Book Review: Looking For Alaska by John Green

By
Niamh Richardson
-
Looking For Alaska
Image Source: Amazon

Title: Looking For Alaska
Author: John Green
Publisher: HarperCollins
Genre: Young Adult
Format: Novel
Number Of Pages: 297 (Print), 253 (Digital)
Publish Date: March 3 2005

Heart-wrenching and beautiful, Looking For Alaska is the stinging debut by the award-winning author John Green. Green is recognisable for his previous young adult fiction novel The Fault In Our Stars. His ability to captivate his audience as he powerfully crafts stories about the most tragic situations is truly a gift. And in Looking For Alaska, John engages his readers by yet again exploring an issue that is harrowing but heartfelt. This is the very first book review for our site, so, let’s see what Looking For Alaska has to offer!

Looking For Alaska

Synopsis

Throughout Looking For Alaska, we delve into the relationships between the pupils at Culver Creek Academy. The school is the location for much of the novel. And here, we receive reminders about our perception of life. Namely, that no matter how close you think your bond is with someone, you never know for certain how they interpret the world. Throughout its storyline, Looking For Alaska teaches how there is always more than meets the eye. And the repercussions of not acknowledging this are severe.

The plot unfolds with the narrator, Miles, who earns the ironic nickname “Pudge” upon arriving at Culver Creek. In the first chapter, he heads to boarding school to follow in his father’s footsteps to pursue adventure and companionship. And also to learn more famous people’s last words, which readers would agree he displays a remarkable talent for. Following his entrance, Miles quickly understands the prejudice against the “Weekday Warriors”. These are the infamous pranks that his roommate “the Colonel” and Alaska play. And he learns about general survival at Culver Creek. But not before long, Miles becomes aware that he is falling in love with Alaska.

Plot

From this point in Looking For Alaska, the three friends see their collective bond grow. Alongside Takumi (and, later in the novel, Lara), they assist each other in plotting further mischief against the Weekday Warriors and the school itself. Their friendship becomes unbreakable, and the story blossoms before it twists and turns into the gloomier aspects of life. Alaska and her secretive past are secretive from Miles, and consequently the reader too. Green cleverly weaves clues throughout the scenes where Alaska is with Miles, yet the potential options for interpretation are numerous.

The most complex relationship within the novel is that of Miles and Alaska. Tentative and inexperienced, Miles adores Alaska from their very first meeting, first seeing her in her bedroom. But he struggles to understand her, and this frustrates him. Approaching the first half of the novel, we see the storyline develop their connection further. But following this scene, we get the biggest tragedy in the novel. And this leaves Miles to pick up the pieces and to question everything. “I’m scared of ghosts, and home is just full of them.”

Characters

In Looking For Alaska, Alaska herself has difficult relationships with most people. Undeniably, she is a feminist who constantly reprimands her friends about degrading women. Yet she often expresses confusion due to a previous betrayal against her former roommate, resulting in expulsion from Culver Creek. However, Alaska shows the ultimate face of loyalty and love for her friends. This is especially true for the Colonel, with who she appears to have the strongest bond. They share jokes together and have a colloquial connection. For instance, the Colonel demands Alaska to open her door because he wants some cigarettes on their first day back.

But despite her image of not caring for anybody or anything, Alaska is clever. And she has the ambition to teach disabled children, an example being when she takes her “class” for pre-calc. It is during this scene that Alaska introduces Pudge to his future girlfriend Lara. But as we learn, he never stops yearning for Alaska. And to complicate her relationship with Miles even more, Alaska has a boyfriend, Jake. Now, he comes to visit occasionally and is “the first boyfriend she hasn’t cheated on” according to the Colonel. So, this leads us to question: will she remain loyal to him or not? And likewise, will she commit an act of betrayal against a friend again?

Analysis

Interestingly, the chapters in Looking For Alaska list abnormally in comparison to other novels. For example, chapter one is “One-Hundred And Thirty-Six Days Before”, and the others follow accordingly. That is, until the second half of the novel introduces it as “The Day After”. This suggests that all of Miles’ life leads up to that particular event. And the aftermath is his recovery. Meanwhile, an underlying theme is a sense of feeling lost. For instance, “the labyrinth” is what Alaska refers to when she faces a problem or someone else presents one. We never truly understand what the labyrinth symbolises for her. Yet Green explores different options, especially in the second half of the novel.

Here, it’s down to Alaska’s friends to learn what the labyrinth is and how she can finally escape it. Green cleverly weaves the theme of the labyrinth throughout the storyline. He uses it in the classes, and also as a metaphor for life. Green explores the feelings of guilt and regrets multiple times too. John draws on the relationships that Miles, the Colonel, Takumi and even Lara share with Alaska in the novel. And he illustrates their grief in different ways. In my opinion, though, I feel Jake could arguably play a bigger role in the second half of the novel. Consequently, Green could use Jake’s character to explore more of Alaska’s story from yet another person’s point of view.

Summary

Looking For Alaska undeniably follows in the same footsteps of The Fault In Our Stars. It contains aspects from every emotion, as it will make you laugh and make you cry. Not only is it a brilliant read, but the writing is beautiful, connecting the reader all the way through. Indeed, Looking For Alaska will definitely have you turning every page eagerly until you finish the story.

Overall Rating: 8.5/10 – Excellent

Further Links

To purchase Looking For Alaska online, click here.

For additional information about John Green, click here.

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