“Paper Towns” by John Green
Genre: Young Adult Fiction, Contemporary Fiction
Source: Library
Summary from Goodreads:
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 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 of the girl he thought he knew.
-I really liked the beginning of the story. It was just SO out there. Who hasn’t imagined doing an epic payback session like that to the people who’ve wronged us?
-With that being said, it was a bit difficult to suspend my disbelief. That is a LOT to do and it would be hard not to get caught. Plus sneaking into Sea World and not getting in trouble? Ehhhhh I don’t buy it. [Yes, I know I’m being picky]
-The mystery of the rest of the book was interesting enough. I always enjoy reading about mysteries and piecing the clues together. Mainly because I could never put clues together like that.
-I know we’re supposed to like Margo but I really couldn’t do it. We’re supposed to be sympathetic to her because of how her friends treated her and how much she doesn’t fit in with boring suburban life. Then she just runs away abandoning everyone a few weeks before graduation? On top of that she didn’t seem to grasp why people (including her family) would be concerned about her when they hadn’t heard anything from her? That all just rubs me the wrong way.
-This was the 3rd book by him that I read in the last month or so and I’m starting to see some things reoccurring specifically the nerdy/quirky boys getting the beautiful, flawed girls. I guess it’s not a bad thing but a bit of variety would be nice.
The bottom line? The book was entertaining to read.
The Cheap Reader 
Man, you really are on a John Green kick! Haha. Yeah, I probably won’t be reading this one. I didn’t enjoy the two JG books as much as I had hoped and it sounds like I’ll have a tough time grabbing onto this concept as well. Thanks for the review! I’m glad you were still entertained, but I think this might be a “skip” one for me!
I really was! This was the last one I read. You wouldn’t be missing too much by skipping this one. 🙂
I haven’t read this one or The Abundance of Katherines… but they dont sound like his best ones so I don’t think I’m really missing out. I’m ready for him to write a new book!
I felt like these two (Paper Towns and Katherines) were a bit weaker but they were from earlier in his career. Maybe that has something to do with it? I’d definitely read a new book by him!
I really enjoyed this book – I liked it better than the more popular “Looking For Alaska” which had some similar themes. I loved some of the ideas Green used: the urban exploration, the paper towns themselves, and the revenge evening. I wasn’t so keen on Margo herself, though I think it was a crucial part of the novel that she wasn’t a very knowable character – everyone had their ideas of who Margo was, but didn’t fully know her.
That’s a really good perspective on Margo. It’s true that no one really knew her.
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