Back in late primary and early secondary school, I absolutely adored John Green’s books. I’d fly through one in a weekend, sometimes two, without even meaning to. Now, nearly ten years later, I’ve realised I haven’t picked up a single one of his novels since. That feels like the perfect excuse to dive back in. Since I’m slowing down with my reading pace, it’s also the perfect time to start sharing my thoughts. So, here’s Part 1 of my John Green book reviews, where I’ll be talking about three of his novels.

The Anthropocene Reviewed 2.5/5

Despite laughing and crying in different places, this book was overall a nothing book. It didn’t actually do much of anything. The most redeeming quality is the ability to stick out of the crowd and do well at its own purpose. For a book about reviews, I will always find it funny to read reviews about this book.
As a concept, this was great and I can’t knock it for that. I wish it was more. To be honest, I don’t know what more is. It’s just missing something, so I have to give it a low rating:
2.5/5 as it is a really middle-of-the-road book. The next book isn’t better either.

An Abundance of Katherine’s 2/5

This is the worst story that I have read by John Green. I am glad that it is so short, as I wouldn’t have finished it. Colin Singleton was a whiny nerd that was insufferable to read through, even if he does kind of acknowledge that himself. If he hadn’t been as insufferable, I may have enjoyed it more, as the other characters had personalities. Hussain was lazy and grew from lazy to wanting to do something with his life. Lindsey grew to understand herself and let her be herself around other people. I just felt Colin was just Colin. In it self isn’t bad, it wasn’t for me.
2/5, please only read this book if you want to read all of John Green’s books. I’m glad I read Looking for Alaska next!

Looking for Alaska 4/5

I absolutely CANNOT believe that this is the first book John Green has ever published. This story felt like it was written by someone who’s been writing for decades! Looking for Alaska is an absolutely beautiful story about love, grief, and friendship.
One of the biggest strengths of this novel is the character development. Miles “Pudge” Halter starts the story as a shy, slightly awkward teen searching for friends in his new boarding school. Reading him grow through his friendships and romantic feelings, then the grief that comes with loss feels authentic. John Green doesn’t shy away from bold emotions and this shows us all why!
The book also does something really clever with structure. It’s split into “Before” and “After,” which is something I haven’t seen before. As it solidifies something is coming to the story, it makes us realise how much we are yet to find out. I loved this way of storytelling!
4/5- I would recommend this book over the other two that I have reviewed so far in this blog.

Thanks so much for reading! This is just Part 1 of my John Green reviews, so stick around to see what I think of the rest of his books in the next posts. In the meantime, I’d love to know your thoughts—have you read these books? Which John Green novel is your favorite (or least favorite)? Drop a comment and let’s chat about it!