Looking for Alaska

Pretty standard coming-of-age stuff here, a quick and mostly enjoyable read. Deeper than your typical teen lit, getting into real questions of suffering and struggling to find your life's purpose.

Pros:
pretty funny
engages with religion thoughtfully in unexpected ways
the characters all feel like real people with their own quirks and issues
having grown up on a boarding school campus myself, the “campus vibe” felt really spot-on

Cons:
has the “let's include drugs/sex to feel edgy” vibe common in teen lit
She kind of falls into the Manic Pixie Dream Girl trope