Review: Looking For Alaska by John Green

Cover Source: GoodReads

Title: Looking For Alaska
Author: John Green
Version Reviewed: Finished Paperback.
Website: www.johngreenbooks.com

I purchased this book myself.

GoodReads Synopsis:

Before. Miles “Pudge” Halter is done with his safe life at home. His whole life has been one big non-event, and his obsession with famous last words has only made him crave “the Great Perhaps” even more (Francois Rabelais, poet). He heads off to the sometimes crazy and anything-but-boring world of Culver Creek Boarding School, and his life becomes the opposite of safe. Because down the hall is Alaska Young. The gorgeous, clever, funny, sexy, self-destructive, screwed up, and utterly fascinating Alaska Young. She is an event unto herself. She pulls Pudge into her world, launches him into the Great Perhaps, and steals his heart. Then. . . .
After. Nothing is ever the same.

Review:
This is only my second John Green book but I fell in love with his work as I was reading The Fault In Our Stars. I knew that this author would be one that would become and insta-buy for me and I couldn't wait to dig into his other works.

When I first learned about Looking For Alaska, I wasn't sure what to expect. I knew, like with Green's other works, that this would be a story that would touch me but I didn't know it what way. As I began reading, I found myself immediately sucked into the world of Culver Creek and it's various personalities and events.

The characters are what draw you in. There were so many different personalities and they were so realistic that I could literally match them up with people that I knew in school. The Colonel was the perfect doppleganger of a boy that I knew in college and I pictured that boy throughout the entire book as that character. It was amazing how easy the characters were to imagine and fall in love with, even in their flaws. Actually, their flaws are what make them human and so easy to connect with.

As for the events of the book, I figured out pretty quickly what Before and After meant but I was still in shock when the transition came. I felt so hard for Pudge and The Colonel that it truly made me sad for their characters. I empathized with them on such a level that I found myself wanting to reach into the book and try to make things better for them.

I am so happy that I read Looking For Alaska and it all but solidified the idea that John Green is an amazing writer. I absolutely cannot wait to dig into more of his stories.

Rating: 5 Stars