*BOOK REVIEW* Paper Towns by John Green

{Author: John Green} 

{Pages: 305 pages}

{Publisher: Speak}

{I Own 2 Copies}

Quentin Jacobsen has spent a lifetime loving the magnificently adventurous Margo Roth Spiegelman from afar. So when she cracks open a window and climbs back into his life — dressed like a ninja and summoning him for an ingenious campaign of revenge — he follows.

After their all-nighter ends and a new day breaks, Q arrives at school to discover that Margo, always an enigma, has now become a mystery. But Q soon learns that there are clues — and they’re for him. Urged down a disconnected path, the closer he gets, the less Q sees of the girl he thought he knew.

{Review}

It's almost impossible to explain every little detail of my thought process while reading Paper Towns. First off, though, i feel it necessary to explain that I started this a while back. I tried reading the prologue first which was a bust, I got majorly confused and gave up. I tried again during a long scene in drama class and still managed to shove it back on my shelf. To be honest the beginning confused me. I couldn't make sense out of the dead guy; though how can you put it more clearly?  Finally, thanks to a lovely trip out of the country I found myself another copy of Paper Towns at an old book store and bought it. I only on the way home began reading it in the airport. This time I skipped the prologue, it made no real sense for me to read it and with having read all of the book, it didn't bother me that I only read it after finishing the book, so you can skip if you have an aversion to prologues and extra wordage and such.

I'll begin with what I'm trying to get into a habit of doing. That is, splitting up this review into different sections and covering the book that way. That way if you're a worrywart for if the logicality of scenes and you could really care less about the rest of the review you can just skip ahead to that section and read it. I also dislike long, ramble-y reviews; I tend to repeat myself several times if I write reviews like that, so for your convenience this is better. So furthermore let this begin! 

{Dialogue}

So Dialogue. Honestly the dialogue was how we wish we could all speak-- Witty with smart comebacks all the time. I loved reading it and laughing because some of the stuff Q said was hilarious, and it should be coming from the voice of John Green, but the reality of it is that 90% of us aren't capable to hold just the perfect conversation. It may be a little fake but the thing is, when you're writing you have to keep a strong dialogue. You can't just have your characters saying "um" or getting quiet all the time, so a little falseness can actually do good to dialogue. Though I hate when there is so much falseness that it becomes like shoving your face with caramel, cotton candy and ice cream all at the same time...then no I will not be giving it a good review. The only reason I'm not getting sick over this is because, no not because it's John Green, but because it was in the right dosage. 

8/10

 

{Cover}

I have two different covers; a UK version and the US version. Personally I love the UK cover better and my answer to anybody who asks why, is that because American Covers suck. Okay maybe just some of them but I'll let you decide on your own which one is better.

US COVER

UK COVER

I do think though that both covers bring out exactly the most important things about Paper Towns. First, the UK version is 3D artwork of a paper town. The US version is a map with a pin stuck in it. Q is struggling to follow Margo's bread crumb trail that leads him all over a map. I can't spoil anything else. Period. Just believe me though, if you read this, you will understand what I'm talking about.

9/10

{Pace}

Allow me to say that I misjudged how I would get into this. I thought it would take super long to REALLY get into this book. After like chapter 2 I was knee deep in pure awesomeness! Okay, that was a little fangirlish. The pace though had been just right throughout most of the story except for the beginning and a few times in the center. Also, this is probably just me, but I felt in the end when they were counting down the hours it felt like it was taking forever. Maybe it was just my nerves at that moment but I guess all we can say is that it's John, and we all know John likes to draw the inevitable out.

7/10

{Characters}

 

Q is a very interesting character. You can clearly see the development from not many friends and bullied, to almost popular and super sleuth. Okay maybe "super sleuth" is a little far-fetched but the mystery that is Margo Roth Spiegelgman was clearly Q's main focus. First off if you have a crush on someone, it's hard not to freak out a little when they just evaporate into thin air. Now without going into Margo's character to much (because i have to keep the mystery alive), she is understandably the one character who could completely have you turning and twisting a million different directions trying to please her, and on your own accord too.
Beyond that I can't go into Margo's character.

Q though is another character with back story and an awfully complex one to boot. Q starts off only with two friends and a slight fear of being shoved around by the school bullies, but incidently because of Margo he is able to become something more. He becomes real. (You'll understand that later). As a child, both he and Margo were witness to a grotesque event and you can somewhat see how that has just a little (real little) dripped into their lives. More Margo's than Q's. Several times, Margo refers to "the strings just breaking inside", which she also refers to during the said event in the beginning of the story. Q also uses this term to try and understand Margo whilst looking for her. Okay maybe I just need to give you one more little motivational push to read this. Margo Roth Spiegelman is a plot twist.

9/10 for Quentin        100/10 for Margo

 

 

Now that this review is done, I hope you enjoyed it. I hope you read it. Like right now. I hope you also refuse to see any spoilers or read the end first because that would mean you're a peasant, a pansycake, a shuck-faced greenie, whatever you find insulting in a bookish kind of way.