Paper Towns

by John Green

book data

2,916 ratings, 4.12 average rating, 861 reviews (more data...)

rating	frequency	%
5		40%
4		37%
3		16%
2		4%
1		0%

edit

published

October 16th 2008 by Dutton Juvenile

binding

Hardcover, 305 pages

isbn

0525478183 (isbn13: 9780525478188)

description

When Margo Roth Spiegelman beckons Quentin Jacobsen in the middle of the night—dressed like a ninja and plotting an ingenious campaign of revenge—...more

find at: Amazon | Half.com | Barnes & Noble | compare prices ($4.25)…

new topic
discuss this book

topics	posts	views	last activity
The Next Best Boo...: What are you reading?	13077	11039	5 minutes ago
The Next Best Boo...: Your Latest Splurge	5984	6342	1 hour, 39 min ago
150 Books Read in...: Alicia's list	7	32	3 hours, 30 min ago

friend reviews

To see what your friends thought of this book, please sign up.

lists with this book

2009 Printz Contenders

33 books | 482 voters

Best books of 2008

793 books | 2453 voters

More lists...

other reviews (showing 1-20 of 5,028)

sort: default (?) | date
filters: all | text-only

06/03/08

Molly rated it:

bookshelves: ya

Legions of Nerdfighters may hunt me down and wish death upon me for this review, but all I can say is, "meh."

Well-plotted? Yes. Tightly paced? Yes. Good writing? Yes. Good characters? Yes. Interesting sense of place? Yes. Fancy-schmany dual jacket to create even more buzz? Yes. Death by self-referential, self-congratulatory, clubby in-jokes? Lord, YES. That's all I'll say, except to pause and wonder for a moment just WHAT is John Green's fascination with mysterious-seeming gi...more

Like this review? yes (32 people liked it)

5 comments

06/03/08

Jamie rated it:

bookshelves: 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...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)

Like this review? yes (24 people liked it)

3 comments

06/07/08

Meg rated it:

bookshelves: ya

Read in June, 2008

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, alterna...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)

Like this review? yes (14 people liked it)

3 comments

09/02/08

Rosianna rated it:

bookshelves: favourite-books

Read in September, 2008

recommends it for: everyone.

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.

Like this review? yes (8 people liked it)

add a comment

05/28/08

KT rated it:

Read in July, 2008

Quentin Jacobsen has loved his neighbor Margo Roth Spiegelman his entire life. When they were kids, they played together. But as teens, they grew apart and ended up in different social circles: Margo as one of the cool kids, and Quentin as one of the smart boys whose nerdiness made him a social outcast. So he's surprised when Margo comes to his bedroom window a few weeks before high school graduation, just as she did when they were younger, and invites him along on one of her escapades. Because...more

Like this review? yes (6 people liked it)

add a comment

11/08/08

anna rated it:

Read in November, 2008

A strong work with scattered fragments of beauty. It says nothing new, but it does so articulately.

It contains elements I would rate at opposite ends of the spectrum, so I have to write a review.

What does make me lose enthusiasm for the book is its seemingly blatant intertextuality. Ranging from the subtle to the explicit; nearly each page turn harbours some reference to another thematically linked work of art, book or person. I felt at times the book set out to prove s...more A strong work with scattered fragments of beauty. It says nothing new, but it does so articulately.

It contains elements I would rate at opposite ends of the spectrum, so I have to write a review.

What does make me lose enthusiasm for the book is its seemingly blatant intertextuality. Ranging from the subtle to the explicit; nearly each page turn harbours some reference to another thematically linked work of art, book or person. I felt at times the book set out to prove something, and instead grounded itself in some cultural relativity which ends up detracting from its subtler universal relevance.

Dr. Holden immediately seemed a searingly obvious nod to the classic Holden Caulfield; a symbol for teenage angst that is difficult to usurp. Along with references to 'The Bell Jar' which made me cringe. Both of those previous books are two of my favourites. Walt Whitman's poetry laced throughout the story forms a part of the book so interconnected with and indistinguishable as the blades of grass he wrote about. Woody Guthrie and Bob Dylan were also significant symbols, neither of which I expected to encounter in the book. It seems Guthrie was used probably for the discontent he resembled and the anthems he wrote for the overlooked working class, the battlers, those not made of paper. And moving on to Bob Dylan, my favourite musician, I guess was chosen for his infamous relationship with and subversion of the concept of identity.

Margo struggles with both of these things profoundly, which on a whole form the central themes of the novel. So in this sense I felt the book was a bit self-conscious. Especially when the different cultural forms and genres John Green borrowed from would jar. The detective seemed like a completely anachronistic character invented by Raymond Chandler who had accidentally stumbled into a contemporary young adult mystery. Which is fine but it seemed strange and flat against the deeper psychological fuel of Q's journey. I also felt the speech about the balloon was almost interchangeable with the speech Holden got at the end of 'The Catcher in the Rye'.

I can't help but think of Juno, I hate that film, but this book is not so much like that. So I am trying to draw a line between superficial and contrived: Juno; and good yet contrived: Paper Towns. The book as a whole is a strong piece of work, if not for these things, because its overall quality is high. The writing is very good, John Green seems to have a talent for 'the-last-sentence-at-the-end-of-the-chapter' thing which numerous times took my breath away. These moments prove to be the reason for why you continue reading, also the story is captivating and the characters are well developed. Though again, on occasion seem like overly contrived thematic vessels.

But you enjoy it and it may even teach you some things. I detested Margo, for example, because of her self-centered carelessness, but I realised that it was because I was self-centered and careless in the same way. Her struggle is one a lot of us, as teenagers drifting in that awkward, protracted period of looming adulthood, face. And it can turn into a very narrow way of looking at things. I think this book, like all the mirrors it talks about, gives you a good chance to look at yourself through Margo, if you're like her, and realise your own cracks by looking at hers.

The book is deep and tackles a lot of issues, but relies too much on other things outside itself to properly explore them. In other words, this is John Green's quirky, less intense take on Catcher in the Rye and The Bell Jar. I don't say these things to degrade the novel, I just think John Green's writing is strong enough to stand by itself and to not have to lean on secondary sources. His book may be physically made of paper, but his writing is anything but.
(less)

Like this review? yes (4 people liked it)

2 comments

09/15/08

Judith rated it:

bookshelves: youngadultfiction

Read in September, 2008

recommended to Judith by: The publisher

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 whet...more

Like this review? yes (4 people liked it)

add a comment

05/09/08

nicole j. rated it:

bookshelves: teen

Read in May, 2008

recommends it for: Navah

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)

Like this review? yes (4 people liked it)

1 comment

09/26/08

Ellen rated it:

Read in October, 2008

I was disappointed in this book, especially since John Green is an author I've been meaning to read for some time now. He writes Young Adult novels (Looking for Alaska [wherein "Alaska" is a girl's name], An Abundance of Katherines, to name a couple) and is both a popular and critical success. This is the first of his books that I've read, and I wish now that I'd started with one of his earlier ones.

In a nutshell, this novel bored me. If I were a teenager (the novel's pr...more

Like this review? yes (3 people liked it)

add a comment

08/29/08

Chris rated it:

To me, John Green is kind of like the Wes Anderson of YA fiction writers. His works have a certain kind of feel to them that distinguish them from the others. I like both of them because they both do a tremendous job of creating their own miniature little worlds with a distinctive look and feel, but at the same time, sometimes their works are just too similar and self-indulgent. To me, Paper Towns is so reminiscent of Looking For Alaska (albeit with certain important differences) that I'm afraid...more

Like this review? yes (4 people liked it)

add a comment

11/05/08

Anne rated it:

bookshelves: teen

Read in November, 2008

I was pretty disappointed in Paper Towns. I am a big fan of John Green but found this book plodding and boring. I hated the Margo character and thought that Q was a big whiner. His obsession with Margo, who he didn't really even know, was really annoying. I realize that this was one of the messages of the book, that we all assign traits and "personalities" to people we hardly know, but it was still hard to take, page after page.

I still love John Green and his blog, s...more

Like this review? yes (3 people liked it)

add a comment

12/03/08

Claudia rated it:

bookshelves: ya-books

Read in January, 2009

recommended to Claudia by: Mark, Daniel, and Green himself at ALAN
recommends it for: all YA fans

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 ...more

Like this review? yes (2 people liked it)

2 comments

11/21/08

Kelly rated it:

bookshelves: read-in-2008, ya-fiction

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here.

This would get a 3 1/2 stars.

Okay. John Green had me in part one. He somewhat had me through half of part two. But after that? I just didn't care.

All of his main characters in each book are the same: the geeky/nerdy smart boy seeking the hard-to-reach girl who is just so captivating. And the cast of flat, monotone characters with whom said boy and girl associate.

Although I think this book is his strongest story-line wise, when it's the third in a series of s...more This would get a 3 1/2 stars.

Okay. John Green had me in part one. He somewhat had me through half of part two. But after that? I just didn't care.

All of his main characters in each book are the same: the geeky/nerdy smart boy seeking the hard-to-reach girl who is just so captivating. And the cast of flat, monotone characters with whom said boy and girl associate.

Although I think this book is his strongest story-line wise, when it's the third in a series of same, it's not that interesting anymore. Green has a gift of writing and telling a story, but it's time to move on to something new and more exciting. I'd rather read something that is an utter failing than the same thing over and over.

That said, I think people who aren't part of the John Green cult would feel similarly. It's repetitive. And were I to recommend a John Green to someone, it would probably not be this one. I like Looking for Alaska best because it was the first and it was the original idea; this is a better telling, perhaps, but it's also not original.

Likewise, I find the entire idea of the paper town/paper person metaphor extremely trite. Even young readers get it. There's nothing new or original. I also think it moves slowly, particularly the last 100 pages of the book. We know EXACTLY what'll happen, and there is nothing that saves the miserable ride through those last pages. It tries too hard to be funny with the roadtrip scenes, particularly in reference to the clothing fiascoes.

But, the book redeems itself for a few reasons garnering it a 3.5, rather than a 2.5: I love the use of Whitman's poem, though I think it's not explained enough (almost with the teacher, but then the emergence of Emily Dickinson at the end really makes the explanation falter); the images and descriptions are fun; and, well, the story isn't terrible.

One thing that continually frustrated me was the fact the story tries to be realistic but there are just too many things that don't belong. It's unreasonable to believe anyone would let their kid skip graduation to go on a roadtrip to nowhere New York. It's also unrealistic these kids would carry 200 cans of beer with them, UNDERAGE, to New York. And, why is it none of them has a cell phone? Pick one: be real or be unreal. You can't do both!

As a total aside, there's a line in the book along the lines of "people as places as people," and it seemed way too uncanny that Green would write that himself. It's a name of a song by Modest Mouse, released about a year before the book. Why I mention it and would even notice is that Green weaves the Mountain Goats into the book, and it almost seems unattributed. It could be coincidence, but it almost seems like it's impossible for that to be the case.(less)

Like this review? yes (2 people liked it)

2 comments

08/28/08

Jennifer rated it:

I had heard mixed reviews about Green's new book. However, I went into it with an open mind. After all, I enjoyed his previous two books. Unfortunately, I didn't fall in love with this one. Although I enjoy Green's writing style (sometimes it becomes too cutesy for me), this book seemed too similar to his previous two books. Nebbish, way-too-worldly-for-his-age teenage boy falls madly for the wrong girl. While trying to find out what life is about, boy makes physical journeys and engages in the ...more

Like this review? yes (2 people liked it)

add a comment

04/25/08

Katherine rated it:

bookshelves: kids-books

Read in May, 2008

The usual fare from John Green--nerdy, sweet boy with nerdy, sweet, self-actualized, articulate friends is in love/obsessed with a crazy, spontaneous, out-of-his-league girl. This book is about how well we can truly know our fellow human beings, but explores this with lots of talking and thinking out loud and lots of canonical literature (Whitman, Plath, Melville) that sometimes reads like an English lesson. But Green is clearly a clever and talented writer; one just feels that he is always wr...more

Like this review? yes (3 people liked it)

3 comments

03/08/09

Mara rated it:

bookshelves: fiction, friendship, school, ya

Read in March, 2009

This book is about two different types of relationships. At first, it seems to be about a guy (Quentin, known as Q) who has been in love with his not-so-typical girl next door (Margo) since they were children together. Since being children, they've drifted apart and hang with very different crowds in high school. She's with the cool kids, and he's with the band geeks. But what happens when she decides she needs his help to carry out the ultimate revenge plan? And then disappears?

But ...more

Like this review? yes (1 person liked it)

2 comments

08/03/08

Katharine rated it:

bookshelves: comedy, favorites, romance, stand-alones, uncorrected-proofs, young-adult

Read in August, 2008

recommends it for: EVERYONE

This a story about a high school senior, Quentin (nicknamed Q). After one crazy night with his beautiful next door neighbor, she disappears, leaving clues for him to follow. What happens next is nothing anyone could ever expect.

I simply adored this book. I read it in 4 hours, no problem. It had me laughing out loud too many times to count. It also was so deep and beautiful and meaningful that I was literally unable to put it down. READ IT.

Like this review? yes (2 people liked it)

5 comments

06/22/09

Benjamin rated it:

Read in June, 2009

I found myself quite taken by this book. Much more than what I expected when I first started.

I found Paper Towns on the staff recommendations shelf at The Book Cellar. Of course, I thought the girl on the cover was mega-cute, so that was a plus. But, after reading a few pages and seeing the low price (for a 1st ed hardcover) I thought I'd take a chance. And, after Never Let Me Go, I was ready for something lighter.

So, the plot of this book is that a girl disappears a we...more I found myself quite taken by this book. Much more than what I expected when I first started.

I found Paper Towns on the staff recommendations shelf at The Book Cellar. Of course, I thought the girl on the cover was mega-cute, so that was a plus. But, after reading a few pages and seeing the low price (for a 1st ed hardcover) I thought I'd take a chance. And, after Never Let Me Go, I was ready for something lighter.

So, the plot of this book is that a girl disappears a week before her high school graduation and her neighbor, a kid who's had a crush on her since they were little, takes it upon himself to find her. Using what appear to be various clues left by the girl, and a well-loved copy of Walt Whitman's poems, the neighbor boy begins his search.

The mystery and the hunt for the girl is fun, but what really captured me were the characters. The boy is a member of this trio of geek friends who are pretty hilarious. They accompany our detective for some of his adventure. Other kids show up, and they all act and talk like real kids do, which is not easy to find in the world of literature (or film or television or whatever).

Eventually, the book begins to examine the differences between the perception and reality of a person, and how close the two of them can come together. It's dabbled with in the middle of the book, but there are some really nice passages on the subject at the end, which I read several times because I liked it so much.

When I showed my sister the book, she said she was curious about the author; she had seen his stuff in the young adult section of the bookstore. I didn't know the book was geared at young adults. The language was not overly poetic or difficult, and that could be because of the YA audience. (I confess, I haven't read a YA book since I was in high school and read The Pigman.) But, still, I enjoyed the book greatly for its great characters* and nice philosophical noodling.

* and I'm not one who really gets into characters, so that was a switch!(less)

Like this review? yes (1 person liked it)

3 comments

12/22/08

Susanne rated it:

bookshelves: advisory-books

Paper Towns
By John Green
978-0-525-47818-8
305 pages, Published in New York, New York 10014
Published by Penguin Group, $17.99 USA

Susanne Smetana Writing Arts 9

A smiling girl on a bright yellow background hits your eyes when you pull this book of its shelf. The pleasant cover instantly pulled me in, as well as the author’s name, John Green, in bold letters. This is his third published fiction work, and it�...more Paper Towns
By John Green
978-0-525-47818-8
305 pages, Published in New York, New York 10014
Published by Penguin Group, $17.99 USA

Susanne Smetana Writing Arts 9

A smiling girl on a bright yellow background hits your eyes when you pull this book of its shelf. The pleasant cover instantly pulled me in, as well as the author’s name, John Green, in bold letters. This is his third published fiction work, and it’s just as amazing as his other books: Looking for Alaska and An Abundance of Katherines. The title, Paper Towns, is enough to make you think. Certainly it’s an odd title, but by the end of the story you’ll be able to explain it to anyone. A complex theory followed by subtle explanations, until by the end of the book you’ll realize – he never outright explained Paper Towns, but somehow you know what they are.

The way Quentin Jacobsen sees it, everyone gets one miracle. You could step foot on Mars, marry the Queen of England or get eaten by a whale. His miracle was being placed in a small subdivision in Florida, right next door to Margo Roth Spiegelman. Margo’s behavior can be described as mysterious. Her spontaneous outburst and constant ideas always leave Q, as he likes to be called, and the reader pondering – what will she do next? One night, senior year, Q is left thinking about her. The last time they had truly hung out was at the age of nine, when they had found the dead body of a man in their local playground. Out of the blue she climbs in through his window, dressed as a ninja with a plan for the evening. Together they embark on an adventure to get revenge on anyone who has ever hurt them. Their night ends in one missing eyebrow, a break-in to SeaWorld, three catfishes (one of them squished under a car seat) and a naked picture of one cheating ex-boyfriend. The next day, Q cannot wait to see Margo at school. However Margo has disappeared. Slowly he begins to see clues that Margo as left for him, each one pointing closer and closer to her hiding spot. That one night is never forgotten, but it quickly results into the greatest journey of Q’s lifetime.

Reading this book, I found that I had something in common with each of the characters. John Green makes his characters believable and easy for you to relate to. Every character is like an onion, waiting to be peeled and show another layer. They are all very complex, with background stories you wouldn’t believe. Q for example, has spent his entire life being analyzed by his therapist parents. He turned out to be smart like them but he honestly doesn’t understand people that well – especially Margo. Then again, Margo is one of the mysteries the book tries to make you figure out. As complex as chemistry, she has more twists and turns then a maze. You also get to enter the lives of Ben, who is known as Bloody Ben after a nasty kidney infection, Radar, whose parents own the largest collection of black Santa’s in the world, and Lacey, who is very pretty but just doesn’t get it. This brings out the question; do we ever truly know someone?

Green’s writing style is definitely out of the ordinary. It is well plotted and tightly paced. His writing style is as thought-provoking as the title. Margo’s unique view of the world (“You’re just a really loud, awkward ninja, but we’re both ninja’s) leaps off the page as she stages pranks and plots clues. Q’s blunt comments and metaphors (“Margo Roth Spiegelman was Germany. And Great Britain. And the United States. And czarist Russia. Me, I’m Luxembourg. Just sitting around, tending sheep and yodeling”) will have you thinking and laughing. Basically, John Green weaves a complex tale of love, friendship, and well-hidden clues.

You will instantly be captivated, and you will have trouble putting this book down. Don’t worry; the ending is just as satisfying as the beginning. As gripping as it is funny, this book is a genre on its own. The first few sentences will definitely catch your eye. But by the last 20 pages, your love for this book will be set in stone.
(less)

Like this review? yes (1 person liked it)

1 comment

04/06/09

Michael rated it:

bookshelves: read-in-2009

Read in April, 2009

Maybe it's that I read all three of John Green novels in close succession, but I still have to say that "Paper Towns" is the weakest of his first three novels.

Quentin Jacobson has grown up next door to Margo Roth Spielgman and always harbored a crush on her. The two had a moment as eight year olds where they discovered a dead body in the woods near their home together. But since then, they've not really been what you'd call friends.

Until one night when Margo ...more Maybe it's that I read all three of John Green novels in close succession, but I still have to say that "Paper Towns" is the weakest of his first three novels.

Quentin Jacobson has grown up next door to Margo Roth Spielgman and always harbored a crush on her. The two had a moment as eight year olds where they discovered a dead body in the woods near their home together. But since then, they've not really been what you'd call friends.

Until one night when Margo sneaks into Q's room and asks him to come along on an adventure. Q agrees and the two embark on a campaign including spray paint, a big jar of Vasoline, several catfish and a trip to Sea-World. In a lot of ways, it feels like Margo is bringing her life in an Orlando suburb to a close. Q figures it might be for Margo to get ready to go off to college--that is, until she vanishes the next day.

Apparently, this isn't the first time Margo has left home. But since she's 18, there's little her family can do about it.

Her disappearance and their adventures leave Q a bit disconcerted since he felt the two might have made a connection on their late night spree. He becomes determined (you might even say obsessed) with finding out where Margo has gone and why, eventually dragging in some of his friends on the quest.

One of the strengths of "Paper Towns" is that it keeps the fate of Margo very vague for much of the story. As rumors of where she's gone or what fate could have befallen her abound, the readers are presented with just enough supporting evidence to make each assumption reasonable but still keep you guessing.

And maybe it would have been better to leave it that way instead of the resolution we do get. Not knowing what happened to Margo might have been more interesting than what we eventually find out.

As I said, this was the least satifsying for Green's novels I've read so far. And it could be that I read them in rapid succession after enjoying "An Ambundance of Katherines" and have grown tired of quirky first-person narrators and the zany objects of affection they find. (less)

Like this review? yes (1 person liked it)

add a comment