**A note on my notes: This review is mostly spoiler free and is more-so my thoughts about the book than a critique of it; however, if you don't want any spoilers at all, use your common sense. Also, these are my opinions, not absolute fact, so don't get upset.**I only recently lost my John Green virginity, and as a person who reads almost a book a week and has for years, that might be hard to believe. I was wary coming into this book - there was so much hype around the story and the author and I didn't want to be disappointed. As it turns out, I had no reason to worry. Looking for Alaska overflowed the ginormous shoes the reading community allocated it.
I don't read a lot of contemporary novels because I often find them unrealistic, cheesy and painful to read (this is probably why it's taken me about six years to pick up a John Green novel) so I came into this book expecting at least one of those poor elements. However, I found this book engaging and exciting and was completely drawn into the characters and their individual stories and backgrounds and how they were all connected.
The novel is a first-person recount from the point of view of Miles Halter, a teenage boy who feels as though he just doesn't fit in anywhere. His story begins when, somewhat fed up with being an outcast, he decides to move to Culver Creek boarding school in search of something worthwhile, some meaning to fill the empty walls of his life at home. The move changes his life dramatically: he makes some great friends, falls in love and he becomes a part of something great by creating memories he will treasure in years to come.
The cast of characters was amazing! All of them worked really well together and I found Alaska very intriguing. I loved how she was extremely intelligent and loved reading as well as being a well-respected person in her community. She was the leader of the group and was at times such an open book and at others so mysterious. I loved how there was a mixture of her school life and her home life and how the two affected her emotions. The relationship between Miles and the Colonel was the perfect mixture between brothers, best friends and role models for the other. They had some really hilarious moments and the way their relationship changed towards to end of the book to counter certain events was really accurate in my mind. I also thought their reactions to certain events were perfect for their character and were also they way that actual people would react to those events in real life.
I also loved the references to literature, whether it be famous author's last words or snippets of poems. The references to literature were great because it encourages the reader to be more interested in other literary forms that they might not have previously been interested in, like biographies and poetry.
There were aspects of Green's writing that really set this book apart from other first-person narratives which made me appreciate him more as an author. There were some sections in which Miles was reflecting on something or thinking about what someone else said and his thoughts were written in lists. I really enjoyed this because I can relate to this style of thinking. There were other times where Miles' dialogue was broken up with his thoughts about what he was saying, which I found really effective and accurate in the context of his conversations.
I would really recommend this book to anyone who's looking for an easy read with enjoyable characters. I really loved if and it's been a huge influence on my reading profile.
