I knew of John Green before I realized I knew of John Green. He hosts a video series on one of my favorite websites, Mental Floss, in which he pulls together random facts to make one cohesive video. He has a few different video series, all of which are absolutely fantastic and fascinating. It wasn’t until he was on the Today show a few weeks ago that I made the connection upon seeing his wall of trinkets and I could not have been more excited!
Most people now know of John Green because he is the author of The Fault in Our Stars, which everyone should read immediately. If only I’d created this blog sooner- I read this book about a year ago and have since referred it to ANYONE who asks, though I’m fairly certain anyone who has ever read it is telling others to read it too. The book is told from the perspective of a teenage girl with cancer and is a compelling and (to use an overused word) heartwrenching book. Don’t let its young adult classification scare you off- it’s perhaps a faster read than some adult novels but the emotions and situations are completely and fully mature. I’m excited and nervous to see how the movie ends up.
But I digress.
Paper Towns has an intriguing enough concept- a high school student disappears, leaving friends (one in particular) to determine what happened to her through both physical and virtual clues. Since reading Gone Girl (another one I wish I’d read to review), it’s hard to not be intrigued by the promise of these mystery stories. That said, it’s also hard not to compare every single one to Gone Girl. This one had more parallels than others I’ve read in the time since- mainly an incredibly disappointing ending! I am trying to not read other reviews before I write these in order to offer my own opinion, so I am curious if others felt the same way.
I do really like (most of) the characters- they are really well developed and interact with each other in realistic ways. Quentin in particular is a complex character, though I have one complaint- though the majority of the book focuses on him, we don’t really delve into him out of the context of Margo. For example, both of his parents are therapists (and he alludes to the fact that he is really well adjusted) and I would have appreciated seeing a little more of them. Given their relationship where it is at the time of the book, it’s hard to believe that he would define his existence around her. The character in particular whose evolution is really compelling is Lacey- I enjoyed seeing her grow throughout the book into someone really likable.
The one who is utterly unlikable is Margo herself- the character Quentin chases throughout the book. Perhaps that’s why I found the book similar to Gone Girl– the central female characters seem arbitrarily awful and it’s hard to root for them when you’ve become so invested in the other characters.
Outside of the plot, John Green’s writing is just phenomenal. One of my favorite parts of reading is seeing a description of something that validates and explains something you’ve felt before or a new way to think of something. One of the central points of the book- and this doesn’t give anything away- is something Margo articulates early on about suicide, saying “Maybe all the strings inside him broke.” It’s at once an interesting and tragic concept that I imagine is, in itself, an accurate understanding.
All in all, a beautifully written if not overwhelmingly compelling book- pick up this or another of his books.
You’ll like this if: you like long mysteries with unsatisfying endings. So basically, if you want a somewhat less compelling Gone Girl, this time about teenagers. Also, probably if you liked The Fault in Our Stars, though I don’t see that many parallels.
Happy reading!
carlyreads 