Looking For Alaska by John Green was well anticipated by me, as he is one of my favourite authors. The themes, writing style, and cover art make for an artistic, moody written piece.
A couple of things I want to commend about this, is the characters. John Green does a very good job at creating fascinating, well rounded characters full of personality and their own quirks. As well, the writing style has a romantic tone to it – he makes the most mundane and everyday things seem profound and mysterious.
“You spend your whole life stuck in the labyrinth, thinking about how you’ll escape it one day, and how awesome it will be, and imagining the future that keeps you going, but you never do it. You just use the future to escape the present.”
John Green, pg 54
However, one thing I wasn’t a fan of was how terrible one of the main characters were. Alaska, the romantic interest and main plot of the novel, is not a good person. She is an emotional abuser, contemptful, and unkind to others, not to mention her superiority complex. I just wish the novel didn’t romanticize her or her actions so much. She may not be the best role model for high schoolers to look up to – with her cigarette smoking and mean personality.
Altogether an interesting read, though I wouldn’t read it again.
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