Looking for Alaska (summary and book review)

I just finished reading Looking for Alaska by John Green. As mentioned in my last post, this book contained a lot of suspense. Many of the questions I encountered as I read the book were answered in some way. However, the author left the resolution open-ended in order to satisfy the reader's need for answers and leave some room for interpretation. The characterization increased throughout the book, with numerous additions to emotional, social, intellectual and physical descriptions to many of the characters. The book explored more of Alaska's past, Pudge's thoughts and beliefs, and Colonel's determination. I really enjoyed the deep analysis and various perspectives in the last half of the book, mainly the climax and falling action.

One of the underlying topics in the book is 'the labyrinth of suffering' in relation to religion and philosophy. In the beginning of the book, Alaska posed a question to Pudge about Simón Bolívar's last words and about 'escaping the labyrinth', 

"'That's the mystery, isn't it? Is the labyrinth living or dying? Which is he trying to escape - the world or the end of it?'" (Green 19). 

Throughout the book, Pudge reflects on these questions, relating them to his own experiences. Pudge writes,

"[We] had to forgive to survive in the labyrinth" (Green 218).

"We need never be hopeless, because we can never be irreparably broken. We think that we are invincible because we are. We cannot be born and we cannot die. Like all energy, we can only change shapes and sizes and manifestations...But that part of us greater than the sum of our parts cannot begin and cannot end, and so it cannot fail" (Green 220). 

I would give Looking for Alaska 4.5 out of 5 stars. The conflict, emotion, suspense and characterization in this book were sensational! Once the rising action began building, the book was very exciting. It got off to a slow start but John Green did a great job making sure the reader was engaged and curious as to where the story was headed. I would recommend this book to anyone who enjoys emotional romance books that really make you think. This book has many strong themes and messages and I definitely enjoyed it!

This is a link from John Green's website about his book, Looking for Alaska:

http://johngreenbooks.com/looking-for-alaska/