Review: Paper Towns by John Green

Paper Towns
By John Green
Publisher: Dutton Books

To Sum It Up: It has been years since Quentin Jacobsen last spoke with the love of his life, Margo Roth Spiegelman. Her rise to popularity in high school leaves Quentin admiring her from afar. That is, until Margo recruits her childhood friend, Quentin, for her immaculate scheme of revenge. The day following Q and Margo's adventurous night, Margo goes missing. No one is really concerned about her disappearance besides Q, because that's what Margo is—a mystery, a free spirit. Besides, Margo has disappeared before, and she has always comes back fine. But this time is different, at least it is for Quentin. Quentin is convinced that Margo specifically left him clues, clues that will lead to her whereabouts. Through the many subdivisions in central Florida, Quentin heads off on an epic quest to find the girl who cannot be found.

Review: John Green, I bow down to you! Paper Towns is a hilarious book, with an amazing and thought provoking story. How one man can be so philosophical in a modern age where everything and anything has already been pondered blows my mind. I was super excited to read one of Green's books, and I was not disappointed one bit! It was all that I thought it would be and more!

The writing in Paper Towns is superb. John Green has mastered writing. Not only is his book hilarious, but it is very profound as well. I appreciated this and thought that the two balanced each other out perfectly. There would be very heavy topics and conversations between the characters and then someone would just crack a joke. It made everything feel a little more realistic. I myself connected with this strategy since I usually laugh in tense situations.

One of the most surprising aspects I found in the novel was the setting. I currently live in central Florida and am actually from New York City. So, I know what these environments are supposed to be like. Green was dead-on! I laughed out loud while reading about the cookie cutter houses and paper people in central Florida. He knew about the grocery store chain (Publix) and the band obsession that has infested this peninsula. Being in band myself, I thoroughly enjoyed everything he wrote about band and the band life.

What really made the book was the characters. Quentin was amazing! He was the typical awkward teenage boy. He wasn't the average literary hero with no faults, but he sure as hell tried to be. Quentin learned things about Margo that would negatively change anyone's opinion on her, but he continued to love her and look for her until the very end. I really respected that. I liked Margo, too, but at times she could get really annoying. I liked how she was adventurous and crazy. However, I did not like how she had this air of self-importance. At times, I felt that Margo expected everyone to admire and fawn over her. You can easily see how this could get annoying, especially since everyone else had their own problems to deal with. I also liked Quentin's friends, Radar and Ben. I thought that the two of them were great! They were hilarious and were always willing to help Quentin out.

Ah, I feel as if my review is very short. It's not because I didn't like the book, because I did, but because I really don't have much to say other than the praise that has been written multiple times already. Paper Towns was just an amazing, pulling read. It was one of the first real contemporaries I have ever read, and though I originally scoffed at anything other than fantasy or paranormal, it really made me have a positive outlook on the other contemporary books out there.

All in All: Paper Towns is an amazing book, and John Green is a spectacular writer. What more can I say?