Looking for Alaska

This book sits in a place that is usually empty between YA books that are written for 15 year olds and books that are written for adults. So often people skip over this tiny place and that's disappointing. This book has a lot of the depth and feeling that you find in a book written for adults but it's centered around teenagers and their experiences and it's written so effortlessly. I find a lot...more

This book sits in a place that is usually empty between YA books that are written for 15 year olds and books that are written for adults. So often people skip over this tiny place and that's disappointing. This book has a lot of the depth and feeling that you find in a book written for adults but it's centered around teenagers and their experiences and it's written so effortlessly. I find a lot of time that guy nararrators are less appealing to me but in this book I wasn't bothered in the least by that. I loved everything about it. The suspense as to what was going to happen and then the desire to find out what really did happen all helped Green take you on a real ride, delving into such a tragic and funny and frank story about the things we want and the issues in our lives and how we get past things.   hide

This was a good book, & I definitely got involved with the characters, but I didn't love it. Worth the read, but not a must read.

Good, but not as good as I thought it would be. Definitely not couldn't-put-it-down good.

I adored this book! Highly recomend it

Read the review on Goodreads as I was tagging this book, and was surprised to find out this was John Green's first book! Green specializes in strong friendships, interesting female (if unattainable) characters, while including much of the doubts everyone goes through when enduring adolesence (sp!). I love that the main character, "Pudge" as he is nicknamed, chooses...more

Read the review on Goodreads as I was tagging this book, and was surprised to find out this was John Green's first book! Green specializes in strong friendships, interesting female (if unattainable) characters, while including much of the doubts everyone goes through when enduring adolesence (sp!). I love that the main character, "Pudge" as he is nicknamed, chooses to attend a boarding school for his last 2 years in high school, while he is in search of "the great Perhaps". It's a wonderful phrase I wish I'd come up with. Aren't many of us in search of the same thing, no matter our age? As already mentioned, strong friendships play amazing roles in John Green's books (I've read 2 so far--Paper Towns and Looking for Alaska), and to me, that is the best part. Elaborate pranks are big in his books too, and I wouldn't be surprised if John Green becomes somewhat inspirational in that regard for many high school and college students.   hide

This is an amazing book. I laughed, I cried, and I learned several things. Not bad for a young adult book.

This one tugs at your heartstrings. Can't put it down. My 17 year old can read it but not my 13 year old.

Subtly model after in my opinion "The Catcher in the Rye". But very wonderful nonetheless. This book keeps you in the mindset of a teenager in the midst of love, change, and new discoveries.

Amazingly insightful story about figuring out what life is about and learning to look past your perceptions of people to see the real person. Brilliantly written.