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ellemaddy's Reviews (1.09k)
The thing about this book is it's so scary in a disturbing and weird kind of way and I read this when I was little. Goosebumps stories are usually very short but yet they still managed to freak me out when I was a kid. This one is a story about two brothers going to a camp for a horror movie director and everything just went downhill. Not the scariest thing I've ever read, if i reflect on it now, but back then it was kind of a huge deal.
One of the most beautiful book I read. I honestly cried so hard during the end. It was beautifully written, the characters felt real and three dimensional, it was funny and sad, really, it was perfect. No flaw.
I haven't seen the movie so I can't really compare this book to the movie but this book wasn't very impressive in my opinion. There's just a lot of people who said that this book is super good and super fun to read but that was not the case for me. It was a bit dull at times and the main characters have this superior feel like they're better than everyone else. All in all it didn't really impress me or live up to its image and popularity. It was very slow paced too and the ending a bit rushed. I thought this book was better than this but after reading it, I just have to rate it 3/5 because it was not very good although it wasn't very bad either.
Looking for Alaska is the first of John Green's book I read. It was an amazing experience.
I read this book in 2012 after I read a tweet by the singer of my favourite band at that time praising Looking for Alaska and when I came across this book at the bookstore, I just had to buy it. My first impression after reading this book was it reminded me a little of Catcher in The Rye and Perks of Being a Wallflower. It had that boarding school and friendship vibe and since in 2012 I just got into college, my mood was somehow related to this book so I was smitten.
THE BAD PART:
Sometimes I find Looking for Alaska a bit unrealistic. It just has all these perfect characters that seem to not exist beyond the pages. Miles 'Pudge' Halter is a doormat. He's not interesting, not even funny nor smart. He's that one character who romanticise other people, describe everything other people do, but rarely reveal anything about himself. His existence seems to be all about praising Alaska's perfection. Before Miles met Alaska he didn't even have any friends or have anything interesting going on, but when he met her his life suddenly became a big neon light that said I LOVE ALASKA, but that was it really. He was still not interesting. The Colonel. He's your regular bad boy but he's incredibly smart and remembers every towns, cities, and capitals. Who does that? I mean, literally, who?? And then there's Alaska. Oh don't even get me started. She's That Girl. The Perfect Girl Everyone Loves because she's so funny, so smart, so mysterious, so sexy, so... perfect. Too perfect, in fact. If she exists in real life I think people would try to avoid her because that girl is t r o u b l e. And the things she says, Jesus. The naives and the pretentious would love her. I know Alaska has imperfections too, but still. You will also get the feeling that John Green tried very hard to make everyone in this book unique, especially Alaska. I mean, she chose her own name, she said things like "I smoke to die" and other quotable tumblr as hell quotes, and despite everything she's still smart and above everyone else.
THE GOOD PART:
I love story about revenge and this book is no exception. I also love story about friendship (especially in boarding school). I have to say that even though the characters are unrealistic and pretentious, I enjoyed this book immensely. Remember, I read this when I was 16 while I tried very hard to be different and to find myself and to be above everyone else and then I found Alaska who was all that. I love the adventure in this book and I longed for the kind of relationship and friendship that the characters have.
THE VERDICT:
If i read this book now I would probably not like it as much (I find tons of books that I like best are the ones I read before I was 17) and I think this book is very suitable for teenagers especially those who haven't found themselves and who long to be different.
I read this book in 2012 after I read a tweet by the singer of my favourite band at that time praising Looking for Alaska and when I came across this book at the bookstore, I just had to buy it. My first impression after reading this book was it reminded me a little of Catcher in The Rye and Perks of Being a Wallflower. It had that boarding school and friendship vibe and since in 2012 I just got into college, my mood was somehow related to this book so I was smitten.
THE BAD PART:
Sometimes I find Looking for Alaska a bit unrealistic. It just has all these perfect characters that seem to not exist beyond the pages. Miles 'Pudge' Halter is a doormat. He's not interesting, not even funny nor smart. He's that one character who romanticise other people, describe everything other people do, but rarely reveal anything about himself. His existence seems to be all about praising Alaska's perfection. Before Miles met Alaska he didn't even have any friends or have anything interesting going on, but when he met her his life suddenly became a big neon light that said I LOVE ALASKA, but that was it really. He was still not interesting. The Colonel. He's your regular bad boy but he's incredibly smart and remembers every towns, cities, and capitals. Who does that? I mean, literally, who?? And then there's Alaska. Oh don't even get me started. She's That Girl. The Perfect Girl Everyone Loves because she's so funny, so smart, so mysterious, so sexy, so... perfect. Too perfect, in fact. If she exists in real life I think people would try to avoid her because that girl is t r o u b l e. And the things she says, Jesus. The naives and the pretentious would love her. I know Alaska has imperfections too, but still. You will also get the feeling that John Green tried very hard to make everyone in this book unique, especially Alaska. I mean, she chose her own name, she said things like "I smoke to die" and other quotable tumblr as hell quotes, and despite everything she's still smart and above everyone else.
THE GOOD PART:
I love story about revenge and this book is no exception. I also love story about friendship (especially in boarding school). I have to say that even though the characters are unrealistic and pretentious, I enjoyed this book immensely. Remember, I read this when I was 16 while I tried very hard to be different and to find myself and to be above everyone else and then I found Alaska who was all that. I love the adventure in this book and I longed for the kind of relationship and friendship that the characters have.
THE VERDICT:
If i read this book now I would probably not like it as much (I find tons of books that I like best are the ones I read before I was 17) and I think this book is very suitable for teenagers especially those who haven't found themselves and who long to be different.
“There as here it was the same solemn pause, the lull that follows battle; it was the silence of defeat.”
SO BLEAK. This book is technically a reread but I don’t remember anything about it from my first read 10 years ago other than “there was a plague. many people & rats died.”
But reading this now after going through the whole global pandemic thing feels insane because it just goes to show that 1. camus is amazing at observing & characterizing people 2. human beings don’t ever change 3. this book could’ve been written yesterday and I would believe it.
The first 40% felt absurd and fast paced. 40-80% of it dragged on and was incredibly bleak. 80-100% was sad times galore. Also I think it’s a little funny that there is essentially no actual dialogue with any of the female characters in this book other than the minuscule small talks Rieux had with his mom or some patients.
first read 27 Nov 2014
second reread 20 Sept 2024
SO BLEAK. This book is technically a reread but I don’t remember anything about it from my first read 10 years ago other than “there was a plague. many people & rats died.”
But reading this now after going through the whole global pandemic thing feels insane because it just goes to show that 1. camus is amazing at observing & characterizing people 2. human beings don’t ever change 3. this book could’ve been written yesterday and I would believe it.
The first 40% felt absurd and fast paced. 40-80% of it dragged on and was incredibly bleak. 80-100% was sad times galore. Also I think it’s a little funny that there is essentially no actual dialogue with any of the female characters in this book other than the minuscule small talks Rieux had with his mom or some patients.
first read 27 Nov 2014
second reread 20 Sept 2024
What a peculiar series! I quite enjoyed reading this book, though.