Looking for Alaska by John Green

I went into reading Looking for Alaska with a bit of prejudgment: my girlfriend had read it before me and has been highly ticked off at John Green ever since she has. In fact, I think it has led her to not read any more books by Green. So I just had to read it and find out what upset her so much. I did. Warning ahead of time: there will be spoilers in this review. If that bothers you, you'd better skip it.

Green has set this book in a fictional private boarding school in Alabama. As I live in Alabama, I was good with this. In fact, I was impressed that he had the geography correct as he told of travels to different nearby towns. It felt pretty authentically Southern to me..

The narrator, who is renamed Pudge (because he's so skinny--it's ironic, see?), is a stranger in a strange land. He is more than a little lost in this new world he lobbied his parents so hard to join. He meets his roommate, The Colonel, and through him several other interesting characters. By far the most interesting is Alaska. Pudge falls instantly in love with her. It isn't hard to believe. Green works hard to make the reader fall in love with her as well..

The book is divided into "days before" and "days after. The central incident is the death of Alaska. Dealing with this. Trying to make meaning of it. Feeling the guilt that someone could have done something to prevent it. These are all realistically and heartbreakingly portrayed. As the book continues into "days after" Pudge and the Colonel try to figure out what happened. And to honor Alaska with one last, grand prank..

Although I felt the ending was a bit too neat and tidy, I really enjoyed this book a lot. That Green was able to draw characters so strongly that the death of one creates an emotional impact, speaks to his strength as a writer. While I would have preferred Alaska to survive, it would have made this an altogether different and far more predictable tale. I think that this is a book worth reading.

There is a great deal of profanity in this book. It doesn't really bother me, but I know some people don't care for that. There is also a lot of talk about sex and a brief scene of a sexual encounter.