Opening the car door, a thick cloud of wafting hot air rushes in to meet your face, instantly sticking the thin layer of clothes upon your body to your skin. You squint against the blaring sun to see your new campus for the year, Culver Creek Boarding School. Such is the reality in John Green’s 2005 novel, Looking for Alaska, a story following Miles Halter, a teenage boy who tires of his daunting life in suburban Florida. Miles has an obsession with the idea of a “Great Perhaps,” or something more outside his small scope of the sheltered privilege. Escape from this scenery means moving across state lines into Alabama to attend the infamous boarding school his dad praises, an option for education that Miles accepts openly. Luckily for him, Miles’ roommate is none other than Chip Halter, a strongly-willed student with a love for planning out pranks, adorning him his nickname of “the Colonel.” However, the Colonel does not operate alone, he works aside Alaska Young, a girl in their grade with a mysterious demeanor, to bring down the rain of mischief to Culver Creek. Miles is instantaneously enamored with Alaska upon meeting her. Alaska’s beauty and intriguing personality hurl him into a tornado of emotional turmoil on its way to tackle his ever-so-important question the Great Perhaps prompts. However, a shocking turn of events leaves Miles and the Colonel turned to grapple with the outcomes of a devastating trauma by bargaining with the reality of their situation.
A beautifully written novel is Looking for Alaska, yet it wrestles with sensitive topics, such as death, depression, and suicide, so each reader should exercise caution when diving in. When it comes to a recommended audience who should read this book, teenagers in high school or young adults freshly graduated would likely be a wise fit, since the characters themselves are in such a position. Sharing this commonality with the characters would allow readers to understand the perspectives of how Alaska or Miles might be feeling. John Green accurately depicts the complication of romantic relationships, especially within the teenage stage of life, through Miles’ adventures with girls.
Personally, I enjoyed this novel very much as it spoke to me emotionally and truly made me feel for the characters and the troubles that they must conquer. I do not see myself within the protagonist, yet I feel ever so attached to him as if coming along his ride of self-discovery made me one with his group. First looking through the novel, I was skeptical about the presence of any sort of figurative meaning, not understanding how a plot following some kids in high school could be as complex as I had heard. I could not have been more wrong. Looking back at the metaphors, and hidden treasures that John Green had personally implemented to develop the reader’s point of view was so spectacular that I considered picking the book straight back up from the start.
I think that everyone with a love for unanswerable questions should adopt this novel, as John Green honestly portrays a painfully gorgeous story of coming to terms with grief and how the important events in our life completely change our perceptions of the events adjacent to them. Please do not read this novel with a closed mind as it is sure to blow open your previously formed perspectives. All in all, my personal review would give Looking for Alaska a 5/5, for truly encapsulating me into the world of the Culver Creek Boarding School students, and rerouting my view when it comes to living with purpose.
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