Looking for Alaska: A Review

Title: Looking for Alaska
Author: John Green
Publisher: Dutton Junevile

Title: Looking for Alaska
Author : John Green
Publisher: Dutton Juvenile

“It’s not life or death, the labyrinth. Suffering. Doing wrong and having wrong things happen to you. That’s the problem. Bolivar was talking about the pain, not about the living or dying. How do you get out of the labyrinth of suffering?”

― John Green, Looking for Alaska

Synopsis: Miles Calvary, a scrawny boy entering his junior year, took a long look at his life, and desired something more. He sought out his “great perhaps,” something monumental that would change his life in the direction he was seeking. He leaves home and searches for his great perhaps within the walls of a boarding school.

In this boarding school, Miles was deemed “Pudge” by Chip his roommate, which was ironic because Miles was so skinny. Chip went by the name Colonel, and it was Colonel who taught Pudge the ropes and corrupted his innocence. Chip introduced him around to his group of friends who eventually became Pudge’s friends also.There was Tahiti, a Japanese exchange student; Lara, who was a Ukrainian immigrant; and Alaska, a beautiful, sad, mysterious girl. Together they pull outrageous pranks on the dean as well as the rich “undesirable” students whom they strongly disliked.It is with these people that Pudge experiences tragedy and love. He seeks out his own answers to a tragedy that sweeps down upon the school and he must face his grief head first. He went looking for a way out of the labyrinth of suffering, and on his search for the answers he found himself as well.

My thoughts: This novel kind of stirred this mysterious sadness from my core, it actually hurt to read about Alaska at a certain point. It just hurt my chest in a way. Alaska's innate sadness and ominous depression haunted me throughout the novel and kept me on edge the whole time. John Green crafted Alaska into a mystery and ever when the novel ended I feel as if we still didn't know who she was truly and that was just amazing even if it was frustrating. Novels today tend to just give it all away and don't really allow the reader to speculate,hypothesize and imagine anything. John Green however kept secrets until the very end. The character development on Pudge was spot on and the way the events in the novel influenced the other characters made the novel even more moving.

Recommendations: Anyone could read this. It fits into the YA genre but it's actually quite developed for youth. In my opinion this story could move just about anyone and the plot could enrapture anyone of any age.