Review: Paper Towns by John Green

Paper Towns

by John Green

October 16, 2008

305 pages

Goodreads  Indigo

Goodreads Summary:
Who is the real Margo?

Quentin Jacobsen has spent a lifetime loving the magnificently adventurous Margo Roth Spiegelman from afar. So when she cracks open a window and climbs into his life—dressed like a ninja and summoning him for an ingenious campaign of revenge—he follows. After their all-nighter ends, and a new day breaks, Q arrives at school to discover that Margo, always an enigma, has now become a mystery. But Q soon learns that there are clues—and they're for him. Urged down a disconnected path, the closer he gets, the less Q sees the girl he thought he knew...

Review

I loved John Green's writing in The Fault in Our Stars so I was hopping excited to jump into Paper Towns. Especially since the movie is out now and I want to see it. Sadly I struggled a fair amount to finish this book. It was difficult to rate it too.

So the story. I wholeheartedly adored the two adventures Q went on. One was Q and Margo's night time escapade at the beginning of the book. It was highly entertaining and the revenge pranks gloriously executed. The other adventure was the road trip Q and his friends took at the end of the book. It was the most hilarious thing ever. If all road trips were this fun, I'd want to be on the road nonstop! What dragged the story down was the middle. It was boring. A whole lot of nothing happened. Basically it was Q going through the motion of life while lying around trying to decipher Margo's clues, trying not to panic that she might have killed herself (this never crossed my mind) and trying not to feel too annoyed with his friends living their lives.

These kids act so young but they think quite maturely sometimes. Q is a nice dude. His fascination/obsession with Margo was kind of creepy but I guess it came from their shared childhood (experience). She grew out of their friendship while he never did which led to him searching for her after she disappears. I didn't have any particular feelings about Margo since she was barely present in the book. I would describe her as a character that's very out there. She seemed selfish but finding out more about her from Q's perspective had me accepting her actions. She opened up Q's eyes so I wouldn't say his efforts were a complete waste. "...if you don't imagine, nothing ever happens at all." (p. 299). I really loved Radar, Ben and even Lacey. They were supportive in their own way.

The ending wasn't what I expected hence the lower rating. Strictly speaking, it made sense but it was a very in-the-now sort of ending. I feel a little disappointed because I was waiting for a grand explanation to wrap up the story. It never came. I think there's some big philosophical meaning I didn't pick up on. It's there but I don't think it's meant for me (age-wise).

Despite not loving Paper Towns, I still liked it. There were times I was yawning but also plenty of moments where I couldn't stop laughing. There is just something about John Green's writing that's really easy to swallow and fun to read.