Book Review: Looking For Alaska By John Green
Solacress I recently read John Green's marvelous book titled Looking For Alaska. This post is going to be my honest review of the book.*Spoiler warning*
Short summary: Looking For Alaska is a deep book focusing on friendship and death. Miles Halter has decided to enroll in a boarding school called Culver Creek. He makes a few close friends, including his roommate, Chip Martin, and Chip's close friend Alaska Young. Halfway through the novel, the reader finds out that Alaska has died in a car accident. Miles and Chip decide to find out the details of her death, wanting to know if it was truly an accident or if Alaska killed herself on purpose.
Age Rating: 15+
Looking For Alaska contains a heck ton of sexual content, which could certainly make younger readers uncomfortable. This peaks at a part in the middle of the novel when someone actually has oral sex with the main character.
Sexual content: 15+
Violence is minimal. Alaska's fatal car crash, which could be considered the most violent part, is never witnessed by the main character, so it's never described in heavy detail.
Violence: 9+
There is heavy alcohol and smoking content. First, Chip convinces the main character to take up smoking. Chip and Alaska drink alcohol, even know they're underage. In one scene, the main character gets Chip very drunk so he can replicate Alaska's state when she died.
Drugs and Alcohol: 13+
Looking For Alaska is probably John Green's greatest book. Having been received highly positive by most readers, it's certainly popular. So, a quick question: Does it deserve its love? In a word, yes. There is amazing character development, especially in Miles, Lara, and Alaska. The story line is unique, since the climax actually appears in the middle of the novel instead of the end.
Beginning: 9/10
The book is really easy to get into. It doesn't take too long to get to the interesting stuff, for it instantly starts him on his way to Culver Creek.
Middle: 10/10
The story has very little rising action before the climax. However, that may have made the story even better. When it is discovered that Alaska has died, it is more of a shock than it would've been if he left a few clues beforehand. Green didn't stop there, though. At the assembly where her death is announced, the main character believes the assembly was to tell the students a teacher had died (this teacher actually stays alive for the whole book).
Ending: 11/10
This book has one of the greatest endings out of any book I've read. I'm going to try to spoil as little as possible, so I won't go into detail about it.
Final score: 10/10: best realistic fiction I've ever read.