3.05.2009

Review: Paper Towns by John Green


Quentin Jacobsen has only had eyes for Margo Roth Spiegelman since the day they moved next door to each other. Alas, reality took hold, and now they move in different circles. Or so "Q" thought, until Margo shows up at his bedroom window dressed in black, asking for his help.
He agrees.
But the next day, she's gone.

Well, well, well. I had heard so much about Paper Towns by John Green, so many good things, that when I opened the book I was very disappointed. But that only lasted, say, the first 1/3 of the book. It just kept getting better, and better, and better. Then it got fantastic. In my head, I went from giving it 2.5 stars all the way to 5 stars. So, I'm having a little trouble giving my opinion on this, but I'll try:
As I said, the start of the book was, to me, rather shallow (I know, I know..). I found the language and sporadic crude humor rather distracting from the story-line, which was somewhat interesting and the only thing keeping me reading.
But when the reader gets into the "other" side of Margo, and when she disappears, it's like a whole new book- a book with depth, ideas, and mystery. And this part of the book you fly through. This is the part you can't put down. 
But the thing is, the whole point of the first half was to demonstrate "Paper Towns", so its hard to criticize it when what I was feeling what what the author wanted to convey. So basically, read it, and expect the beginning to be a little strange and mediocre. And then wait for it.
And I just know I'll be thinking about "paper towns" for a couple of days at least.

Rating: 4.5 Stars
Clean?: Some language, crude humor throughout

5 comments:

  1. I thought the same thing about the beginning, so I stopped there and never finished. :(

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  2. nooo, you should have kept reading! It gets way better! :) But I understand why you stopped.. haha

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  3. I also vastly preferred the end, especially the road trip!

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  4. Thought-provoking is a good word to describe this book, I thought.

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  5. I <3 this book! Glad you enjoyed it!

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