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Showing posts with label looking for alaska. Show all posts
Showing posts with label looking for alaska. Show all posts

Cover Love (11)

This week's Cover Love is on the foreign editions of my favorite book of all time: Looking for Alaska by John Green.


First on the left is the familiar US cover with its fancy medal on the front. I personally really like this cover because of its simplicity and beauty (the curling smoke is such a striking image), but the one thing I don't like so much is that it doesn't really tell you at all what the book is about.

In the middle is the UK version. As a piece of art, I think this is a neat cover, but I don't feel like it matches the book very well. It's just too pretty and frivolous to match the story within.

I may be mistaken, but I believe the cover on the right is the UK paperback. I'm not a big fan of this one either. The heart is just a bit odd when transparently layered over the rippling water like that, but I suppose it does a better job of describing the story than the middle one.


On the left is the Swedish cover. I think the background image and feet hanging out the car are nice and intriguing, and I also like the scrap of paper with the title "paperclipped" to the cover. However, I'm not a big fan of what appears to be a photo of Alaska and Miles because in general I dislike it when the main characters are on the cover, as they never looked like how I imagine them.

The bright red middle one is the Korean version, and it's very... different. I think it's interesting that the background is different shades of red clumped together along with the pencil drawing of Alaska (who seems to have turned Asian?), but I really don't feel like this accurately portrays the book.

The Japanese cover is on the right and, well, I'm not really sure what happened there. The girl doesn't look like Alaska, and there appears to be a flower randomly floating in the middle.


In all its hazy glory on the left is the Australian cover. I feel like I would like this one a lot more if it wasn't quite so blurry. A little of that sepia would have been a neat effect, but not to this extent. I do like the scene, though, with the same feet hanging out of the car as in the Swedish one.

In the middle is the Dutch. The concept of the cover, what with the unrolled cigarette and lipstick kisses, is awesome and fits the story well, but the overall effect of the cover is just rather "meh" for me.

Finally on the right we have the Italian cover. I don't really understand why there is an enormous and terrifying face with eyes that look straight into your soul. It's rather creepy and doesn't seem to have much to do with the story but at the same time, it's kind of captivating.

The German cover, on the left, is nice enough without nothing technically wrong, but it just doesn't really stand out to me. It wouldn't grab my attention in a book store or library.

The middle has the Spanish cover. Although I like the labyrinth in the A - which was a clever touch and means a lot to the story - I don't feel like this cover works well overall. It doesn't look like the quirky, touching young adult story it is.

Here on the right we have the Polish cover. I don't know how well it describes the story but it's certainly a pretty cover. The only thing I don't like that much is the weird black box with the candle.


The French cover, on the left, is a lot like the UK one but I like it a lot better. It's simple but pretty and could appeal to both genders. The colors work nicely as well.

In the middle is the Danish cover, which is creepy, what with the foggy road and the eyes in the trees. However, I don't really feel like the way Alaska is leaning on Miles like that is representative of the story, and this seems like a better-suited cover for a thriller.

As our last cover of the post, we have the Portuguese one on the right. I can't tell if that's a boy's face or a girl's face, but either way, I'm not a big fan of the whole half-face movement.

Overall, my favorites were the French cover and the original US one. Which ones do you like? Dislike? Any covers that I didn't mention?

Paper Towns: Review

Synopsis: When Margo Roth Spiegelman beckons Quentin Jacobsen in the middle of the night—dressed like a ninja and plotting an ingenious campaign of revenge—he follows her. Margo’s always planned extravagantly, and, until now, she’s always planned solo. After a lifetime of loving Margo from afar, things are finally looking up for Q . . . until day breaks and she has vanished. Always an enigma, Margo has now become a mystery. But there are clues. And they’re for Q.

Details: Paper Towns by John Green, 305 pages, 4.10 stars on Goodreads

My Thoughts: First off, I really hated this cover. I'm not a fan of covers with just people's faces on them because it takes more than just a seemingly-ordinary girl's face to draw me in. At least in Firelight, the girl on the cover has those awesome pupils and scales. The only thing that made me pick this up was because it was written by John Green, and I loved his other two books, Looking for Alaska and An Abundance of Katherines. I adore his writing style with the witty dialogue and narration, and so I was looking forward to reading this.


For once :P, I wasn't disappointed. Well, okay, I was disappointed on one respect. In Looking for Alaska, the protagonist was named Miles. He was a little nerdy as well as shy, sweet, and sensitive. He was in love with an unpredictable, bold, indescribable girl named Alaska, who he doesn't get. In An Abundance of Katherines, the protagonist was named Colin. He was a little nerdy as well as shy, sweet, and sensitive. He was in love with an unpredictable, bold, indescribable girl named Katherine, who he doesn't get. In Paper Towns, the protagonist was named Quentin. He was a little nerdy as well as shy, sweet, and sensitive. He was in love with an unpredictable, bold, indescribable girl named Margo, who he doesn't get.

When I read Looking for Alaska, I was thinking, "Wow, this is an amazing book! Miles is such a real character! Alaska is fascinating!" When I read An Abundance of Katherines, I was thinking, "Wow, this is a great book! Colin really reminds me of Miles, though, and Katherine is basically Alaska. I like Lindsey, though!" When I read Paper Towns, I was thinking, "Wow, this is a good book! But seriously, John Green, I get it. You were a little nerdy as well as shy, sweet, and sensitive when you were seventeen. You met a crazy girl. Now please, please, please write about something else."


That said, I still looooove this book. And John Green. I mean, John Green's writing. Of course. UMM LET'S CHANGE THE TOPIC NOW. LET'S TALK ABOUT ADAM GREGORY.



Oh. I'm sorry. I'll go back to the book now. Even though yeah, it's the same plot again, it didn't pain me to read it because he has the wittiness and the quirkiness and the funniness going on. And sure, the themes are repeated a bit, but they're so fascinating. For the duration of the book, John Green makes you believe in Margo, in her craziness (how many times did I say "ness" in this post? Green has that effect on me - err, John Green, not the color green), and that maybe, just maybe, Quentin will get her. 


There's so much more I want to say about this book, but it'll be full of adjectives and adverbs and all sorts of poor writing. And so I'll leave you with the rating.


Plot - 3/5
Characters - 4/5
Writing - 5/5
Impact - 2.5/5
Overall - 72.5% = B+

(Note: My new grading system is somewhat unconventional. A B+ is about four stars, which is what I gave it on Goodreads.)