Review: Looking for Alaska

Looking for Alaska by John Green
My rating: 1 of 5 stars

I’ve previously read two John Green books – The Fault in Our Stars and An Abundance of Katherines – and had two vastly different experiences with them. I enjoyed The Fault in Our Stars yet found An Abundance of Katherines painful to get through. My sister had read two different John Green books – Paper Towns and Looking for Alaska – and adored them both. There are times when I question my sister’s reading taste, yet with the popularity surrounding John Green I decided to borrow her books.

Of the three John Greene books I have now read, Looking for Alaska is my least favourite. In fact, I found this one almost painful to get through. It’s an unpopular opinion, and I accept that, but I cannot understand the hype. I spent the entire book disinterested, hoping for something to happen.

There was one single moment where the book was semi-enjoyable, where my rating flicked to a two-star rating, yet it was not enough to win me over. This book had the potential to be emotional, to hit hard as it dealt with a heavy issue, but I never felt anything. I did not like the characters, I did not care about events, and the quotable lines felt like the only reason people throw themselves at John Green books.

This book could have been so much more, I expected it to be so much more, yet it did nothing for me.

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