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Paper Towns

John Green

Start date: February 1, 2014

Finish date: February 28, 2014

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Apr 06, 2009 Michael rated it liked it

Shelves: read-in-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 sneaks into Q's room and asks him to 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. ...more

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Jun 21, 2010 Momruns5 rated it really liked it

Very good YA book, but definitely for a 16 and older YA. Good for kids about to graduate.

When Margo Roth Spiegelman beckons Quentin Jacobsen in the middle of the night—dressed like a ninja and plotting an ingenious campaign of revenge—he follows her. Margo’s always planned extravagantly, and, until now, she’s always planned solo. After a lifetime of loving Margo from afar, things are finally looking up for Q . . . until day breaks and she has vanished. Always an enigma, Margo has now become a my ...more

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