I decided to read As Simple as Snow by Gregory Galloway after bestselling author John Green credited it with the inspiration for his debut novel Looking For Alaska. Looking for Alaska is one of those books that seems like every young adult has read, and if they haven’t read it, they should.

Like Looking for Alaska, As Simple as Snow puts a twist on the classic coming of age story. The narrator, who remains unnamed throughout the novel, is the typical boring sophomore high school boy who is overshadowed by his socialite best friend and tends to blend into the masses. His life changes when Anna Cayne, an offbeat girl with no intention of fitting in, moves to the narrator’s small home town and begins to pursue him. Throughout their evolving relationship, she leaves him mix CDs, postcards and other small gifts that become clues to her eventual disappearance.

While it’s not the most difficult read in the world, As Simple as Snow is an incredibly enticing story, and I ended up reading it in two days with no problem.

While reading it, I began to notice a lot of similarities between it and Looking for Alaska. While Looking for Alaska definitely has its own unique plot points and characters, the general idea of the story is really similar to As Simple as Snow and it is similar enough that it makes me believe that John Green may have leaned too heavily on Galloway’s work as inspiration for his own. So for anyone who is a diehard John Green fan, I would be cautious in reading As Simple as Snow because it might tweak your opinion of his first novel.

Some highlights of As Simple as Snow include the playlists of the mix CDs Anna gives the protagonist and little known quirky stories about historical figures like Harry Houdini. It introduces its readers to a lot of new music, books and cultural references that they may not have otherwise found.