Review: Looking for Alaska by John Green

Summary

Miles Halter is fascinated by famous last words and tired of his safe life at home. He leaves for boarding school to seek what the dying poet Francois Rabelais called the "Great Perhaps." Much awaits Miles at Culver Creek, including Alaska Young. Clever, funny, screwed-up, and dead sexy, Alaska will pull Miles into her labyrinth and catapult him into the Great Perhaps.

Looking for Alaska brilliantly chronicles the indelible impact one life can have on another. A stunning debut, it marks John Green's arrival as an important new voice in contemporary fiction.

My Take
Well to start off this book is really hard to write a review for because it is really easy to give a major event away. In the beginning I was really confused because the first page told of an event that happens much later in the story. so I had no idea who any of the characters were, and it did not help that they used code names for everyone. So I was pretty confused when I was reading the names Pudge and Colonel. The only people that didn't get code names were Alaska young who is a KEY figure to this story, and their friends Lara and Takumi. The story is set up in the order of days. Half the book is things that happen before the tragedy, and the other half is after the tragedy. The gist of this story is that, the main character Miles Halter or later nicknamed Pudge goes to a school called Culver Creek in Alabama. This is the same school his dad went to when he was a boy. He originally lived with his parents in Florida. When he gets their he meets his roommate Chip but he likes to be called the Colonel. The Colonel is the one who nicknames Miles,  Pudge. once Pudge gets situated into the school, he is introduced to a girl named Alaska Young. (I found it very interesting how she got her name but I don't want to ruin anything.) Alaska has a very sad past that she will never be able to forget. I found Alaska to be a very smart, yet troubled character. Once the book gets to the second part called After, a horrible tragedy happens. The tragedy leaves Pudge and the Colonel in tears. They must figure out what caused it to happen, How it was done, and why it was done. They do not know exactly how to go about this, and they are not sure if they will ever find the answers they are looking for. Other things happen in this book, however if I explained it would give alot away. I found this book to be OK. Their are other better young adult books out their. I liked this book, but something just wasn't hooking me in. I thought it was well written, but it left me a little Bord. It is a fast passed read. I think most will enjoy it. I have heard great things about it from others. I'm not sure what was missing for me though.

My Rating
* * * *
4 out of 5 stars