[Review: Looking For Alaska by John Green]

"Looking for Alaska"
Author: John Green
Series: None
Pages: 221
Genre: YA, Contemporary
Date Published: December 28th, 2006
Publisher: Speak
Format Read: Borrowed paperback

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Summary:

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. 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.

-Goodreads 

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My Thoughts:

An Open Letter To Looking For Alaska,

Okay, I'm just going to say it. I had high hopes for you book, like really high hopes, and for some reason, you totally blew it. I didn't connect with you at all. It's weird because everyone and their mother have been telling me to read you for ages and once I got to you, I found that we didn't get along. It makes me sad, but it's just the cold hard truth.  The words inside of you are great, but the characters drove me mad. This is just the facts.

-The White Unicorn

Seriously, when I got the chance to borrow Looking for Alaska from a friend, I was extremely excited. I fell in love with Green's writing when I read The Fault in Our Stars and I couldn't wait to dive into the book that started it all. At this point, I kind of wish that I hadn't. Sure, the writing is still creative and wonderful and 100% John Green, which is something to marvel at, but this book and I just didn't connect at all.

Primarily I think my disconnect to the story, which so many people seem to connect to, was because of the characters. They all had their merits, but I just couldn't get behind the fact that Alaska had all of these guys tied around her little finger and that they all thought she was great. There wasn't anything wrong with her, but I just didn't get the dynamics between the characters. She was extremely self destructive and everyone just went ahead and catered to that. I found this both unbelievable and too believable all at once. Which annoyed the heck out of me. I did however enjoy the fact that Green didn't slut shame any of the females in his novel. 

Pudge was okay. I mean I get teen angst and I get sexual frustrations, but this constant game of cat and mouse between him and Alaska, which most of the novel hinges on, drove me nutty. It's like they both know that she has a boyfriend and yet they toy with each others emotions in such a destructive manner that I never was allowed to get to know either of them. His thoughts on her and the way he centered his existence around hers, made both of the main characters very one dimensional  for me. It also made the catastrophic events of The After section of the novel emotionless as a reader. I wanted to have my heart ripped out of my chest and instead I never shed a single tear. I just couldn't do it.

The saving grace of this book for me was the pranks that Pudge, Alaska, Lara and The Colonel pulled because they were brilliant. Their antics when it came to those things made me laugh and for a minute I was able to see what I think I was supposed to see. A bunch of kids running around and having the time of their lives while uncovering the truths of the universe. Props to The Colonel for being a character I could actually get behind. 

In the end I just can't say that I was a fan of this book. Though I can say that I'm still a fan of Green's writing and his creativeness when it comes to his characters. This book just missed the mark for me...

Rating:

2 Unicorns = It was okay, but something didn't work for me!

[Review: The Fault on Our Stars by John Green]

"The Fault in Our Stars"
Author: John Green
Series: None
Pages: 318
Genre: YA, Contemporary, Romance
Date Published: January 12th, 2012
Publisher: Dutton Books
Format Read: Gifted eBook

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Summary:

Diagnosed with Stage IV thyroid cancer at 13, Hazel was prepared to die until, at 14, a medical miracle shrunk the tumours in her lungs... for now.

Two years post-miracle, sixteen-year-old Hazel is post-everything else, too; post-high school, post-friends and post-normalcy. And even though she could live for a long time (whatever that means), Hazel lives tethered to an oxygen tank, the tumours tenuously kept at bay with a constant chemical assault.

Enter Augustus Waters. A match made at cancer kid support group, Augustus is gorgeous, in remission, and shockingly to her, interested in Hazel. Being with Augustus is both an unexpected destination and a long-needed journey, pushing Hazel to re-examine how sickness and health, life and death, will define her and the legacy that everyone leaves behind.

-Goodreads

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My Thoughts:

An Open Letter To The Fault In Our Stars,

So, thanks for taking my heart strings and turning them into a huge pile of scrap metal.  That was so nice of you book, super nice of you.  But who am I kidding, I refused to read you for years (literal years) which was one of the most ridiculous things I've ever done in my life.  Sure you demolished my heart, but you also brought so much laughter and joy and one of the best book boyfriends that I've ever read in my life to my door.  But let's not forget about Hazel and how awesome she was too.  Honestly, I have no complaints about you, at all.  Okay, the heart shattering wasn't cool, but I get it, so I'll let that slide.

-The White Unicorn

Why haven't I read any John Green books before.  This man is a genius with words and even better then that he's the master of dialogue!  Seriously, the conversations in this book were perfect.  They were real and they made you feel all the feelings in your soul.  It takes a really talented writer to handle dialogue like Mr. Green and I'm glad that I finally gave in and read TFiOS.  Sometimes being a rebel comes back to bite you in the butt, that's all I'm saying.

TFiOS deals with cancer, but it's how Green deals with it that really makes this book something special.  He doesn't soak the book in depression, sure he dips it in every once in awhile, but that's to be expected.  The thing is that this book is full of insurmountable amounts of hope and laughter and snark and reality that will blow your mind away.  This book is hilarious, like hold your gut and gag on air funny.  These characters are witty as all get out.  It's really a beautiful thing, on so many levels.

I also have to thank Green for creating one of my favorite contemporary male leads ever.  Augustus Waters is as close to perfect as it comes!  He's snarky, he's funny, he's got just the right amount of "hero complex" without it getting out of hand and he's the sweetest.  He was the perfect other half for our girl Hazel.  And I'm pretty sure that he's been stealing the hearts of girls all over the world.

Speaking of Hazel, she's someone who I'd be friends with any day.  Being inside of her head for the whole book was really a privilege.  She was the perfect voice for this story.  She wasn't afraid to try to live her life as all of the side affects of dying were trying to get at her, but she also knew that her time would come at some point.  She had so much dignity as well as huge amounts of correctly used dark humor.  

But those two aren't the only people who will warm your heart in this book.  Hazel's parents are the coolest book parents I've ever read.  I loved that her dad cried so much.  And Issac was the best friend these kids could have had.  And how can we forget about Patrick and his ball-cancer?  

TFiOS is character driven to the max and it's executed so well that it still has a lot of action happening too.  Trips to foreign countries, blind video game playing and more exciting things get covered in the story.  Honestly, if you haven't read TFiOS, take a tip from me and dive right in.  Don't let the fact that you'll need a whole box of tissues make you miss out on this wonderful book!

Rating:

   5 Unicorns = Get your hands on this NOW!