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Paper Towns

by John Green (Goodreads Author)

4.13 of 5 stars 4.13 · rating details · 83,357 ratings · 7,097 reviews

Quentin Jacobsen has spent a lifetime loving the magnificently adventurous Margo Roth Spiegelman from afar. So when she cracks open a window and climbs back 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...more

Paperback, 292 pages

Published 2011 by AudioGO (first published October 16th 2008)

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Jun 29, 2012 karen rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: pretty-girls-make-graves, why-yes-i-ya

beatlemania is nothing compared to what i feel for john green right now.

this book was the perfect palate-cleanser between all the dark apocalyptic stuff i have been shoving in my face. i have been reading so much dystopian YA that i forgot there were other options. i bought this ages ago, because i read looking for alaska, and everyone was giving this one high marks, but i kept passing it up in favor of "kids whose school is trying to eat them" and "kids vs. bears" and "kids in a world without...more
beatlemania is nothing compared to what i feel for john green right now.

this book was the perfect palate-cleanser between all the dark apocalyptic stuff i have been shoving in my face. i have been reading so much dystopian YA that i forgot there were other options. i bought this ages ago, because i read looking for alaska, and everyone was giving this one high marks, but i kept passing it up in favor of "kids whose school is trying to eat them" and "kids vs. bears" and "kids in a world without cheese" which is the scariest dystopia i can imagine right now, but i forgot just how scary real life can be. and john green reminded me. and obviously, this isn't a horror novel, but i was reading this with so much apprehension, heading towards an uncertain ending, genuinely concerned for the characters.

(view spoiler)

i liked this even better than looking for alaska. in that book, i really liked the characters, but they did feel like characters. this feels like i am just observing real people, following actual kids around (which i would never do, officer) but they sound authentic. i thought looking for alaska was great, but those kids were a little too smarty-pants for me, while this book just sounds like actual smart kids talking. and it is funny and sad and intelligent and oh just so good. that scene with r. and the c.f. t-s?? i laughed so loudly, i startled myself. i just could not stop giggling. (fortunately not on the subway for that one)

a lot of the YA stuff i read is like "what if kids were hyper-articulate and possessed of amazing insight and inner resources and also super fighting skills?" but this one reminded me of what it was actually like to be youthful (ahhh....) even grown folks who refuse to dip into YA would enjoy this, i suspect. he is my perfect storyteller. he does his job, he takes you on a journey, and the characters actually grow as people and every character has a distinct voice, and there is dramatic tension. he is a writer. not an "author," but a true writer. some YA, even in books i like, falls into traps: they talk down to the audience, they gloss over certain things, clearly hoping the audience won't notice, they fail to provide appropriate details so the world becomes raggedy... and while it is easier, i'm sure, to operate in a real-world setting, rather than a world of your own making, john green does not take any shortcuts. there is a density to his writing that is truly impressive in a book that is not a slow-paced slog.

will i return to the YA dystopia? duh, obviously - i have like 30 of them here i have been dying to get into. but i know that when i need a break, i can return to john green and be guaranteed a well-wrought and thoughtful story that manages to actually have useful life lessons without coming across as teachy-preachy. and lord knows i still have a lot to learn.(less)

200 likes · like · see review

May 02, 2011 K.D. Oliveros rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Recommended to K.D. by: Ace

Shelves: borrowed, ya

“Mirroring” is a concept in psychology where a person can know himself better by soliciting feedbacks from other people who he interacts with either at home or at work. Last weekend, I attended a company-sponsored teambuilding session and the facilitator used this. I got some good feedbacks that confirmed what I already knew but also some revelations. Those included in the so-called “blindspots” quadrant.

In this novel Paper Towns, John Green indirectly used Margo Roth Spiegelman for Quentine Jac...more “Mirroring” is a concept in psychology where a person can know himself better by soliciting feedbacks from other people who he interacts with either at home or at work. Last weekend, I attended a company-sponsored teambuilding session and the facilitator used this. I got some good feedbacks that confirmed what I already knew but also some revelations. Those included in the so-called “blindspots” quadrant.

In this novel Paper Towns, John Green indirectly used Margo Roth Spiegelman for Quentine Jacobsen or simply Q to understand love and life and to know himself better as a person, as a man. Not by giving him direct feedbacks but by making him experience the things that he would not have dared doing. Who would have dared driving your parents’ car in the middle of the night, pushing it with your friend few meters away from the house so as not to awake them with the sound of the engine? Then going to the houses of the people who wronged your friend just to avenge? Then your friend disappeared, with no intention of returning and not wanting to be found, the following day? Leaving a note after a hug and a kiss: “I. Will. Miss. Hanging. Out. With. You.” That was after leaving catfishes in the underwear drawer of a friend ha ha. Who would have thought of having this plot in the first place?

What makes this novel engaging is the prose: it is downright sincere and true to its voice: youngish, quirky, innocent yet full of life lessons. Green does not push down his philosophy on growing up down your throat. He lets you enjoy his story and life realizations just naturally follow. I am sure that Green’s idiosyncrasies must have been reflected somehow by his many male characters: Q, Radar and Ben but Margo permeates in each page of this novel:

”Yes. The fundamental mistake I had always made — and that she had, in fairness, always led me to make — was this: Margo was not a miracle. She was not an adventure. She was not a fine and precious thing. She was a girl."

I applaud Green for creating a character like Margo that can rally boys to transform themselves into men without disregard to the pains of growing up. After all, we all went through those pains – not having a prom date, losing your first love, unrequited love, unknowingly pissing off some of our friends, etc – and we all learned from them. As we grow old, we tend to ridicule young people experiencing the same pains and call them trivial and proudly say something like you ain’t seen nothing yet! But for them, those are parts of their lives. That’s where we were. That’s where they are now.

Like Margo’s paper towns, we need to take care not to blow down the delicate houses and make them fall apart. And yes, even one of my blind spots has just been cleared by this novel.

I never thought that a middle-age man like me would still enjoy a YA book. Where were these books when I was growing up?
(less)

132 likes · like · see review

Feb 07, 2012 Meg ♥ rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: e-books, z-2011-reads, favs

This book truly had me on an emotional roller coaster, and I enjoyed almost every minute of it.

The book was broken into 3 parts, and I honestly felt completely different about each of them.

Part 1:

The first part of this book was brilliant. It was a lovely introduction to the characters, and their life as high school seniors. It has had a flashback which was a fun scene.

The whole part with Q and Margo out at night was amazing. It was suspenseful and quite fun to read about those antics. We really...more

55 likes · like · see review

Jan 15, 2011 Nicole rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: read-2011

The following is quite a lot of dribble that I felt the need to get off my chest...
Hmmm...what to say? I'm kind of perplexed by this book. I know I never want to read the name Margo Roth Spielgelman ever again, that's for sure. The characters (apart from the previously named) were fantastic and very believable. The dialogue between the friends was great and funny as I have come to expect from John Green. The first quarter of the book was highly enjoyable and then it deteriorated for me. I think...more

86 likes · like · see review

Jun 03, 2008 Jamie Felton rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: favorites

I need to start off with my criticism of John Green:
1) Margo and Quentin are exactly the same people as Colin and Katherine and Miles and Alaska. Quentin/Colin/Miles is this very thoughtful, somewhat nerdy young man who is on the cusp of fucking reaching out and grabbing life by the balls however he can. He is also enamored with Margo/Alaska/Katherine, a girl who is unattainable. She is unpredictable and full of a shimmering charm; she fades oasis-style the closer and closer you try to get. In a...more I need to start off with my criticism of John Green:
1) Margo and Quentin are exactly the same people as Colin and Katherine and Miles and Alaska. Quentin/Colin/Miles is this very thoughtful, somewhat nerdy young man who is on the cusp of fucking reaching out and grabbing life by the balls however he can. He is also enamored with Margo/Alaska/Katherine, a girl who is unattainable. She is unpredictable and full of a shimmering charm; she fades oasis-style the closer and closer you try to get. In addition, she feels too much and is never really seen for who she is (but rather, for who everyone wants her to be). Having said this, I am in love with Quentin/Colin/Miles, and Margo/Alaska/Katherine is the girl I want to meet/aspire to someday be so I can't be too critical. Green knows these people and has lit them from inside with realism and dimension.
2) There were moments (albeit far fewer than in his previous books) where I felt like...okay, this is maybe a teensy bit contrived. A little bit too perfectly quirky. I cannot totally relate or believe in a guy who has invented a mathematical formula calculating the probability that the next Katherine he dates will dump him. I think it's a creative premise that makes me want to read the book and is extremely well-executed, but if I don't believe in someone, I'm not going to fully feel for them or understand them. This prevents me from enjoying the book as much as I do Margaret Atwood, etc. Maybe this doesn't bother anyone else, but it bothers me, and I just can't put the guy up on a pedestal.
However, however, I fucking loved this book. And I'm not going to summarize it. It was practically perfect and ridiculously engrossing and extremely fascinating (so much so that my adverb use has increased exponentially). If I even tried to give a synopsis, it would trivialize it too much. Green uses Leaves of Grass in a way that made me want to re-read it (after having suffered through it in high school) and potentially graffiti it all over the United States because: we. have. it. so. wrong. here. (I love Green's use of periods). Part of why I loved it is for selfish reasons. Margo's struggles are my own, and her hates are my hates. In Quentin deciphering Margo, it helped me realize a lot of things about myself; this is something that would be valuable to anyone who needs to become the wounded man. (less)

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Aug 03, 2011 Louize rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition Recommends it for: everyone

Recommended to Louize by: Filipinos discussion read

"It's so hard to leave-until you leave. And then it is the easiest goddamned thing in the world...Leaving feels too good, once you leave."

We all leave eventually. No matter who and what we are, or where we’re from, we will someday and somehow leave our comfort zones or the norm of our lives to find ourselves a place in this world. Some people take their time into actually doing it. They spent much time planning and scheming on how they should gloriously plow into life. There are some who tried...more

56 likes · like · see review

Jun 19, 2008 Meghan rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: ya

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here. I was completely wrong about this book, but up until the last twenty pages I thought I was totally right.

Wait, let me explain, okay.

It's true, you've read this John Green book before. It does seem sometimes that he's created a couple of archetypal characters and he's spent three books flipping them. Yes: there is the girl who is breathtakingly wonderful in all the right places, but not perfect, but still in a way, perfect. And yes: there is the boy who is nerdy, alternative but not above the t...more I was completely wrong about this book, but up until the last twenty pages I thought I was totally right.

Wait, let me explain, okay.

It's true, you've read this John Green book before. It does seem sometimes that he's created a couple of archetypal characters and he's spent three books flipping them. Yes: there is the girl who is breathtakingly wonderful in all the right places, but not perfect, but still in a way, perfect. And yes: there is the boy who is nerdy, alternative but not above the typical problems, desperately in love with the aforementioned girl, and with women in general. John Green you did it, you are the Joss Whedon of YA. I will make you a paper hat someday.

Quentin Jacobson and Margo Roth Spiegelman, though, they are the best version of these archetypes yet. I mean, flat out, this is the first time I think that John Green has actualized his favorite thing. He did it. I may have been annoyed at first because YES this is his well-trod ground, but. He got to the heart of the issue, the issue being that those boys that are so in love with those girls that they put those girls on pedestals? Those boys in some way are just as mistaken as your everyday sexist pigs. They're not doing it on purpose but they are still doing it, still making glass figurines out of real people. Even the naming of The Girl, the three names? Margo. Roth. Spiegelman. I should have known right away, because John Green is so smart that he knows a strong triple name like that is TOO much, it's too fine a point. But he did it on purpose. He wanted it to sound like a prayer so ridiculous it would take blind boyish love to look through it. Watching Quentin learn this was actually thrilling.

Margo Roth Spiegelman, the real character and not the vision, appears in just two sections of the book, but her second appearance would get my full five stars. Up until the last few chapters I was ready to write this off as strong but ultimately disappointing--a great road trip book but hammering home the same old themes. But that last bit--it's all truthful and hopeful and somehow manages to satisfy both the cranky social critic in me and the bleeding heart romantic of me.

Paper Towns is rich in all the other things that make J.G. such a fun writer--it's funny, it has a wonderful supporting cast, it's briskly paced, and it's loaded with casually brilliant observations. Nerdfighters globally will be psyched to see familiar vlogbrothers elements--scavenger hunts, wikis. It's a fun book. You will enjoy reading it. If you pick only one J.G. book, make it this one: it's the real deal, the big winner, all the marbles and all the marvels, too. Onward and upward, I hope.(less)

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Dec 03, 2012 Nessa rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: fiction, review

Let's go back to March 2012. I bought The Fault in Our Stars, which had been getting rave reviews, causing me to make a fool of myself in public by jumping up and down in my local bookshop when I discovered I was holding a signed copy. (Don't worry, they're more than used to my behaviour by now.)

I read it in the space of two days, and promptly had a crying fit so hard that I could have flooded the area where I live. Which is atop a very steep hill. (This sob-fest was unparalleled until I finishe...more

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Nov 21, 2010 Emir Never rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

If I were to follow the Young Adult categorization of Paper Towns, I wouldn't be near the thing by a minimum of fifty shouting feet because 1.I'm not young; 2.I sure don't act like your usual adult some or most times; 3. I love to tease friends and some GR friends loved this book and gave it five stars and I didn't like to read it and I just wanted to give it one star if I do so they can plot how to kill me with hardcover John Green books. But Paper Towns actually tries to defy that: categorizat...more

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May 10, 2012 the review man rated it 1 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: kids-and-ya

Is there anything worse than poorly-executed pretension? For some awful reason, John Green seems to have developed this skill (and only this skill) just in time for novel #3.

Green completely recycles the faux-philosophical plot of his first two novels as a cash grab, riding the fame-wave of his equally faux-philosophical YouTube channel. The catcher’s calling for a changeup but the pitcher keeps throwing fastballs. (A John Green fastball is usually four minutes of hokum titled “Thoughts from Pla...more Is there anything worse than poorly-executed pretension? For some awful reason, John Green seems to have developed this skill (and only this skill) just in time for novel #3.

Green completely recycles the faux-philosophical plot of his first two novels as a cash grab, riding the fame-wave of his equally faux-philosophical YouTube channel. The catcher’s calling for a changeup but the pitcher keeps throwing fastballs. (A John Green fastball is usually four minutes of hokum titled “Thoughts from Places”. I wasn’t aware it was possible to have Thoughts from Not Places, John. Thanks for raising my consciousness.)

What’s more, Green grabs the same male and female leads from book 1 and 2, changes their names and phones the rest in. Instead of real plot development, we’re treated to a cast of characters who are so ‘quirky’ that it’s vomit-worthy. And if the characters aren’t busy auditioning for the Twee Olympics, they’re disappearing for months at a time and living in abandoned buildings. That’s totally realistic, right? I mean, haven’t we all dropped off the face of the planet for a year or two to go find ourselves in some town that doesn’t actually exist? Good thing there’s no such thing as a Missing Persons Alert.

Since it’s a John Green book, expect all the leads to be brilliant poetry-reciting geniuses. Expect loads of sexual tension between the slightly nerdy male hero and the uber-sexy, mysterious dreamgirl. Don’t expect the guy to get the girl though; rather, wait for Green to flimsily build his own cheap, flawed idea of 'closure', accompanied by a few stale platitudes straight out of a Deepak Chopra book. Is John Green secretly a 12-year-old hopeless romantic, or does he just write like one for kicks?

I don't know what possessed John Green to write this. (Well, actually I do; it's called money, but I digress.) What lesson did he mistakenly think he was imparting with this trash? That dorky losers can get hot, ultra-intellectual girls without even trying? That if you have family problems, you should run away and live in an abandoned building? That giving characters annoying 'quirks' is a substitute for character development? (Black Santas and Omnictionary, I'm looking at you.)

I hope I've convinced you to avoid Paper Towns like the plague. But wait—what if you've already read it? I suggest pretending it was all a bad dream (a stale narrative cliché that's surprisingly more compelling than anything in Paper Towns itself). But what if you—heaven forbid—liked Paper Towns? Don’t worry! I hear Mr. Green just released a new novel; if you’re not yet tired of his formulaic hack work, maybe the fourth time’ll be the charm!
(less)

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view all 6 comments

Michaela even though Green's characters have the same base, that doesn't make them the same characters. I think that he reuses those similar character bases be...more
May 15, 2013 08:53am

the review man Well his characters aren't exactly the same; nobody's disputing that. And yes, I suppose you could take similar characters showing up in an author's w...more
updated May 16, 2013 03:19pm

May 04, 2011 Monique rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: bestsellers, fiction, young-adult, 2011

Before reading this book, I had absolutely no idea what a "paper town" is. I thought that it was just John Green's clever play of words on something in the book itself, and after reading how Margo Roth Spiegelman, one of the protagonists in the novel and the great love of our hero, Quentin "Q" Jacobsen's life, described their hometown of Orlando, Florida as a "paper town", I thought, that must be it. Then towards the end of the book, John Green, through Q's internet research, explains what a "pa...more

25 likes · like · see review

Jun 07, 2010 Phoebe added it · review of another edition

Shelves: hipsteria, kiddie-lit

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here. When I was seventeen, I read Fight Club for the first time and fell in love.

It was one of the first truly clever books I'd ever encountered. I was a suburban kid with a mohawk who hadn't yet been kissed, and yet Palahniuk's story of adult quarter-life-era disaffectedness spoke to me--thanks in no small part to its gimmicks: the clever haikus, the I-am-Jack's-whatevers, the twist. But strangely, what I remember best now about the book (eight years since my last reading) is the scene where the nar...more

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Sep 02, 2008 Rosianna rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition Recommends it for: everyone.

Shelves: favourite-books, books-with-strong-female-characters

I could not ask for more out of a book.

Pre-order it so that you can get it as soon as possible, because I'm in love with this book, and it's not a fickle secondary school romance, I mean eternal book love that's set in stone in the Hoover Dam and will out-last catastrophe should all human beings die. John Green is incredible.

38 likes · like · see review

Mar 18, 2012 Maria Ella rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: 2012-reading-challenge, coming-of-age, young-at-heart

The prolouge pique my interest because a girl and a boy looked at a dead body and have two different ideas going inside their heads. I though this is going to be a mystery case.

But when you turned the first part, it was totally disappointing. It was HIGHSCHOOL OVER AND OVER. And for a non-YA lover, this is one bitter gourd. So if you are not a YA lover, do not expect too much.

Paper Towns is about a boy, nicknamed Q, who aspired to be a scholar in college and graduate with a Degree in Law. With a...more

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May 08, 2011 Jo rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: ya, just-been-cutting-onions, boy-crush, when-can-i-move-in, you-got-a-friend-in-me, e

Initial Final Page Thoughts.
Well, I wasn’t expecting THAT ending. In a good way. In a great way. In the best way possible.

High Point.
Elaborate revenge schemes in the dead of night, three best friends that anybody could ever have, black Santa’s, kick-ass parents, poetrypoetrypoetry, adventure, hilarious-do-not-read-in-public-for-fear-you-will-be-judged-for-barking-like-a-seal dialogue, Omnictionary (which, to my utmost delight, actually exists!)and perhaps the most important high point…. NAKED GR...more

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Apr 08, 2013 Samadrita rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition Recommends it for: Every one, not just YA lovers

Shelves: young-adult, romance, mystery-detective, slice-of-life, real-issues-fake-people, melancholia, human-drama, tear-jerkers, cherished

At a superficial level, Paper Towns is not much apart from a regular YA novel.

It's about American teenagers doing what teenagers do - surviving high school, trying to fit into social cliques, getting into colleges, dating, breaking up, dating again, losing their virginities and so on and so forth.
Yet simmering deeper beneath that surface, it is a story flavoured with the bittersweetness of life itself.

It is about an unremarkable, often ignored boy named Quentin whose presence is almost taken f...more

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Jun 16, 2012 Maja rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: favorites, male-pov, open-ending, role-models, ya, contemporary-fiction, reviewed-in-2012

"Tonight, darling, we are going to right a lot of wrongs. And we are going to wrong some rights. The first shall be last; the last shall be first; the meek shall do some earth-inheriting. But before we can radically reshape the world, we need to shop."

Well, Looking for Alaska remains my absolute favorite, but this wasn’t what I expected, and I mean that in a very good way. In the end, it wasn’t what I expected at all.

The first 80% of this book followed John Green’s usual (and usually successfu...more

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Jul 29, 2012 Samantha rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

I had to write an in depth review of this book for my Young Adult Literature class. If you want a really in depth review from a teacher's perspective, you can read it here: http://silversickle.blogspot.com/2009...

Here's a more brief one. This book is fun. It's cute, endearing and witty. The development of the story is very well crafted, the story moves along well with no plot issues that I came across, I felt the whole story developed at a decent pace, and there were definitely no spots that I w...more I had to write an in depth review of this book for my Young Adult Literature class. If you want a really in depth review from a teacher's perspective, you can read it here: http://silversickle.blogspot.com/2009...

Here's a more brief one. This book is fun. It's cute, endearing and witty. The development of the story is very well crafted, the story moves along well with no plot issues that I came across, I felt the whole story developed at a decent pace, and there were definitely no spots that I wanted to skip through or skim. Because the text has sort of an underlying mystery to it, it really helped me to move through quickly, as I was on the edge of my seat wanting Q to solve the mystery the whole time.

All of these great aspects aside, the text definitely has some issues, and is not perfect. One of my main issues from the text is the language. I found myself wondering ‘do kids really talk like this now?” It hasn’t been that long since I was a senior in high school, and my little brother is still in high school, so though I’d love to give John Green the benefit of the doubt, I’m pretty sure his language is severely off. I’m not sure whether Green just didn’t do enough research, or if he’s just trying too hard, but I was a bit annoyed with the characters’ unrealistic speech. Guys don’t really call girls “honeybunnies”, and they definitely don’t do it 4 times in one conversation as is found in Paper Towns.

Another example where the language doesn’t quite match up is on page 25. Q says to Margo “I’m IMing with Ben Starling.” As someone who grew up when IM was coming out, and someone who still uses IM, I picked out the fake sounding language right away. You don’t IM with someone, you just IM them. I don’t know why, and to be honest there’s no real rule, it’s just that that isn’t how kids say it.

Another problem with this text lies in the fact that John Green does a lot of ‘telling’ where he should be ‘showing’. Anyone who has had any sort of creative writing experience has probably come across this problem, or been critiqued for doing this very thing, so it’s not something that’s easy to accomplish, but Green needs to work on it. Q will tell us how ‘awesome’ Margo is, and how it’s hard for him to explain how ‘awesome’ she is, where he really should have had Margo’s actions, thoughts and words speak for themselves.

Overall, this is a well written and crafted story. Any interesting text with great vocabulary and character development is a good thing, because it’s important that kids read, no matter what they’re reading. This book has that addictive quality that will keep students reading, and will encourage them to find more books like Paper Towns and read more often.(less)

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Sep 30, 2012 Mike (the Paladin) rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Okay, so not the type of book I usually read. Saw this one "recommended" by a friend here and picked it up.

This is a YA novel, sort of a trip of self discovery and growing insight...a "coming of age" novel. Pretty much I'm not a fan of coming of age tales. But there are exceptions.

The language I found annoying, though some may not be as bugged as I was. I suppose it's supposed to show "how youths talk"...but still I found it a bit much. Ups and downs, good and bad. I'll go 4 stars though the mu...more

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Feb 02, 2012 Stephanie rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: ya, 2011

Margo Roth Spiegelman wants revenge, and she enlists a reluctant Q to help.

Margo has ignored Q for years, because he’s a bit of a nerd and she is one of the popular ones. But before all of that, they were childhood pals and next door neighbors. On an outing in the early years, they discover something awful, which causes Margo to develop an interest in solving and creating mysteries. After that day Margo disappears from Q’s life, socially.

One day in high school Margo finds out that her best fri...more

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Jan 17, 2011 Ace rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

This is my first time to read a John Green novel. My plan is to read first “Looking for Alaska” then will followed by his other two novels which is the “Paper Towns” and “An Abundance of Katherines”. But I doubted myself if that is the right book for me to read first to know John Green, and for that, I decided to ask my GR friends who read the books I mentioned, most of them voted for “Paper Towns” than “Looking for Alaska, for the reason(according to them) that it is much fun and is a light rea...more This is my first time to read a John Green novel. My plan is to read first “Looking for Alaska” then will followed by his other two novels which is the “Paper Towns” and “An Abundance of Katherines”. But I doubted myself if that is the right book for me to read first to know John Green, and for that, I decided to ask my GR friends who read the books I mentioned, most of them voted for “Paper Towns” than “Looking for Alaska, for the reason(according to them) that it is much fun and is a light read but is also a moving and compelling novel, and this is one of the favorite novels of my trusted friends in GR when it comes to YA novels, Aaron and Tina. And they are right…

There is something about the book that is I can’t explain when I’m reading it, and to say that the message of the story goes deeper in me until the end of the story which is I really can’t define, and that is why I loved the novel. It is the experience while reading it and not the story itself, which is not what I expected it to be…

There’s more contemplation when I reached the middle of the story and more realization when I finished the novel. It is just, it is really hard to explain how did I feel while I’m reading the book.

“Margo is not a miracle. She was not an adventure. She was not a fine and precious thing. She was a girl.” pp. 199

This line made an impact in me and made me realize that people around us expect us on what they want us to be, some of them will not appreciate us for who we are until we became of what they want us to be, which is way way wrong…

When I’m choosing my friends I see to it that I’ll let them know my flaws first before I’ll show them who really am, and for this, I saw who really my true friends are and whose just my “aquaintance “. I also do this because I believe that once they accept my flaws, then most probably, they will accept my perfection, which is true. I know that it is hard to please everybody, but is it really hard to understand somebody if they are not in your own league? ..

I love the way Green wrote this novel. I love how he narrate the story through the voice of Q or Quentin. I love Radar,Ben and the gang. And most of all, I love the road trip. One thing I’m not sure of is if I love Margo, but she made me undestood that it is not easy to be loved for who you are, though there will be people who will appreciate of who and what you are, but it is also your responsibility to say to them that:

“What a treacherous thing it is to believe a person is more than a person” pp. 282 ; and

“It’s always seemed so ridiculous to me, that you would want to be with someone just because they’re pretty. Like choosing breakfast cereal based on color instead of taste”

And the ending reminds me that it is OK to adjust for the environment you’re in, but if you allow them to make you what they want you to be, then nevertheless, you will loose yourself and will never be the same person you know you are again…(less)

11 likes · like · see review

Apr 29, 2012 Beejay rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Paper Towns is the first YA book I have read. My friends from the book club recommended this to me, but I didn't really expect that I will like it this much; so much that it inspired me to write my first book review.

I'd say that the prose of John Green in this book is what makes it special to me. Often times, I just have to repeat the lines a few times, even whisper them, because they are just so compelling. His musings about life, and humanity were imbedded with subtlety, they unfold beautiful...more Paper Towns is the first YA book I have read. My friends from the book club recommended this to me, but I didn't really expect that I will like it this much; so much that it inspired me to write my first book review.

I'd say that the prose of John Green in this book is what makes it special to me. Often times, I just have to repeat the lines a few times, even whisper them, because they are just so compelling. His musings about life, and humanity were imbedded with subtlety, they unfold beautifully as the story progress. One of the central themes of Paper Towns is empathy, and this book made me think about how we truly perceive the people around us. That sometimes, we treasure or dehumanize an individual based on tainted pictures that we conjure up. It really makes you think about a lot of thing; the book covers several relevant issues in life without swallowing you up with the abstract. The author used clever metaphors, the Vessel being my favorite.

Runaway Margo is this shroud of mystery whom Quentin devotedly tries to unravel, with the aid of friends Ben, Radar (my favorite), and Lacey. Q and crew put together the clues that Margo left behind; juggling urban exploration, prom parties, and Walt Whitman. The characters are imaginable and consistent, your typical teens with real life issues and dramas, or the absence thereof. The plot is engaging, it oozes with much youthful energy! Okay, one can argue that this is a YA book after all. I also find the book very funny, filled with banters and repartees, particularly when Ben is involved. The road trip part is both unexpected and awesome! I have to agree when Quentin thought at one point in the road trip that even if they don't catch up with Margo, it is one great story altogether. The search for Margo is not just about looking for tangible leads, and executing inspired pit stop strategies. More so, finding Margo Roth Spiegelman takes a psychological turn for Q. He had to dismiss his window-and-mirror image of her, and listen to her, and imagine her, and really see through her cracks in the end. As a reader, you are urged to form your own imaginings of Margo too, but the thing is I can't claim that I really saw through Margo, the way Quentin did. The book ends bittersweet, but I felt content and had an understanding of why things had to be as they were.

The best way I know to end this review is by saying that- I. REALLY. LIKE. THIS. BOOK.
(less)

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Dec 02, 2011 Alyssa rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition Recommends it for: Big Bang Theory meets I Love You, Beth Cooper. Take it or leave it.

Recommended to Alyssa by: Jo

Shelves: 2011-read, a-favourite-author, a-guy-of-ya, actually-funny, emotional, favorites, great-books, great-realistic-fiction, highly-anticipated, i-love-this-cover, mystery-suspense, really-excited-for, reccomended, ya-romance, ya-loved, surprised-me, on-the-road-again

I think the biggest mistake a person could make would be assuming that John Green, a man with a run-of-the-mill name, writes run-of-the-mill books. Not only are his words beautifully crafted and delicately chosen, but they also pack quite the impact and meaning. With a unique individual voice – in despite of how similar all of his characters are in comparison to another – Green’s works are refreshing reads amongst the midst of garbage being published nowadays.

The only work of Green’s I had prev...more

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Sep 15, 2008 Judith rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Recommended to Judith by: The publisher

Shelves: youngadultfiction

I am liking every John Green book better than the last. I wasn't a huge fan of "Looking for Alaska" (I couldn't bring myself to care much for those over-privileged private school brats), I really liked "An Abundance of Katherines", and I loved "Paper Towns". I do very much like Green's exploration of adolescent friendship and romance, especially romance from afar.

This one is particularly interesting--and subtle--about high school cliques, image, and whether or not its possible to ever really kno...more

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May 12, 2008 nicole j. wroblewski rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition Recommends it for: Navah

Shelves: ya

It's hard to say much about the plot without giving away the ending, but I will say that I think that just about any story with this much build-up (and there was a lot) is sort of doomed to... not necessarily disappoint (I wasn't), but... fall a little short of the expectations set by the constant guessing and analyzing the story forces you to participate it. What ending would have been good enough? I can't think of one. But I think Quentin feels the same when he gets to the end. Which is a big...more It's hard to say much about the plot without giving away the ending, but I will say that I think that just about any story with this much build-up (and there was a lot) is sort of doomed to... not necessarily disappoint (I wasn't), but... fall a little short of the expectations set by the constant guessing and analyzing the story forces you to participate it. What ending would have been good enough? I can't think of one. But I think Quentin feels the same when he gets to the end. Which is a big part of the novel, that Margo Roth Spiegelman isn't an icon, she isn't precious, she can't live up to everyone's expectations.

What kept me most interested in this book was the relationship between Quentin and his best friends, Radar and Ben. Green writes these guy relationships so well (that was also what I loved best about An Abundance of Katherines, the friendship... especially the best friend who was way more likable and fun to read than the main character himself). I also really like how he juxtaposes this dire QUEST alongside all the normal high school stuff, it makes the novel very real, and makes Quentin a normal, good guy, not some unbelievable action figure

And the first part of the book is just awesome and fun. I sort of wished that the whole novel could be like that... you know, just quick and fun and, uh... sort of mindless.

**spoiler**

Negatives: all of the Walt Whitman analysis is cool and everything (and would have really helped me out when I had to give that oral presentation in 11th grade), but definitely wears after a while. By the time Margo and Q are talking about it at the end, discussing and arguing the Meaning of things and Who they Are and all that, I just wanted them to shut up. Too much dialogue, man. Yes, you're both having great epiphanies, we get it. Shut up and kiss. That aspect of the novel felt very high school and a bit tiring. It wasn't terribly epic, but it may have seemed more Important and mind-blowing about ten years ago. That said, this IS a teen novel, so it's probably best that it's there. Or it's not problematic that is it, anyway.

Also, yeah, Margo kind of sucks... then again, this isn't really a book about HER. It's a book about people's idea of her. So we don't ever really know her, so we can't ever really like or dislike. But I'm still glad Ben, Radar, and Lucey bitch her out and left.(less)

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Jul 26, 2012 Sophia. rated it 1 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: eye-rolls-and-frowning, flaws-in-the-concept, huge-disappointment, makes-no-sense, what-s-the-point, unsatisfaying-ending, unbelievable

Why so many good ratings for this book? It could basically be called Looking for Margo, or Paper Alaska, because it's the same formula, again and again. How many books can he write about an unbelievable teenager secretely loving another unbelievable teenager? Everything was so absurd, Quentin's parents, the road trip, Ben, the black Santas.
All the metaphors are perharps what made me lose it completely. The book that Quentin reads, Song of Myself, all the thoughts he had about it are so painfull...more

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Jan 27, 2013 Jacob Proffitt rated it 1 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: audible, young-adult

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here. This book started out well-enough as a semi-atypical teen coming of age story—semi-atypical because the beginning events (Q and Margo on a night about town) are atypical of teens in general but only semi because it's not really unexpected in books about teens. At any rate, getting to know Quentin is fun. He's a fairly standard kid with good grades and a middle-rank social standing. His night with Margo, the high-flying center of gossip, is moderately transformative if only because he has had a c...more

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Jul 08, 2011 Stacey (prettybooks) rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: read-after-university, read-in-my-twenties, young-adult-fiction

Paper Towns is my first John Green novel. I know, I know. I’m so late, but now I have the advantage of buying and reading almost all (I’ve preordered The Fault in Our Stars) of his books straight away, which I will do, because I’ve decided that he’s awesome. His books have been on my “to read” list for a while but I was a little apprehensive about picking them up. I worried that they would just be typical young adult realistic fiction novels that involve a lot of romance, break-ups and teen angs...more Paper Towns is my first John Green novel. I know, I know. I’m so late, but now I have the advantage of buying and reading almost all (I’ve preordered The Fault in Our Stars) of his books straight away, which I will do, because I’ve decided that he’s awesome. His books have been on my “to read” list for a while but I was a little apprehensive about picking them up. I worried that they would just be typical young adult realistic fiction novels that involve a lot of romance, break-ups and teen angst but Paper Towns isn’t like this at all - it’s so much more than that.

The mystery aspect of the novel was a complete surprise as I tend to avoid reading book descriptions properly. I did skim over the “…middle of the night—dressed like a ninja” part, which I thought sounded a little silly. I was wrong. If I were standing next to Q when Margo Roth Spiegelman happened to come by that night, I would have stared at her in awe. I’m not a rebellious person at all but Paper Towns really did bring out my rebellious side. I just wanted to have a spontaneous road trip and do something completely uncharacteristic that I’ll remember forever. That’s what I think makes a good novel. Paper Towns makes you want to do something and it makes you feel something.

The ‘paper towns’ concept, and how it was incorporated into the story in different ways, was fascinating. The characters are also unique and have clear personalities. It’s rare that I view characters as people and not just characters, not just a name, but in this novel I did. I particularly liked Quentin and the personal journey he undertakes in this book. Another favourite character was Ben (is it just me or does anyone else picture him as McLovin from Superbad? I could just imagine him talking about ‘honeybunnies’). He’s hilarious. I loved all of the characters though, really.

Overall, I really, really loved this book. I can see now why so many people quote John Green’s work. He definitely has a talent for writing “re-readable” books. It wouldn’t be enough just read his books once because it’s all about the messages and the metaphors more so than the basic storyline. At least, that's how I feel about Paper Towns. I have yet to see whether I feel the same about Looking for Alaska, An Abundance of Katherines, and Will Grayson, Will Grayson.

If I had one small problem with the storyline, it’s that I didn’t like Margo at the end of the novel. I do, however, think that was the point. As many of the characters say: how we see people, and how we imagine them to be, isn’t necessarily who they really are.

There’s so many other things I could say about this book, but I will just say that, if you’ve not read any of John Green’s books, at least try them. You may be surprised.(less)

9 likes · like · see review

Dec 26, 2010 Isamlq rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: favorites

From the way Quentin describes Margo Roth Spiegelman… I am half in love with her myself. NO. I mean, really. He waxes on and on about how awesome, about how perfect, about how all that she is. She likes mystery. She is a mystery. She likes adventure. She is adventurous. She’s totally out of the box. She’s intelligent but doesn't play on it as much as others would. She’s admired by a lot. Girls want to be her; boys want to… well, you get the picture.

After having grown apart, her sudden re-appear...more

10 likes · like · see review

May 18, 2010 Claudia rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition Recommends it for: all YA fans

Recommended to Claudia by: Mark, Daniel, and Green himself at ALAN

Shelves: ya-books, sequoyah-2011, wishlist

Oh my! I love Green's intelligent characters...no booze fests...well, there is Ben's exploits at the after-prom party. Quentin is much like Pudge and Collin, Green's other narrators, but Q loves words and books and metaphors. I'm sorry he didn't read Moby Dick, but I just read that myself.

Q needs to come to terms with Margo however he can, ignoring her, worshipping her from afar, or chasing her up the east coast. He needs to. He thinks he's following clues she left for him, but that may not be t...more

3 likes · like · see review

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John Green's first novel, Looking for Alaska, won the 2006 Michael L. Printz Award presented by the American Library Association. His second novel, An Abundance of Katherines, was a 2007 Michael L. Printz Award Honor Book and a finalist for the Los Angeles Times Book Prize. His next novel, Paper Towns, is a New...more

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