The water heater is making a noise implying that I am all but ready to make myself my second glass (I prefer a glass over a cup because they have more room for liquid) of coffee for the day. Nevertheless i wanted to write this little piece first to make sure I finish it rather than bugger off on the internet (this is a often re-appearing occurance of behaviour and I’d like it to stop.). This is going to be a humble half-serious and more than likely very flawed review of Looking for Alaska by John Green.

I was supposed (on behalf of my own opinion) to write a review on John Greens more recent book The Fault in our Stars a couple of days ago but never got around to it and having finished literally about 10 minutes ago, Looking for Alaska feels closer to heart and more relevant in writing moment (that is NOW if you wonder).

There I’ve written enough to ensure continuity, I shall now go make my coffee, give me a moment!

There! I’ve spit out my snus (Swedish tobacco) and taken a sip (the coffee went alright thanks for asking) so here we go.

Like every great book review I’ll start off with a short summary of the story being told stolen right off the back of the book!

Before. Miles “Pudge” Halter’s whole existence has been one big nonevent, and his obsession with famous last words has only made him crave the “Great Perhaps” (François Rabelais, poet) even more. Then he heads off to the sometimes crazy, possibly unstable, 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, who is an event unto herself. She pulls Pudge into her world, launches him into the Great Perhaps, and steals his heart.

After. Nothing is ever the same.



I will try not to spoil anything major in terms of how the story goes, but there might be implications of events. Read on or not as you wish.

The first thing that struck me with the writing of John Green while I was reading The Fault in our Stars is that he writes his books in first-person. This to me felt like something I had not encountered since my school-days when learning about the different sets of perspective while writing fiction. The case is the same for Looking for Alaska as the whole book follows Miles “Pudge” entirely from a first person view.

From the start this felt a bit foreign to me, having only read books through the eyes of an observer (3rd person perspective) during the past few years. I think it makes sense though as when I laid it out, the perspectives make sense for the different types of books. Looking for Alaska is about the people and their development through what is happening around them. The common books recently read in 3rd person are usually about what is happening around the people as they develop. I hope that made a thread of sense to anyone inhabiting any place that is NOT my brain but let’s carry on.

The first (and most important) thing that I will simply have to mention because it is that one opinion that sorta makes me wanna write this review all together is that this book features the absolute best, yet very subtle character development that I have ever read. At the very start of the book you get to know Miles and he remains Miles. But much like oneself you can figuratively(I wrote literally here originally, sorry) see how he as a character develops all through the book. It is rarely mentioned and acknowledged but you’ll think it to yourself. It is everything from seeing hints of altered behaviour to small changes in his inner monologue. If you compare the start of the book to the mid-towards-the-end section of the book you might think you were reading from the eyes of two seperate characters however when partaking the full way it feels extremely natural to the character and I was actually kind of blown away by how well this was done.

The book is split up in two parts, simply named “before” and “after” (of what this means you will have to find out yourself), knowing this simple thing naturally sparked some excitement all from the start as it is the sole rough cut in the book compared to other books using regular chapters. The story is split up in a chapterish manner but with a smooth flow connecting them making it feel very “un-split” as to me felt like the proper wording.

The two sections of the book are basically two seperat arcs I would argue, both with different goals and thoughts to the characters but it never gets dull or drawn out. What I have found about John Greens books (the two that I have read) is that they are written in a way that makes you want to continue reading. When a section ends it doesn’t feel like “a good place to stop”, you want to keep going. I laid down and started reading and I only stopped once I was all the way through the “before” section of the book (which is more than half of the book) hours later. It was the only point in the story where it made sense to me to take a break and continue the next day, reading through the entire “after” section.

To me, writing that makes me feel like this is just a treat because when you get swallowed by a book truly it is at least to me better than most other sources of entertainment (other than possibly sex if one may call that entertainment, so no this book is not better than sex but it’s a close call). You love all the characters from the very get go and they are all painted up perfectly in your mind through John Greens brilliant writing. As I read through the eyes of “Pudge” I could almost picture myself sitting down at the smoking hole together with “The colonel”, Takumi, Lara and of course Alaska and I must admit it has given me a new respect for first person writing as you truly do feel connected to Miles from start to finish with all in between.

This story will make you smile, laugh, think, cry and eventually maybe even inspire you yourself to go find your own “great perhaps”.

I highly and oh so highly recommend this very fine tale as it will both sooth and shock you with witty writing and school pranks while also keeping you on the edge of your seat through tension and a plot twist that will punch you in the face, hard.

All in all the most important factor of any book in my opinion is that it makes you think about your own life and ponder some of the important questions, and this book does just that.

Spared no expense, Zeke