Looking for Alaska by John Green

Looking for Alaska by John Green

Pages: 221

Publisher: Dutton

Release Date: March 3, 2011

Rating: A-

"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."
Review:

I have never been on such an emotional rollercoaster before. I went from laughing, to tearing up, to yelling so much during this book.

This book is separated into two parts: the Before section and the After section. The Before is the days leading up to an event, while After is how they cope with the event.

This is a very character-driven novel, as for most of the book, they are sitting around just talking. This isn't a bad thing, as most of their conversations did pull some sort of emotion out of me. Like-wise, there was some action in the book besides the event.

The main character, Miles, is what most people would consider an outcast in school. Before moving into Culver Creek, he was this nerdy/geeky guy who had exactly zero friends. Maybe this is due to is obsession for famous last words. I did like his character, and I like how he came out of his shell after meeting the Colonel and Alaska.

Chip, or the Colonel, is Miles' roommate. He is the humorous one in the book. He is witty, sarcastic, and just freaking awesome. He had me dying of laughter several times in the book.

And then there is Alaska. Cute, quirky, and utterly screwed-up. At one moment, she'll be her normal happy-go-lucky, probably a bit drunk[y] self who just loves sex and alcohol, and the next, this cold a bitchy girl, whom also just loves sex and alcohol. 

This book does have mature content, and it does go further than most young adult books dare to go, but it's not too terribly bad, and people in their late teens (about 16+) should be able to handle it.

All-in-all, this is probably my favorite book of the Summer. I could probably read it again sometime in the future. I recommend this to everyone. It's just one of those books everyone should read, even if it isn't interesting to them. It holds a powerful message.