Book Review: Paper Towns
Images courtesy of Penguin Young Readers Group
Paper Towns
by John Green
320 pages
YA Fiction
Dutton Books Publishing
Margo Roth Spiegelmen is the average hip girl at school who seemingly has all that she wants and then some, she has the cool friends, the designer jeans and a boyfriend. Late at night, a couple of months before prom and graduation of her senior year she barges into Quintin Jacobsen's life begging him to do some pranks together (probably because he has access to a car). He is the opposite of cool, he hangs out with geeks, is cautious and is bullied. He has loved her for years and any time spent in her company is a dream. He agrees, they go, it is fun and the Paper Towns goes on from there.
Filled with high school-esk relationships and issues, from parties to prom, this book is deeper than one would expect from the initial chapters. Yes, it still is about high schoolers, but the themes are deeper and more intense than other feel good YA books. I can't quite nail down why but I really didn't like it as much as I was hoping. I liked the beginning and the end chapters, there was a certain lul in the middle that almost made me give up the reading. I am glad I stuck it out because the nuggets are at the end, but it was a close call several times for me.
It was entertaining, but I just didn't come away feeling like it was that good. It was a Young Adult book that may be just that, designed so perfectly for Young Adults that the rest of us really should keep our noses out.
What did you think of Paper Towns? How did you like Margo?
60/100
If you want some Young Adult book recommendations, here are three of my favourites:
The Hunger Games
The Boy in Striped Pajamas
The Invention of Hugo Cabret
What did you think of Paper Towns? How did you like Margo?
July 20th, 2009 - 23:37
Sorry to hear that you weren’t nuts about it
I really liked this one. As for Margo, I had a love/hate relationship with her…I went from feeling that she was incredibly cool and clever to incredibly selfish and then back again.
July 21st, 2009 - 05:30
I know what you mean about YA books – some of them work well for adults and some don’t. Sorry this one didn’t work for you.
July 21st, 2009 - 07:04
I’m also sorry you didn’t like it. I loved Paper Towns – Margot wasn’t my favorite character (I preferred the relationship between Q and his friends), but I thought the story and characters were well-written. Would you be willing to try another John Green book? An Abundance of Katherines is really good…
I haven’t read The Hunger Games yet (or the other two you mentioned), but it’s on my TBR list.
July 21st, 2009 - 10:15
I never could decide what I thought of this book. Sometimes I liked it, while other times I was not very fond of it… I think I really liked Looking for Alaska, but his other two books were just okay.
July 21st, 2009 - 12:20
This is typically the problem that I have with YA. If it doesn’t grab me right away, I may find something redeeming in the story but in the end I am left wondering why I read it.