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Paper Towns Review
Printz Medalist John Green returns with the trademark brilliant wit and heart-stopping emotional honesty that have inspired a new generation of readers. User Submitted Paper Towns ReviewsDecember 2, 2008 Interesting Read After hearing a lot of good things about this book, I decided to head down the library and pick it up. I thought Paper Towns was an interesting read. It didn't keep me glued to the book the entire time, but it was an interesting story that made you think. The story revolves around Quentin, a high school senior, who mostly hangs out with his friends playing video games. One night, his friend, Margo Roth Spielman, a girl he has had a crush on for years, takes him on a journey that changes his life forever. The next morning, Margo is no where to found. Quentin sets out to find her using the cryptic clues she's left behind. Like I said, this book isn't riveting material, but it is good for a nice afternoon read. December 2, 2008 wow! For a while now, I've been looking for that book that would change my life, and although "life changing" may be going a bit far, I think this was that book. It is very insightful and poetic, and it is very easy to relate to the characters. John Green is made of awesome, so it's not a surprise that I found this book absolutely, positively amazing. You won't be disappointed from the second you start reading about the marvelous misadventures of Margo Roth Speigleman and Quinten Jacobson, who doesn't know whether Margo is dead, or if she's just run away again. Read the book! November 30, 2008 Paper Towns by John Green Title: Paper Towns (Hardcover) Author: John Green Publisher: Penguin Group Reading Level: Young Adult Publication Date: October 2008 Pages: 352 Rating: 5/5 Summary (From B&N): 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 mystery. But there are clues. And they're for Q. Review: Yes, I know this review is late, I would've posted it on Saturday, but I didn't because I was too lazy to start writing it. But it's here now, and it's probably going to be a long one. I'll admit it, the summary for this book made no entire sense to me until I finished the book, so I really wasn't sure what to make of the book to come when I first opened up the book and started reading. So, what happened in the book surprised me, big time. I wasn't expecting much, obviously like I said above, but what happened was entirely unsuspected. Now, if you read this blog from the beginning you might've come by a review for Looking For Alaska, which I will not link out of shame (The review was like one of my first reviews and I think any of my review before March, and maybe even March itself, are really terrible, so I suggest not going back there and looking, you just might hurt yourself from the horrifying reviews. You have been warned.), and if you remember right, I was not a huge fan of the book. But, I feel that if I read the book again, I will understand more about it, and look at how well the writing is or how the characters were developed. But anyways, Looking For Alaska was a good back looking back, the writing was excellent and the characters were amazingly developed. Jeez, now I forgot my point, this paragraph is making no sense whatsoever, right? Okay, Paper Towns, right. Paper Towns caught me in with the witty and the random humor and dark edge to the writing. Margo kept me in for the first part by a landslide (Not like I wouldn't have kept reading anyways) and Q kept me at the edge of my seat along with him. The emotions and the humor from Q, Ben, and Radar was spectacularly done and so hilarious. The first part of the novel was the best. I loved the dialogue between Q and Margo, and Q was one of the most real characters I know. This novel had me laughing my guts out and making my eyes tear up. Green is truly one of the most brilliant YA writers out there today. Okay, i feel like I'm writing gibberish so I will get to the point: This novel is amazing. It is one of the best YA novels out this year. READ IT NOW! November 29, 2008 AL-A-CA-ZAM! THIS IS BETTER THAN SPAM! (not that sets the bar to high) Oh shizzel my nizzle.. This book is so great. I just Love Margo, and her insentient need Capitalization. I just love how John Green writes! He uses every sentence to Really develop the characters, I felt like their My friends. I don't know what more to say Other than its worth a read. Though, The only reason Im reviewing this book to to bring up the rating. This book faintly reminds me of the Ogles trilogy. (not on story line or anything, just the witting) turns our Scott westerfeld (author of Ogles trilogy and named as Best Books for Young Adults 2006) was one of his writing partners on this novel. WOOT WOOT for a small world. November 28, 2008 What to say... I don't even know what to say about John Green's Paper Towns. I found about about John Green through his video blog entitled "VlogBrothers" and I am so happy that I did. I first read Looking For Alaska, and that book made me so happy to have read it. But this review is not about that, it's about Paper Towns. Paper Towns chronicles a boy reaching out to an unattainable girl,and the hunt that follows is one of the most entertaining stories that I've ever read that leaves you excited and ready for more. John Green has done it again. November 27, 2008 Just let the man write what he wants to... ...That is my suggestion to readers of John Green. "Paper Towns" begins as an exploration of the restless angst of a group of high school seniors in Florida as graduation approaches, but it morphs into something considerably deeper, a dark mystery that may not be entirely solvable. This novel is a bit deeper and more complex, for example, than Green's earlier "An abundance of Katherines". As I read, I found myself comparing it to THE hot young adult novel of the moment: "Twilight" by Stephenie Meyer. The comparison reveals the shallowness and unrealistic romaticism of Twilight, which invites teen or adult women to forget the real world for a bit. By contrast, Green asks young people to look at life and relationships in an adult way, to learn a few things about human nature, and to perhaps mourn. Real mourning, about real life. That is not to say that this story is dark and dismal start to finish. There is a great deal of humor in this tale, as Quentin and his best buds throw caution to the winds in seeking their destinies at the end of high school, and jump into a van together on an epic road trip to rescue the near mythical Margo Spiegelman. But the thing of it is, Margo is not a myth, she is a real girl, with real problems. It is wonderful to read a young adult novel in which the protagonist seeks to solve a complex puzzle by using Walt Whitman's "Leaves of Grass" as a roadmap. It is wonderful to read a book for young adults that is about important things, real things, complex and painful things. As Quentin learns, we all have cracks in us that let in the light, and let our own light out. We are all broken, and we can all survive. For a thoughtful teen reader this is great stuff, and adults can enjoy it too. While Green has certain characteristics (road trips, nerds, boy bonding, complex boy/girl romantic entanglements) in his works that mark them as his, he is also exploring fresh territory. Hitch a ride, it is worth it. November 25, 2008 different I need to keep this short because I don't want to spoiler it, it's the kind of book where the reader just needs to give up control to the author and just go along for the ride and see where it leads. In this case it's a road trip through Florida but metaphorically speaking of course it's a sort of coming of age of a teenage boy. Protagonist Q idolizes next-door hottie Margo and when she disappears he believes that she's left him special clues to find her, so he takes his friends Ben and Radar on a road trip to find her. Yeah it sounds pretty schizophrenic, right? But like I said, let your skepticism go and put yourself in the position of a geeky naive teenage boy and you can kinda see where he's coming from. Attention from a pretty girl can be like a narcotic. He kinda tries to be the white knight and rescue Margo, problem is there are two sides to every story. This is a different kind of book, a bit of a predictable ending, I didn't love it enough to give a five but it was too well written and unique to give a three. I have to be honest, I didn't like either Q or Margo so much, Ben & Radar were much more fun, as sidekicks sometimes turn out to be. November 20, 2008 Best YA Novel I've Read This Year "Paper Towns" was writen by a smart, smart man. I've heard about John Green before, but this is the first time I've read one of his novels, and I can hardly articulate how impressed I am. He writes flawed, nuanced characters that spout off highly quotable dialogue. In short, this is a book you quite simply need to buy. To elaborate a bit... The book is divided into three sections. In the first, Margo Roth Spiegelman takes Quentin, our protagonist (who, sidebar, is in love with her) on a crazy, 'spontaneous' journey that changes his life forever. In the second part, Quentin tries to make sense of the events that follow that glorious night. In the third and final part, he goes on a road trip with his friends in order to meet up with Margo. All of this seems rather simple, but it's packed so tight with bittersweet poignancy, insight, and intelligence that you can hardly believe the book is only three-hundred pages long. And really, when a book can incorporate Walt Whitman's "Song of Myself" as well as this one did, and offer more insight into Whitman's words than any literary criticism possibly could... what more could you ask for? The book is just overflowing with ideas, literary references, deep understanding of the way senior year in high school feels, and--most importantly--insight into the way people perceive things. What I love most about Green's writing is that he never has the characters settle on these big, life-changing revelations. When Quentin discovers something vital about understanding life, his finds are often refuted by a new realization, that is later refuted itself. It's a very "in the moment" novel, written about a boy in love with a very "in the moment" girl. I love how there are so many ideas at work here that you never feel talked down to, because Green isn't really giving his readers a message. He's just encouraging them to ponder things in order to, hopefully, connect with one of these ideas. Because, in the end, this intricate and insanely well-written book is just about someone connecting with something else. 9/10 November 19, 2008 Hilarious and poignant road trip Quentin "Q" Jacobsen and Margo Roth Spiegelman were playmates and next door neighbors until they grew up and grew apart. In high school, Q worships her hotness from afar. Then one night during their senior year, Margo climbs through his bedroom window and back into his life. Dressed like a ninja, she demands he accompany her on a hair-raising escapade. After a night of mischief and mayhem - but no breaking and entering - during which Margo breaks up with her boyfriend, Q actually believes he might have a chance with her. Instead, the next day she disappears. The mystery of Margo becomes Q's obsession, giving new meaning to the term girl-chasing. Did she join the circus? A-gain? Or get swallowed up in the Big Apple? Or is she just hiding out in a "pseudovision" (abandoned subdivision), watching him? Or was it suicide? But the biggest question of all is whether the real live Margo can hold a torch to the Margo of Q's imagination. Or does reality bite? Sprinkled with amazing fun facts and little-known lore, "Paper Towns" is a sometimes hilarious - sometimes poignant road trip through the teenage condition toward self discovery. November 18, 2008 Gripping page-turner Quentin Jacobsen (called "Q" by his buddies) believes everybody gets one miracle. His just happens to be living next door to the girl of his dreams, Margo Roth Spiegelman. Margo and Quentin go way back. Even when they were nine years old, Q thought she was the most perfect female on the face of the planet, and they played together in their Pleasantville-like Orlando subdivision. After they found a dead man in the park, Margo appeared outside his window at night to tell him she investigated the dead man. Her diagnosis of why he killed himself: "...all the strings inside him broke..." Quentin and Margo are now high school seniors. They still live next door to each other but have drifted apart. Quentin is quite the low-key good citizen, while Margo is a true legend. She has learned to play guitar from an old guy in Hot Coffee, Mississippi, traveled with the circus and once maneuvered her way into a famous rock band's backstage gathering. Prom, finals and graduation loom on the close horizon on what Quentin will call the longest day of his life. Prom is a big discussion in his circle. He is adamantly disinterested in it, but his two best buddies don't share his opinion. Radar will take his new girlfriend, Angela. Ben is frantic to go but has yet to find the right, agreeable "honeybunny." Quentin is distracted from the discussion when he spies Margo talking with her boyfriend, Jase. He is struck by the way she is laughing, with her mouth stretched wide, and gazing away from Jase. She seems to be staring at her friend Becca. As Quentin strolls nearer, he realizes she isn't really laughing but her mouth continues to remain wide open. The rest of the day continues on as usual. Q watches the clocks in class and laughs at Ben's life goal (to be in the GUINNESS BOOK OF WORLD RECORDS for the "Most Honneybunnies Ever Pleased"). He commiserates with Radar when Angela wonders why she has never been invited to his house. Little does she know that Radar's parents own the world's largest collection of black Santas --- a fact that causes Radar no end of humiliation. In the evening, Quentin sticks to his usual routine. But his life turns on a dime that night when Margo opens his bedroom window to invite him on an all-night adventure, which turns out to be the most terrifying, thrilling and eye-opening event he ever could hope to experience. When it ends, he pays almost no attention to what Margo says as she hugs him: "I. Will. Miss. Hanging. Out. With. You." His mind is too abuzz with the possibilities of their future relationship, and he's planning what he'll say to her the next day at school. But Margo doesn't show up, and it isn't long before Quentin realizes that not only has she vanished, she has left him clues as to what's become of her. Quentin cannot resist the challenge. His obsession with finding Margo takes him for a wild road trip that leads to bizarre destinations, including deserted strip malls and abandoned housing developments. But his most unexpected discovery is what he finds within himself. This gripping page-turner from Printz Medalist John Green (author of LOOKING FOR ALASKA and AN ABUNDANCE OF KATHERINES) is both hilarious and thought-provoking. Quentin is an appealing Everyman who manages to become a hero, yet nothing is ever quite as the reader might expect. The plot twists and turns, pulling us in as we careen toward the unpredictable and satisfying conclusion. Very highly recommended. --- Reviewed by Terry Miller Shannon For more Paper Towns reviews click here.
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