Looking For Alaska by John Green

Looking For Alaska

Sixteen-year-old Miles Halter's adolescence has been one long nonevent - no challenge, no girls, no mischief, and no real friends. Seeking what Rabelais called the "Great Perhaps," he leaves Florida for a boarding school in Birmingham, AL. His roommate, Chip, is a dirt-poor genius scholarship student with a Napoleon complex who lives to one-up the school's rich preppies. Chip's best friend is Alaska Young, with whom Miles and every other male in her orbit falls instantly in love. She is literate, articulate, and beautiful, and she exhibits a reckless combination of adventurous and self-destructive behavior. She and Chip teach Miles to drink, smoke, and plot elaborate pranks. Alaska's story unfolds in all-night bull sessions, and the depth of her unhappiness becomes obvious... from GoodReads.

Miles is the scrawny guy whose life is as boring as a doorknob. He is search for adventure, the Great Perhaps, so he goes to a boarding school in Alabama. He finds himself falling in love with the reckless Alaska Young whose got things more interesting than her name.

I can't help but fall in love with John Green's writing. It's brutally honest and lyrical. Miles is the guy whose life has been defined by his nothingness and just like everyone, he's looking for something more, the Great Perhaps. He is obsessed with last words.

Okay, so all girls have this fairy tale about how guys are supposed to be, the perfect boyfriend yadda yadda yadda, right? But those fantasies - I'm sorry to say - aren't likely to come true. Miles is a guy like all others. Some readers might find this story a bit too honest, it describes teens and their sexual situations - not censured, full disclosure. That's what I love about it. It tells the things most authors don't tell. It doesn't hold back. I've only read a few books given from the male point of view and I must say John Green is the best at it so far. He creates well developed characters who are real, honest, funny, and philosophical.

Alaska is a pretty ambiguous character, I would say. Moody and self-destructive we don't ever really know what's going in her head. But she's so well developed that I don't need to know. I relate to her and care for her and her decisions. I don't want to spoil anything here - I spoiled it to myself by reading the summary in the copyright page and I was so mad - but the complex and ambiguous ending is just as breath-taking as any other. Some readers might not like this 'almost' kind of ending but I love it, it makes me think, it makes me create.

The plot is simply amazing. I personally relate to it because that's the kind of life I've been living sometimes - boring nothingness. And the sense of wanting to do more is always on the back of our minds. The events flow flawlessly and the structure is very unique. It's the best combination of humor and philosophy I've ever seen and I love it.

In one sentence:
Honest and funny, John Green captivates all kinds of readers.

Plot: 5 stars
Characters: 5 stars
Cover: 3.5 stars
Writing: 5 stars
Overall feeling: 5 stars
Average: 4.7 stars

Movie Cast Mondays (1)

Want to join in the fun? Anyone can play! Here are the guidelines:

1) Create your own cast for an upcoming book-to-movie adaptation OR pick a book you'd like to see be turned into a movie and choose a cast.
2) Post the book title, author, and summary.
3) Try to pick at least 3 of the main characters to cast.
4) Grab the button please!
5) Come back and link to this post so everyone can check it out!

I will pick...

The Luxe by Anne Godbersen

A big, sumptuous tale of catty girls, dark secrets and windswept romance unfurls in this compulsively readable novel of late-19th-century New York City socialites. Godbersen weaves a tenuous web of deceit, backstabbing and pretense that follows four teens: Elizabeth Holland, a prim and proper lady of old-money society, is betrothed to one man, though furtively loves another; Henry Schoonmaker, a debauched playboy who must marry Elizabeth or be disinherited; Diana Holland, Elizabeth’s younger sister who is in love with her fiancé; and Penelope Hayes, a member of the nouveau riche who will stop at nothing to win Henry’s affections. As Elizabeth and Henry’s wedding approaches, the spectacle unfolds in a wondrously grandiose scene, making for a fun, though not entirely unexpected dénouement. A delicious new twist along the Gossip Girl vein, readers will clamor for this sharp, smart drama of friends, lovers, lies and betrayal.

Elizabeth Holland

Sara Paxton is the first one that comes to mind. Even though Sara doesn't have the heart-shaped face that is described in the books, she has the perfect blonde hair and the nice light eyes.

Diana Holland

Saoirse Ronan clicked as Diana with me. She is young and has this good-girl image yet is still edgy. I think this would be an interesting pick.

Penelope Hayes

Megan Fox. This one was easy. It's a bit of an obvious choice but it's perfect.

Henry Schoonmaker

James Marsden is a bit older (Henry is supposed to be twenty) but I think he has the look of Henry. This is a maybe choice for me.

Carolina Broud

Dakota Fanning. This has been the hardest. I love Dakota Fanning but I think she looks too cutesy and young to play the role. I'm not sure about this one.

Will Keller

Shia LaBeouf. I think this was also hard but I actually really like the pick. Again, a bit too old but he has that rugged look I imagined Will has.

So, those are my picks. As you can see, I've really enjoyed The Luxe and you can already read the review on the site.

In My Mailbox (7)

IMM was started by Kristi from The Story Siren. It explores the contents of my mailbox! Links open to GoodReads.

Bought On Kindle

Beautiful Creatures by Kami Garcia and Margaret Stohl

There were no surprises in Gatlin County.
We were pretty much the epicenter of the middle of nowhere.
At least, that's what I thought.
Turns out, I couldn't have been more wrong.
There was a curse.
There was a girl.
And in the end, there was a grave.

Lena Duchannes is unlike anyone the small Southern town of Gatlin has ever seen, and she's struggling to conceal her power and a curse that has haunted her family for generations. But even within the overgrown gardens, murky swamps and crumbling graveyards of the forgotten South, a secret cannot stay hidden forever.

Ethan Wate, who has been counting the months until he can escape from Gatlin, is haunted by dreams of a beautiful girl he has never met. When Lena moves into the town's oldest and most infamous plantation, Ethan is inexplicably drawn to her and determined to uncover the connection between them.

In a town with no surprises, one secret could change everything.

My Soul To Lose by Rachel Vincent

It was supposed to be a fun day, shopping at the mall with her best friend. Then the panic attack started and Kaylee Cavanaugh finds herself screaming, unable to stop. Her secret fears are exposed and it's the worst day of her life.

Until she wakes up in the psychiatric unit.

She tries to convince everyone she's fine--despite the shadows she sees forming around another patient and the urge to scream which comes burbling up again and again. Everyone thinks she's crazy. Everyone except Lydia, that is. Another patient with some special abilities....

An eBook exclusive prequel to Rachel Vincent's SOUL SCREAMERS series.

Won


Shiver by Maggie Stiefvater

For years, Grace has watched the wolves in the woods behind her house. One yellow-eyed wolf—her wolf—is a chilling presence she can't seem to live without. Meanwhile, Sam has lived two lives: In winter, the frozen woods, the protection of the pack, and the silent company of a fearless girl. In summer, a few precious months of being human ... until the cold makes him shift back again.

Now, Grace meets a yellow-eyed boy whose familiarity takes her breath away. It's her wolf. It has to be. But as winter nears, Sam must fight to stay human--or risk losing himself, and Grace, forever.

The Luxe by Anna Godbersen

 The Luxe

A big, sumptuous tale of catty girls, dark secrets and windswept romance unfurls in this compulsively readable novel of late-19th-century New York City socialites. Godbersen weaves a tenuous web of deceit, backstabbing and pretense that follows four teens: Elizabeth Holland, a prim and proper lady of old-money society, is betrothed to one man, though furtively loves another; Henry Schoonmaker, a debauched playboy who must marry Elizabeth or be disinherited; Diana Holland, Elizabeth’s younger sister who is in love with her fiancé; and Penelope Hayes, a member of the nouveau riche who will stop at nothing to win Henry’s affections. As Elizabeth and Henry’s wedding approaches, the spectacle unfolds in a wondrously grandiose scene, making for a fun, though not entirely unexpected dénouement. A delicious new twist along the Gossip Girl vein, readers will clamor for this sharp, smart drama of friends, lovers, lies and betrayal.

Elizabeth is the beautiful good girl, the perfect lady, the only thing wrong is that she's dead. That's how the story opens, with Elizabeth's obituary on the newspapers. The only thing we know is that she died on the day she was supposed to be wed and it was a suspicious death.

Penelope Hayes, the bad and sexy girl of society who can't get enough of the wealthy Henry Schoonmaker, is Elizabeth's best friend. But in a world were status is everything, what really defines the term best friends?

Diana Holland, Elizabeth's younger sister and very opposite of her. She's the mischievous little sister who follows her heart instead of logic.

Lina Broud, the servant girl who wants to be more. Forming dangerous alliances, she's the one to look out for.

Henry Schoonmaker, the young and most wanted bachelor of all of New York, the ladies can't seem to get enough of him.

These are the five characters whose voice and point of view is seen throughout this book.

This novel is as juicy and scandalous as the synopsis says. The details of the story and the descriptions are just so amazing and beautiful, I feel like I'm right in the setting. I wish I had the dress Elizabeth is wearing in the cover and every dress ever talked about in this book, it's like the fairy tale society you wish you were born in. It only further convinces me that I was born in the wrong era.

Anyways, the plot is engaging from the first page. I loved how it takes you from seeing the end first and then you read what happened before, the structure of the novel was very unique and fun. The plot kept me turning pages as fast as I could and the leading men are just delicious.

The characters, even though the story is divided in 5 different MCs, are well developed and unique. They all had a different voice and their personalities are very pronounced. From the mischievous Diana Holland to the good girl Elizabeth Holland, all characters have a certain something that makes you love them. Even the forever confusing, forever intriguing Henry Schoonmaker.

I can't wait until I get the next book!

In one sentence:
A story that makes you wish you were back in 19th century New York.

And as part of my improving my reviews, I'm going to give stars in a more detailed way.

Plot: 4 stars
Characters: 5 stars
Cover: 4.5 stars
Writing: 5 stars
Overall Feeling: 4.5 stars
Average: 4.6 stars

Mieradome by Kate Hegarty

"My YA fantasy novel, Mieradome, revolves around a young girl named Amavia, who believes she is a human girl, but slowly comes to find she is a faery in the world of Mieradome. Amavia's mother, Anastasica, had taken her out of the faery realm and hidden her away here in our human realm, so that she may be protected from her parents' past mistakes. But that was not enough, the forces that be found Amavia, and brought her back into the cosmos of the Grandmother Tree. There she meets other faeries, goblins, Telkar dragons, and Utopisols. Slowly who Amavia really was began to unravel to show the truth. The truth, that she just may be the evil they need to destroy. This is where the story begins." from GoodReads.

Rarely ever do I pick out books that I end up not liking. I usually love everything that I read. Unfortunately, this was not the case with Mieradome. When Kate contacted me, I accepted to review her book because it seemed an interesting concept and I was dying to get my hands on another fantasy.

A few pages in and I could immediately tell how I would feel about this book. I kept on reading, trying to reassure myself that if I stopped, I wouldn't get to the great ending that had to be coming. My hopes started dwindling halfway down.

Although the story itself presents an interesting fantasy concept, it fell a little short. The characters, including the MC, Amavia, didn't feel relateable. I didn't care about her choices and I couldn't find a way to like her. I wasn't even sure about her age at one point because sometimes she would act like a teen and other times she would act like a child. This was also the case with the supporting characters. 

The relationship between Amavia, Caiden, and Garin didn't get my attention either until the very end, and at that point, I wasn't even sure what was their driving force and I couldn't relate to it.

Because of this, I didn't really enjoy the story. The plot didn't grab me and I couldn't get into it, as hard as I tried to. Too many times the story felt a little cliched for my taste and the use of words such as 'tip top' and 'huffed and puffed' made me tired. 

Overall, the story and seemed good in theory but it didn't grab me as I expected it would: it was a bit too long and the dialogue and characters overall didn't seem real. I couldn't find a theme to the story.

In one sentence:

This book didn't reach my expectations.

2/5 stars

*Mieradome comes out on March/April 2010