Looking for Alaska discussion

This book was amazing, but I think that John Green made it too obvious that Alaska would die, especially because on the back of the book it says "After: Nothing is ever the same".

What do you guys think?

I did not expect that

I loved the book.

It,s one of my favourites books

John Green is one of my favorite writers. He is so intelligent, and it really shows in his writing. He connects things in so many ways that you will have no idea as to what is going to happen next. And every single thing that he mentions comes back in the end to make it all connect. If there was one thing in this book that i didn't like it would probably be the ending. It was so abrupt, and not as thought out as it could have been. But over all I really liked this book. Well worth the read.

Guys that was not an accident, that was suicide. She killed herself.

Olivia wrote: "This book was amazing, but I think that John Green made it too obvious that Alaska would die, especially because on the back of the book it says "After: Nothing is ever the same"."

Implying Alaska's death from the very beginning was certainly intentional, and I don't believe this hampered the novel at all. It was very key to the novel's narration- the book is split into two parts and in the first part, the days count down. In fact, having the foresight of what was approaching added a level of interest to me, and I was always on the lookout for examples of foresight.

It's a great book.

With all honesty I was not a very big fan of the book. I felt as though John Green makes teens appear too mischievous. Now, I admit that was one of the reasons because I enjoyed Paper Towns but after reading The Fault In Our Stars and Looking for Alaska it felt as though that's how he portrays teens in his books and I don't necessarily like that. I admit he is a great writer, though. Am wrong in any of this?

I agree. Most of the characters in the books by John Green (and David Levithan too) that I've read have generally the same characteristics and personality types in each book. The girls are feminists (woo-hoo) and courageous and funny and daring, and the boys are skinny, and nerdy and clueless. In most of the books the girls help the boys find their inner self, which is not a bad thing at all. Having similar characters doesn't ruin anything for me, and I still enjoy the book just as much. But I do agree that the characters are too out there. (which again, isn't a bad thing)

I thought this novel was by far my favorite by John Green( having already read three of his other books besides this one). This book was excellently written! I loved getting to know each character, it made what happens in the end just that much more substantial to the entire novel itself!!

I loved this book! I red it in one day literally because i couldn't stop. Even though I liked all the characters building I thought that they were too obvious. As for instance Alaska was so typically "special,free girl". I also think that the fact that he uses book lovers as main characters make us, readers, identify with them and subconsciously relate till we love his book.

I so LOVED the plot twist. This book fücked me up so much. Likw WHY ALASKA WHY?! I cried and cried, WHY?!

I really enjoyed this book too- I think John Green adding undefinable themes like 'The Great Perhaps' really gave the book this beautiful complexity :D

Great book

Olivia wrote: "This book was amazing, but I think that John Green made it too obvious that Alaska would die, especially because on the back of the book it says "After: Nothing is ever the same"."

We don't just need surprises to be entertained. John Green is a fantastic writer, he engages every reader in his books because he writes so thoughtfully and with such distinction. Personally, I knew right from the beginning that something was going to happen to Alaska. What I didn't expect was how it would happen, the mystery shrouding it and the after math, how it affects others more than we can see on the outside.

This was a fantastic book, not about suicide, but about how our actions can deeply affect the people in our lives.

LFA is one of my most favourite John Green books and I cannot wait to see it come to the big screen in what I hope will be a beautiful portrayal of the book.

Teresa wrote: "With all honesty I was not a very big fan of the book. I felt as though John Green makes teens appear too mischievous. Now, I admit that was one of the reasons because I enjoyed Paper Towns but aft..."

With all due respect here I do think your perception is wrong but then again maybe mine is. I just feel that all his characters are very diverse.

We have Q in Paper Towns who feels he lives in the shadows of his former child best friend Margo who is always on an adventure. He stays within his small comfort zone and dares not do anything.

Margo is a lost girl trying to find herself. Caught up in the hype of the elusive 'Margo Roth Spiegleman' that has formed around herself she realises she really doesn't know herself and is trying to learn and just get away.

Alaska in LFA is a troubled girl with a traumatic past who hasn't come to terms with what happened and never will. She loves pranks and books. Alaska struggles with feelings that many teenagers can empathize with.

Pudge learnt the hard way what really happens in The Great Perhaps, how people can't be fixed with warm fuzzy feelings of love and that you can't help who you love.

Hazel is a girl with terminal cancer, resigned to staying alone in order to minimize the amount of people who will get hurt. A girl who has accepted what will happen to her and really looks forward to nothing except reading her favourite book over and over and watching back to back marathons of America's Next Top Model.

Gus, an enigmatic, fun loving & optimistic boy who had a 'touch of cancer'. He embraces life knowing how short lived it can be and remains positive recognising that things could always be worse.

The last time I read AAK was years ago so I don't know Colin and the other characters all that well but overall I would have said John Green portrays teenagers very well. Maybe that's just me but I was a very mischievous teenager. I loved pranks and I still do! Hearing Alaska, Pudge & the Colonel planning their pranks filled me with nostalgia and excitement.

I hope that maybe you can see now how his characters are very different, and appeal to many different peoples personalities.

Rachel wrote: "Teresa wrote: "With all honesty I was not a very big fan of the book. I felt as though John Green makes teens appear too mischievous. Now, I admit that was one of the reasons because I enjoyed Pape..."

Sooooo. I was looking through my notifications and came across this post. I can't believe it's been this long until I noticed the notification and I apologize. I must admit that I haven't picked up a John Green book since the time of this post but I think I can perhaps respond.

I can definitely see your point and thinking back on my reason on why I generally didn't enjoy his books I can say I was probably wrong.

During the time I read his books I was obsessed with fantasy, historical fiction, classics, etc. and never really read a lot of contemporary YA fiction. I've always enjoyed reading fiction that differed from the real world and spurred my imagination. So his books (I've only read The Fault in Our Stars, Looking for Alaska and Paper Towns), at the time, seemed somewhat "plain" to me.

Looking back, another reason why I perhaps didn't like his characters was the fact that I didn't relate to most of them. I think this comes to slight cultural differences (I'm half Dominican and grew up in a rural part of the Dominican Republic) among other things but again this was over a 5 years ago and opinions obviously change.

I now plan to reread the three John Green books I own and see how much my perception of his characters have changed. Thanks for your detailed and respectful response and again I apologize for taking soooo long to respond.

I agree with you guys on the fact that it is a classic the "I am super happy but then I kill myself" girl but John Green made it so emotional and so beautiful that you can not being cold in front of it. The death is brought so peacefully and quietly with an intern chaos, loud and tumultuous, you can not just stay insensitive in front of this words.

i let my friend read my copy and when i got it back the page where Miles finds out that Alaska is dead was ripped out.

I later found out she had flushed the page down the toilet.

Teresa wrote: "Rachel wrote: "Teresa wrote: "With all honesty I was not a very big fan of the book. I felt as though John Green makes teens appear too mischievous. Now, I admit that was one of the reasons because..."

Alexander wrote I agree with you guys on the fact that it is a classic the "I am super happy but then I kill myself"
as a teen i can tell you guys that a lot of us walk around with a massive smile on our face when inside we are falling apart, and not even those closest to those will see or realize this, sometimes until it is too late
i know because i suffer from depression and suicidal idealizations myself and a lot of my friends do too

One John Green novel may be good but as soon as you read the second one you get the feeling you're re-reading the first one. Personally couldn't enjoy the book past page 50.

This book is pure perfection!!! Anyone seen the series? One of the best book adaptations ever made in my opinion!

This was the first book by John Green that I read and it is my favourite book still to this day. Maybe because I could somehow identify with Alaska or because I felt there was a deep philosophical level to all of it... My favourite quotes ever are from this book.

Amani wrote: "This book is pure perfection!!! Anyone seen the series? One of the best book adaptations ever made in my opinion!"
I'm scared to watch it to be honest because the book has such a special place in my heart... I'm afraid that that will change once I see it on the screen and not only in my head.

haleigh wrote: "Alexander wrote I agree with you guys on the fact that it is a classic the "I am super happy but then I kill myself"
as a teen i can tell you guys that a lot of us walk around with a massive smile ..."
I absolutely wholeheartedly agree with you. Besides I don't think that Alaska seems like a "super happy" character. She is deeply sad underneath everything and it shows before her death.