Though they’ve softened their usually snappy tone to match the meditative pace of this story, their instincts for drawing out insider-outsider tensions remain sharp. But where he fixates on feelings, Schwartz and Savage - also experts in teen drama - like to see the big, dramatic picture. Green, author of The Fault in Our Stars and Paper Towns, knows how to tap into teenage emotion. (Green also serves as an executive producer on the series.) The story is the same, but the emotional beats it hits - self-discovery, betrayal, grief - are thrown into sharper relief by the more nuanced telling. Some of these themes, particularly sexuality and privilege, are certainly present in the book, but not with the kind of intention brought to them by executive producers Josh Schwartz and Stephanie Savage, who were also behind The O.C. The only way Looking for Alaska could work in this moment is with a broadening of voices and more explicit exploration of themes like sexuality, consent, mental health, race and privilege - and fortunately, that’s what the eight-episode series delivers. Today’s TV landscape features shows like HBO’s Gen Z hit Euphoria, Netflix’s controversial 13 Reasons Why and candid Sex Education, and major-network sitcoms and dramas that present diverse depictions of family and teen life.

( Many, including Green himself, have wrestled with the way in which he deals with this trope in his books.) But everything looks different in the light of 2019’s political landscape and evolving social norms, and so the novel Looking for Alaska - originally told entirely through Miles’ eyes - can feel dated, at the very least for its fixation with what some have deemed an early version of the Manic Pixie Dream Girl. In 2005, the book was a revelation for its clear-eyed depiction of teen angst and love, and a generation of readers grew up smitten with the inscrutable Alaska, infatuated Miles and feisty Chip. But beneath the surface, Green’s story has gotten a facelift for our present moment.

Looking for Alaska by John Green