Review | Paper Towns

As I mentioned in my What Does September Mean For Me post here, I said that I was going to be reading some John Green novels. I have now finished my first ever John Green book 'Paper Towns'. I also have The Fault in Our Stars on my book shelf but I will read that another time. 

I was so excited to read Paper Towns. The cover was very nice and intriguing and with the film out, I thought it was going to be a very entertaining story. 

The story is about a socially awkward nerdy boy called Quentin who has spent most of his time dreaming about his next door neighbor Margo. When they were younger, they found a dead man in their neighborhood who'd committed suicide. For the rest of her life Margo is absorbed by this incident. One night, out of the blue, Margo summons Quentin on an evening of revenge. But the next day when Quentin goes to school, Margo does not. Quentin and his friends, Ben and Radar, find clues to Margo's whereabouts. They believe that Margo has set up her own mystery, and is leading them to her. In the final part of the story, Quentin, Ben, Radar and Ben's girlfriend Lacey (also Margo's 'ex' friend) go on a road trip to New York as they believe that is where Margo has been hiding...

The novel is separated into three parts. Part One (the strings) was very quick paced. The character of Margo is very entertaining, funny and sarcastic. I read through this first past in one evening. But, to me, the middle part (the grass) was weak. It didn't have that quickness I'd liked from the first part (maybe because Margo wasn't in it?). I just got bored unfortunately and left it a whole week. But then, I picked it up again and got to Part Three (the vessel). This final part was amusing throughout. There were moments in it which I really enjoyed. It kept building and building to the final moment when you find out where Margo has been. 

The characters were the best part of the novel for me. Quentin was an easy-to-like guy. Margo was quirky. Also, the minor characters, who are sometimes 2D and flat were very well portrayed and weren't typical of YA school kids. 

I was expecting John Green to be a very good writer, and of course, he was. The novel was well written and some lines were enlightening. However, the story itself wasn't for me. I thought it could have been better to be honest. I don't know what I was expecting, I just thought it would be different. The fact that I got bored in the middle, tells me that the story wasn't strong enough and that although the writing was good, it wasn't enough to keep me hooked. 

Would I recommend this book to someone else? How about try another John Green novel. 

***

 

"I don't know who she is anymore, or who she was, but I need to find her."

"What a treacherous thing it is to believe that a person can be more than a person."

"I had been imagining her without listening."