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.
The road trip in the final chapter is very funny. The rest of the book is classic John Green, and reminded me so much of An Abundance of Catherines that I figured I knew how it would end for our hero, except it totally didn't.
Still, the sameness of these books really makes me want to take a break from reading them.
I sometimes wonder how much influence books and television have had on who I have become - whether the afterschool special had an impact on my moral and ethical upbringing or if The Outsiders helped me to be more understanding of the role of the 'other'. Did the Lord of the Rings make me a better friend? Did To Kill a Mockingbird make me a better father? I remember a line from a crime show like CSI or Law & Order when a grieving father of that week's teen victim says something like "All I had left to do was to teach her to think for herself" and how often I thought of that line when Maggie hit her teen years (morbid as that sounds). I think now about how she thinks for herself and how little she thinks like me, but that she sure did read a lot and …
I sometimes wonder how much influence books and television have had on who I have become - whether the afterschool special had an impact on my moral and ethical upbringing or if The Outsiders helped me to be more understanding of the role of the 'other'. Did the Lord of the Rings make me a better friend? Did To Kill a Mockingbird make me a better father? I remember a line from a crime show like CSI or Law & Order when a grieving father of that week's teen victim says something like "All I had left to do was to teach her to think for herself" and how often I thought of that line when Maggie hit her teen years (morbid as that sounds). I think now about how she thinks for herself and how little she thinks like me, but that she sure did read a lot and maybe that had an impact.
And then I think of John Green writing for young adults; teenagers trying to find a path. I want young people to read this because he writes about this 'becoming' and ways it can be done. Paper Towns has an excellent catalyst for characters to begin to mold how they'll interact with the world and its people - how they will become more themselves, mirroring less what their peers do as they chart their course. It's got a nice mystery and some rich characters that grow. It's got less precocious banter than the other John Green I've read; rings truer to my ear.
I'd say 2.5 stars, but was reluctant to round up. I simply did. Not. Like. This. Book. I think the writing style was just as fine as his other books, but I was really put off by Margo. She seemed like an over-privileged, whiny, bored teenager who was angry at the world because no one understood her. Ugh. The point is, I didn't understand Q's motivation, as the girl he was crushing on was...well, so annoying.
I liked it better than "Looking for Alaska" and less than "The Fault in Our Stars".
But Margo was selfish. One of my hot buttons. Girl, seriously, your parents are part of the reason you are messed up, but grow up.
Overall, just ok.
Review to follow. I'm still waiting to be blown away by Mr Green's writing...
I’ve wanted to read a John Green book for a while now, so I finally did it; I choice Paper Towns simply because it was the one that I’ve seen talked about the most. Paper Towns tells the story of Quentin ‘Q’ Jacobsen, a vulnerable and imperfect teenager so realistic I could easily relate to him. Q’s infatuation for the girl next door leads him to make a lot of stupid choices, but all of them for Margo Roth Spiegelman. When Margo mysteriously runs away, Q sets out to decipher all the clues in the hope to find her and win her heart.
This is a fun book; it’s very easy to read, realistic; while seeming very familiar. By no means is this a romance, but more like a typical teenage story of the obtainable girl and the adventure the boy goes on in the hopes to obtain love. This …
I’ve wanted to read a John Green book for a while now, so I finally did it; I choice Paper Towns simply because it was the one that I’ve seen talked about the most. Paper Towns tells the story of Quentin ‘Q’ Jacobsen, a vulnerable and imperfect teenager so realistic I could easily relate to him. Q’s infatuation for the girl next door leads him to make a lot of stupid choices, but all of them for Margo Roth Spiegelman. When Margo mysteriously runs away, Q sets out to decipher all the clues in the hope to find her and win her heart.
This is a fun book; it’s very easy to read, realistic; while seeming very familiar. By no means is this a romance, but more like a typical teenage story of the obtainable girl and the adventure the boy goes on in the hopes to obtain love. This has so many nerdy references from computer games, music, the internet and even cryptography. I was very impressed with this book and can’t wait to read some more John Green or even a book like this; possibly Skippy Dies or The Perks of Being a Wallflower.
