Paper Towns

"Paper Towns" by John Green is a unique and introspective coming-of-age novel that blends mystery, adventure, and philosophical musings. The story centers around Quentin "Q" Jacobsen, a high school senior who embarks on a road trip to find Margo Roth Spiegelman, his enigmatic and adventurous neighbor, after she disappears following a night of pranks.John Green excels at creating vivid, complex characters, and Margo is no exception. She represents the idealized, unreachable person that Q thinks he knows, but the book skillfully unravels that illusion. What I appreciated most was how "Paper Towns" explores themes of perception, identity, and the dangers of idealizing others. Green challenges the reader to question how well we really know the people we think we understand.The writing is witty and insightful, with Green’s signature humor shining through, especially in the interactions between Q and his friends. The road trip itself is both entertaining and symbolic, filled with humorous moments and deep reflections on life and relationships.While the book’s philosophical themes are thought-provoking, some readers may find the pacing slow at times, and the ending, though fitting, might feel anticlimactic for those expecting a more concrete resolution.Overall, "Paper Towns" is a compelling and beautifully written novel that invites readers to look beyond the surface and understand the complexities of others and themselves. It’s perfect for fans of introspective young adult fiction.

Straight-laced high school senior Quentin Jacobsen has had a crush on the free-spirited and mysterious Margo Roth Spiegelman since he was a little boy. He loves her so much that he agrees to go with her on a late-night revenge prank spree against everybody in Orlando, Florida who has ever wronged her from backstabbing best friends to promiscuous ex-boyfriends. The very next day, Margo goes missing and leaves behind a trail of clues for Quentin and his friends, Ben and Radar, to track down. Everyone seems intent on giving up on Margo and getting on with their own lives, except for Quentin, who is determined to find her even if it means missing out on his most important life moments.While I won’t divulge what the ending result of this story is, I will say that it hit me harder than a flying brick to the skull. It was painful to where it almost made me cry, but it was a necessary pain that conveyed the message of the story all too well. It shows how dangerous putting people high on a pedestal can be, especially when those “idols” fail to live up to your expectations. Lord knows I’ve had a lot of crushes in my lifetime and still have some today. I keep thinking these women are angels sent from the heavens to steal my heart away and make me eternally happy. And that’s why they say, “Never meet your idols, because they will disappoint you.” I spent the entire reading of this book thinking the best was going to happen and then I get a much-needed slap in the face. Thanks for that, John Green.I also admire Mr. Green’s ability to incorporate preexisting pieces of literature into the clues of his mystery. The bulk of these clues rely heavily on a Walt Whitman poem called Song of Myself. The themes of death, rebirth, and burial create a deep sense of fear within Quentin that Margo might be dead. But then there’s another piece of literature that fits in perfectly as well: Moby Dick. Captain Ahab becomes so obsessed with finding this whale that it nearly kills him. It reminds me of The Shawshank Redemption where Andy Dufresne expands the prison library and one of the books is The Count of Monte Cristo, a novel about breaking out of prison and getting revenge on those who locked him up. It’s a fascinating literary technique that has stood the test of time. After all, the classics never go out of style, right?And then we have the theme of paper towns, phantom settlements with fake names that have no business being on official maps. After Margo takes Quentin with her on the revenge spree, she talks about Orlando being a paper town due to the lack of real people with real emotional substance. In other words, the citizens are too concerned with shallow values such as getting laid, buying things, and being better than everyone else. I’d want to go missing from a place like that if I could. Come to think of it, I did live in a “paper town” as Margo describes it. It was called Chehalis, Washington and it’s the town where I considered suicide for the first time in my life. It too was filled with people who walked around like zombies and stabbed each other in the backs. I left that place in 2001 and only came back in short bursts. One can’t help but think Margo has a good point, which is why it’s easy to fall in love with her even from many miles away.Paper Towns is a book that transcends the young adult genre and is accessible to any age group. Lord knows there are older adults that will feel a sense of jaded nostalgia when they read about the activities going on in this novel. To those people, I say be thankful that you can leave your past behind and look forward to a better day. Be grateful for your newfound maturity so that you don’t make the same mistakes that Quentin Jacobsen makes in this novel. An extra credit grade goes to John Green for giving me the slap in the face that woke me up from the matrix.

Margo Roth Spiegelman was the girl that everybody was fascinated with. She was the ideal daredevil and lived her life to the fullest. She made impressions on many people, and being the most popular girl in school, everyone knew who she was. When she was a kid, she moved into a new neighborhood next to a boy named Quentin. He is a try-hard in school, cautious, and unadventurous. He was the complete opposite of Margo. Despite their differences, they became friends and grew special connection. Not in a romantic way, just in a best friend way. However, after a traumatizing event, Margo stopped talking to Quentin until one night, to his surprise, after 9 years when she climbed into his window. “...until just before midnight, when Margo Roth Spiegelman slid open my screenless bedroom window for the first time since telling me to close it nine years before” (page 24) This night was probably the most memorable night of his life. However, little did Quentin know, this would be the last night that he would see Margo as the Margo everyone knows and loves. The book is divided into three major parts, each of which contain regular chapters. This made it easy for me to read and understand the progresses that the story is making. The third part is organized differently than the rest of the book. Most of it is organized in hours, and the rest is just regular pages, no chapters or hours. This is also easy to read and understand because it correlates to what is happening in the book. As for reading the book itself, it wasn’t too hard. There were challenging words here and there but overall it was an easy read. The book was set in Quentin's point of view. This way we learned everything that he was thinking and all his feelings and progressions throughout the book. However, because of this, we don’t learn much about what other people in the book are thinking or feeling, unless they express it to Quentin.Throughout the book, there is a lot of humor, drama, and mystery, which I really liked. It was interesting how the author was able to include so many different aspects in the same book/story. I love reading books where I can connect with all the different characters and am able to feel like I know them personally. Unfortunately, I didn’t get that at all with this book. There wasn’t much description of the characters. The most descriptive character was the main character, Quentin. However, I feel like that's just because it was from his point of view, so we got to learn all of his feelings as he told us. Also, most of the book was trying to solve a mystery with the same clues, so it made most of the the book quite boring . Nonetheless, the book had an overall interesting story. I liked the idea that John Green portrayed while writing this book. Overall, the book Paper Towns is a good book to read, but not my personal favorite.

Paper Towns Book Review AG Quentin has spent his entire childhood and now his teenage years falling hopelessly in love with his next door neighbor Margo Roth Spiegelman. When Quentin and Margo were young children, they were great friends. However, people grow up, change, and sometimes lose connection with the people they were closest to. Quentin’s worst nightmare occurred, he lost the friendship he had with Margo. Quentin was the nerd of the school and Margo was now the popular rebellious girl. Quentin’s world suddenly changes one night when he hears his bedroom window opening. It is the Margo Roth Spiegelman climbing into his bedroom. Quentin had many questions as to why she was there. I will not tell you what happens because the journey that followed can only be read. John Green creates another adventurous story with Paper Towns. John Green delivers a novel that displays the lesson about accepting a person for who they are and not changing them because one does not like the way they are or act. It is shown through the whole story, that people can want others to change, but one individual does not have the right to force someone to become someone new. Everyone is their own person and has their own qualities, nobody can take that away. In the book, Radar, Quentin’s friend, delivers this message by stating, “You know your problem, Quentin? You keep expecting people not to be themselves… I'm too obsessed with a reference website to answer my phone sometimes when my friends call, or my girlfriend. That's okay, too. That's me. You like me anyway. And I like you. You're funny, and you're smart, and you may show up late, but you always show up eventually”(Paper Towns page 169). John Green wants the readers while reading this book to only be themselves and to stop trying to impress someone. One is not the person they truly are, until they accept who they are and become confident in his or her own body and soul. The book taught me that great lesson, and when I read that certain part I stopped and thought about it for awhile. John Green truly speaks the truth in his works. Nonetheless, I do have some criticism for the book. The book started off very slow with no major conflicts or events occurring. It also did not give as much background into each character’s personality as I would have hoped. This caused me as the reader to never truly connect with one specific character. The book mainly focused on how the characters met and only Quentin’s opinions on Margo. When I read a book, I want to feel as though I am right at the characters side or have a specific feeling towards one or more characters. For Paper Towns, it was hard to feel that common emotion. I could relate to certain aspects of the book, but I was never able to connect with the characters emotionally. Overall, I did enjoy the book, but I personally do not recommend this book as a must read. If there were other books out in front of me that I have read before, this would not be my first choice as a fan favorite. The ending was unpredictable and I usually like that, but the ending for this book did not answer certain questions I had throughout the story. Paper Towns contains a young adult named Quentin who is a teenager who will forever be in love with a young girl named Margo. She was a girl who did not feel comfortable in her community or “paper town” and wanted to explore the world, with the hope of never coming back to the place she once called home. She was someone who saw the world as a paper town, “...all those paper people living in their paper houses, burning the future to stay warm… Everyone demented with the mania of owning things…I’ve lived here for eighteen years and I have never once in my life come across anyone who cares about anything that matters” (Paper Towns page 63).

From blog: bookishhipster.blogspot.comWhat's up fellow bookworms and bookdragons alike!? I'm back with another review for you! I'm a little too excited that last sentence rhymed! Okay, anyway I recently just finished reading Paper Towns by John Green and figured it was about time I get my butt in gear and post my review. This is the second book that I've had the pleasure of reading by the superb Mr. Green, the first being The Fault In Our Stars! It was a pleasure to have my heart broken by Augustus Waters. While Paper Towns didn't leave me sobbing in a ball on the floor with tissues strewn about the room it did leave me with some feels!Paper Towns by John GreenAmazon | Barnes & Noble | Books A MillionWhen 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.Printz Medalist John Green returns with the trademark brilliant wit and heart-stopping emotional honesty that have inspired a new generation of readers.My Thoughts:****4 Stars****After reading TFIOS by John Green I knew I had to give some of his other works a try as well, and I'm glad that I did. This wasn't as good as TFIOS, but it was still a great little story full of mystery, hilarious moments (king of peeing in the car champion), and friendship! John Green has a way of creating such witty, philosophical teenagers and I love it, I love how unique each character was in this novel. Especially Margo, and Quentin.Margo and Quentin grew up living across the street from one another and due to that they formed a small friendship/bond between them, but as the years passed they both drifted apart, until one night Margo climbed into Quentin's bedroom window demanding that he help her complete a few hilarious tasks. Margo was a mystery, literally, for most of the novel. She was just a girl walking around disguised as what everyone thought she should be. Quentin was just a really lovable little dorky boy next door.Once the night of the living ninja's was over Quentin was left wondering if things between him and Margo could possibly change, but the next day at school Margo wasn't there, or the next day, or the next after that. Margo Roth Spiegelman had seemingly vanished into thin air, only this wasn't the first time Margo had disappeared. Margo had been vanishing for years and returning with wild stories of all of her adventures, but she always left clues of her destination for people to find so they'd know she was alright. This time Margo left clues for Quentin...Quentin embarks on a journey with his two best friends to search for the elusive Margo Roth Spiegelman and learns that everything he thought he knew about Margo was a lie because, "Margo was not a miracle. She was not an adventure. She was not a fine and precious thing. She was a girl." - John GreenAll in all I thought this book was really good. It had a lot of funny moments in it, that I actually found myself laughing out loud at. It also made me yearn for a group of friends that I could take a road trip with. It made me want to get out and experience the world like Margo wanted to do. There were only a few minor things I thought could have been improved upon; like how much the word 'prom' was used. It was used A LOT. I mean I'm not against prom (okay, maybe I am a little. high school sucked for me okay?!) I thought we should have gotten the chance to know Margo a bit better, and her reasoning for wanting to get of her town/life.If you're into mysteries and humor this book is for you!