I ♥ Books: Paper Towns by John Green

Name:  Paper Towns
Author:  John Green
Pages:  305
Publisher:  Bloomsbury (2014)

Summary
Quentin is a senior in high school who spends most of his time doing normal teenager things, like preparing for college, playing video games with his two best friends and obsessing over the adventurous girl next door who he used to think he knew. One night she drags him along on one of her adventures and never shows up at school the next day, leaving it up to Q to unravel the mystery that is Margo Roth Spiegelman.

Discussion
I loved this book, but in a weird way. I actually discussed this with a friend after she'd read it too and we were both torn about the ending. It was just a little unsatisfying. But now, months after actually reading the book, I realised that it is perhaps my favourite John Green book of all time, because of the supporting characters and road trip alone. 

My one true critique of this book though would have to be Quentin and Margo. Quentin's fixation with Margo was a little awkward to read sometimes, but then the clues he pieced together helped me get over it. There were a few pages in which I hated Margo, because of reasons. Also, Quentin Jacobsen, Colin Singleton, and Miles Halter are all the exact same person. Or at least that's how I feel now that I know them all okay enough to compare them. The same goes for Margo, Alaska and most of the Katherines. In terms of those relationships, it's been pretty two-dimensional, but that's where the side characters swoop in and save everything.

The side characters in this were just the absolute best. They were all just really funny and endearing and real. I genuinely wanted to be friends with them, because they can just turn anything into a good time. Radar was someone I would have exploited in high school. His homework and mine would be strikingly similar. Ben though... Ben was just a barrel of laughs. If I'd known him in real life, he would probably annoy me a little bit, but then I would get over it and realise that he's actually a really fun guy.

Favourite Line
This part: “Poetry is just so emo." he said. "Oh, the pain. The pain. It always rains. In my soul.” 

Also the made-to-quote lines, like “That's always seemed so ridiculous to me, that people want to be around someone because they're pretty. It's like picking your breakfast cereals based on colour instead of taste.” and “The town was paper, but the memories were not.” 

Verdict
The sense of adventure and mystery in this story was so wonderful. It made me feel better about my own dull life, which is always great. That aside, this was a really great book full of fantastic characters. 5/5, will read again.

Rating