As I Lay Reading

Book Reviews & Occasional Author and Book - Fangirling

Looking for Alaska by John Green

November 27, 2018 By Kellie Leave a Comment

Looking for Alaska by John Green - Book Cover

Looking for Alaska by John Green is an emotional coming-of-age tale that centers around a smart but awkward teenager named Miles (“Pudge”), whose claim to fame is in memorizing and spouting off the last words of notable people in history.

When the story begins, we learn that Miles has applied to a prep school in Alabama to finish his schooling. Miles is a smart kid, who doesn’t quite fit in at the public school he attends and what’s more, doesn’t feel the need to fit in. He’s an old soul who knows the world is bigger than the small town he lives in. His parents dote on him as he is the only child.

At prep school, he meets a few kids and they become friends. Most notable is his roommate nicknamed “The Colonel”, who like Miles, is also an old soul. I got the feeling early on, that The Colonel had seen things in his childhood that aged him. Often, he comes across as a cantankerous old man.

Looking for Alaska…

Then, there is Alaska, another notable character and friend to Miles and The Colonel. Alaska is an exhilarating whirlwind of smarts, impulsive, beauty, and energy, with hints of profound sadness sprinkled in. She’s a mystery to everyone she meets.

As expected in a young adult novel, the gang has moments of hilarious shenanigans as well as quietly solemn depth.

Each of the prominent characters in this book are searching for something. During their adventures together, they find truth, happiness, peace, and devastation.

This book reminds me a bit of Jack Kerouac’s On the Road as it is very much a coming-of-age tale. The characters are so well fleshed out and perfectly imperfect. These characters are odd but fascinating. Their experiences, good or bad have shaped their personalities and views of the world.

I highly recommend this one and enthusiastically give it 5 stars!

My Rating on Looking for Alaska by John Green:

5 star rating for The Changelings

Scarlett: The Sequel To Gone With The Wind

March 6, 2014 By Kellie Leave a Comment

scarlett-sequel-to-gone-with-the-wind

While Gone With The Wind is certainly one of my all time favorite novels, in my quest to get to know character Scarlett O’Hara better, I purchased the sequel written by Alexandria Ripley — appropriately named Scarlett.

When the story opens, Scarlett is at the funeral of her best friend Melanie Wilkes.  Her life is shattered.  Rhett has left her and her one and only friend has died.  In an ironic twist of events, Ashley Wilkes — the man who Scarlett once obsessed over and the late Melanie Wilkes’ now widowed husband, is once again available.  Even more ironic is that Scarlett has realized that she only wanted Ashley because she could not have him.  She realizes (albeit too late) that Rhett was the man she was meant to be with.  The Yin to her Yang.  In typical Scarlett fashion she resolves to do everything in her power to win him back.

In this novel, we get to follow Scarlett O’Hara on all of her adventures, no matter where they take her.  As always, she has a deep longing to get back to Tara and rebuild.  However, fate takes her in very different directions.  She learns more about her mother and father and is introduced to relatives on both sides.  She learns why her father named their beloved plantation “Tara” and reconnects with her Irish heritage.

This is truly a coming of age tale.  While Scarlett has been a grown woman for some time, she never fully embraced the “woman” and always held on to the part of the “girl”.  In “Scarlett”, we get to see her come into her own and finally grow up.

I loved Gone With The Wind but the sequel novel Scarlett will always have a special place in my heart as I have read this novel so many times I have lost count.

My Rating For Scarlett – The Sequel To Gone With The Wind:

5 star rating for The Changelings

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