I just don't like things with hype - it can never be as awesome as everyone plays it up to be, and I always end disappointed.

Then Looking for Alaska appeared as an option on my reading list for this semester in Young Adult Literature, and something in me decided to take a risk.  Maybe it was because the book was under three bucks on my Kindle, or maybe it was because I was finally curious enough about why teens and adults alike adore Green.  Whatever it was, I bought the book and was on my merry way.

It. Was. Excellent.

The book is written through a first person narrator, a teen names Miles.  Miles decides his life is boring in Florida and opts to go to a boarding school in Alabama.  There he meets his roomate and future friend Chip (who goes by "The Colonel"), a boy named Takumi, and a girl named Alaska.  The first half of the book is called "Before" and each section is listed with "x number of days before".  In it, the kids go through what I would expect is pretty typical teen drama - relationships, classes, pulling pranks, smoking and drinking while trying not to get caught, and forming friendships.

And then.

It happens.

I'm not going to fully go into what happens, but the second half of the book is called "After" and each section is listed with "x number of days after".  The kids suffer a trama that changes everything for them.  The book goes from being typical to becoming a struggle of grief and survival.

I loved this book.  It made me laugh, it made me cry, and it kept me involved.  I understand why teens and adults love John Green, and hype has nothing to do with it.  The language is witty and real, the situations are important, and the characters are memorable.  I'm hoping to read more of Green's works in the future.

Overall, I recommend Looking for Alaska.  How about you guys?  Have any of you read John Green?  What did you think?

~Meaghan

P.S. - Come find me on Goodreads!  You can connect with me here!  I really recommend Goodreads.  It's a great way to find new books.