Review: Looking for Alaska by John Green

I don't read teen fiction. Oh don't get me wrong, I used to. But it seems with every new book I pick from the young adults section, the sillier and more far fetched they seem to be traveling. Or perhaps, I'm just old. But I like the first excuse better.

John Green, on the other hand, is more than a teen fiction author to me. I followed he and his brother Hank on their Youtube Channel (Vlogbrothers) long before I read John's books. They are still the only reason I passed AP World History, European History, and and am currently passing AP Biology. Therefore they hold a special place in my heart. I read the Fault in Our Stars in my Sophomore year in highschool and managed to throw the book across my room twice and only cry once! I had high expectations for Looking for Alaska, and I read it on a seven hour car ride to Universal Studios. The book begins with Miles Halter or "Pudge", leaving his home in Florida to attend Culver Creek Preparatory High School. There, he meets new friends, allies, enemies, and the elusive Alaska Young as he tackles his junior year of high school.

This book tore me to shreds.

Green - who will be referred to as such as I angrily berate him and his lovely book - starts by labeling each chapter with a countdown. (Example: XXX Days Before) This technique was not only heart wrenching, but it cost someone like me with little to no patience all I had to stop refrain from flipping ahead. I was stupid, stupid, stupid. I knew what I was getting into. I just knew.

The penmanship of this book is just beyond compare. As a writer, I have a great respect for dialogue. Description is great and details are exceptional, yes, but unless you can manage a world worthy of Tolkien, its best to lay off. John Green writes in such a way with words in such a manner that it blows me out of the water. There were times in my seven hour ride that I had to physically place the book aside and stare out the window at the scenery of I-10 (spoiler: its all trees) and consider my existence. Sayings, words, sentences, quirks; I can't even begin to fathom how he does it. John Green is so real, it kills me. What kind of genre is this book? It's not romance, it's not drama, it's not mystery, it's not comedy. It's a reality facing, truth telling, smack in the face. It's true and human and if it wasn't placed in a high school setting, it wouldn't be labeled a 'teen fiction' book. It left me so hollow, so seemingly aware, I was angry upon its completion. Green even has a page on his website dedicated to questions his readers ask about the ending of this book. Needless to say, he provides nothing of substantial value and yet, everything at the same time.

I can't say anymore. I have high hopes that one of you out there will see this review and read this book.

Favorite Quote: "So I walked back to my room and collapsed on the bottom bunk, thinking that if people were rain, I was drizzle and she was a hurricane." Because isn't that how we as a society think of each other? It seems entirely relevant. Why. Why do this to me?


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Review: Outlander by Diana Gabaldon

Outlander was first introduced to me by my Mother, of all people. Like most respectable young readers, the last thing on the face of this blue planet I wished to do was read a book recommended to me by my dear mum. What if I thought the book wasn't as good as she claimed? How on earth was I going to break it to her? What if I found the brash Scotsmen frustrating and irritable? Or worse, above all else, what was I to do if I liked it?

Outlander - published in the United Kingdom under the name Cross Stitch - was first released in 1991. (Needless to say, I'm rather late to the party.) The story follows the adventures of WWII English nurse, Claire Randall, on her second honeymoon in Inverness. The trip goes awry, however, when Claire visits a standing stone circle on the fringes of town and is transported back in time - nearly two hundred years. She encounters devilish English dragoons, stubborn Scots, and even a witch or two as she fights to return home. But when the time comes, what choice will she make?

Outlander was recently adapted for television, and it took an episode to truly draw my interest. After years of denying my mother the satisfaction of reading her favorite series, I sat down beside her to watch what I was determined to be an hour of suffering on my part. For a history activist and accent connoisseur, I'm not sure how I expected to walk away unaffected. Like many before me, I walked away from the tv that night with a book in hand and a new story in my heart.

Outlander can be described in many words, but I shall choose two for the time being. Wild and Unexpected. While the lead-up to Claire's transportation back in time is rather slow, there is not one dull moment in Castle Leoch or the outlying Scottish Highlands. Claire uses her wit and skill to apply her medicinal skills to 18th century technology, and she makes it work. She is never without a retort, and withstands even the harshest comments from her male counterparts. In layman's terms, Claire is badass. Her counterpart, Jamie Fraser, is just as brilliant as she. A Scotsman with a price on his head, Jamie is reckless, loyal, and generously noble. He fights Claire's fire with - hey, more fire. Surprisingly, it works. I've read a lot of romances, and yeah, I saw this one coming. The catch? They're not perfect - and heck, we need more of that displayed in books. These two butt heads like nobody's business, but the relationship is gritty and real, just as a relationship usually is. Well, if you don't count the time traveling business.

This book is a romance, yes, but it's so much more than that. It's a study of the Jacobite rebellion in Scotland and the support gathered for Bonnie Prince Charlie, as well as an accurate historical description of the habits and reasonings of 18th century clansmen. If you are not up to date with your Scottish clan history, you walk aside Claire as she learns the rules and regulations of highlander life - and boy, are there many. The book is filled to the brim with real life historical attributes, things that really happened, and placed carefully in the hands of Gabaldon's original characters. She has given history life in the hands of fiction/fantasy, and I commend her for her ability. NOTE: This book is not for the faint of heart, and there are a few hard topics, some that I even still disagree with. However, that's historical accuracy for you; it's not always a pretty thing.

Favorite Quote: "You're tearin' my guts out, Claire." Because dialogue is everything. I've never seen pain so accurately described. Any other word choice would have gone completely unnoticed. I'm in awe.

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