It's the misleading simplicity of Looking for Alaska that sucks in readers, taking them on a journey to a place where kids give each other nicknames (without being offended), and the biggest problems they face at prep school are coming up with the bigger prank. Except, those aren't their biggest problems.

The central thesis of John Green's novel, which is enjoying its second life since becoming a limited series, can be best summed up by two premises. The first is the story of Miles 'Pudge' Halter, who wanted to go to boarding school and get on with his life to see "the great Perhaps," proclaimed to possibly be the last words of poet Francois Rabelais. The second is from the girl of his dreams, Alaska, who wonders: "how do we escape this labyrinth of suffering,’ a quote attributed to Simon Bolivar.

Exert: “He was shaken by the overwhelming revelation that the headlong race between his misfortunes and his dreams was at that moment reaching the finish line. The rest was darkness. “Damn it,” he sighed. “How will I ever get out of this labyrinth!”

How amazingly powerful to so succinctly build a story around such a complex and compelling question that it sticks with you, a talent the remains one of Green’s best. And perhaps that can sum up Looking For Alaska best of all. The first half the book will draw you in with a nostalgia for teenhood. And then, the back half of the book will challenge you to ask questions just as Green does with Miles.

No matter which question sticks with you the most — the need to seek the great perhaps or what is the labyrinth of which they speak — expect a riveting ride from a deceptively simple story. If nothing else, it will make you appreciate this fragile thing we call life all the more.