Different View of Female Characters

[Lexi]

Am I the only one that thinks John Green puts a different spin on female characters? Often times in teen fiction, the girl is loved, or seen as a wonderful person by, at least one other character. Looking for Alaska and Paper Towns are similar in that regard. I feel like Green tries to show us that girls can be just as mean and mysterious as the boys in a novel. He really does a good job at showing that the girl is not perfect and her love interest must realize that she is not what he once thought. Anyone else have an opinion about this?

[Sarah]

I've noticed this too. I've especially noticed how he presents the girls as merely human and imperfect but also very special at the same time and I think that is really beautiful. It's funny because in Paper Towns and Looking For Alaska, the girl is presented as something spectacular at first but then you find out their flaws, and in Will Grayson and An Abundance of Katherines it's the other way round - first the girl is presented as normal and unspecial and imperfect then the unique and wonderful things are found abou about them afterwards instead.

[Annie]

I've also acknowledged Green's "spin" on his female characters. In my opinion, I think that John Green really shows the beauty of imperfection of people in general. He also shows that "perfect" people aren't perfect, but people that have their flaws well hidden.

[Maddison]

I love that about looking for alaska.

[Jennifer]

Actually it is something that you can notice in The Fault in our Stars, too. The book Hazel reads and the granade theme happen to have an interesting spin, at the end