8.12.2010

A quick review of Paper Towns


The story follows Quentin or Q as he is commonly known, who is very much in love with his neighbor of 16 years, Margo Roth Spiegelman. When she drops by his window in the dead of night, asking to borrow his car for a revenge campaign, he takes her, and things finally start looking up for their relationship. But the next day, Margo doesn't come back. She doesn't come back the day after that. And the day after that. Everyone decides that she's gone forever, and that she'll never come back, but Q finds clues that seem to be specifically for him, and he becomes determined to get her back.

So...Paper Towns, Paper Towns. Since I label this as a quick review, I'll just list a few things aspects I loved and the aspects I didn't love as much:

Q's narration is one of the funniest and wittiest I've read. I simply loved what he had to say, and this was my favorite quote in the whole book (pg.59)-

"I always felt like you had to be important to have enemies. Example: Historically, Germany has had more enemies than Luxembourg. Margo Roth Spielgelman was Germany. And Great Britain. And the United States. And czarist Russia. Me, I'm Luxembourg. Just sitting around, tending sheep, and yodeling."

^There's an abundance of quotes like the one above, so you can imagine how happy I was while I was reading through. :D

The characters were actually very believable. I can imagine them walking down the halls in my high school.

Margo, I didn't like much. *shrug* Maybe because Margo Roth Spielgelman is not someone I would hang out with if she were real. (I would hate to get on her bad side. *shudders*)

Sometimes the crude humor went too far for me. Too far that I almost put it down, but because this had so many rave reviews, I just decided to continue it. I'm really glad I did, because the ending was my favorite part of the book. I absolutely adored the ending.

The writing was...lovely. It wasn't choppy, or anything. It flowed. And the dialogue was incredible. Maybe it's because he worked for radio stations and such, so John Green knows how to write dialogue that sort of seeps in naturally, but it was lovely. Not lovely in the sense that I would go around and say what the characters said, because I didn't like what they said half the time, but it was just natural. It didn't seem fake or contrived. Like I said, it flowed.

I loved the beginning, but the middle slowed down considerably, but, just when I thought "Oh no, this book is going downhill!", the book redeemed itself with its last few chapters! The road trip, the climax, the last few pages-I absolutely adored everything. I admire how John Green ended the story, and I especially liked how he resolved the Q/Margo thing. It wasn't cheesy. It wasn't utterly romantic. It was...perfect and fit the novel nicely like a nice pair of jeans. :)

So, in the end, despite not liking certain aspects of the book, I decided that I did enjoy it overall, but I'm not sure if I would recommend it or not because of the strong language. If you can take that, I would go ahead and try it. I'm having trouble thinking of who exactly to recommend this for because I think the book will mean something different for everyone, so I guess you'll just have to read it and see what you think of it yourself. :D

6 comments:

  1. That was a quick review? You make me feel ashamed. My reviews are always so short.
    Love the quote, I think I'll give this a shot =)

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  2. Label fail. Well, I thought it was sort of quick, since I didn't spend much time on it, but I guess not. heh...heh *nervous laugh*

    Well, I like your reviews, so you should keep it that way! :D

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  3. Q is the name of a character on Star Trek:TNG. I don't watch that series but I just remembered it.

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  4. i liked this book because who wouldnt find john green funny? i also found it fairly crude - and the middle section dragged a lot for me, the plot felt like it stagnated or something? I dont know...

    so, i think i gave it three stars - but it really is hilarious and john green is so talented :)

    love your review btw :)

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  5. Thanks for that Star Trek trivia, Rishi. Heh. Hmm...I think John Green mentioned Star Trek in a video...so maybe...he got it from there? It's possible. :D

    Thanks Nomes. :)

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  6. I read this book when it first came out, and loved it! I should probably peruse it again to refresh my memory more, because I don't remember the strong language. This could also be due to my unfortunate habit of cursing like a crusty old sailor. I agree that I would not want to get on Margo's bad side--but I did like her, in part because I remember reading something that said she was like John Green's commentary on the Manic Pixie Dream Girl type (in that she seems to be one, but then is not. Because no one can really BE an MPDG). I've enjoyed a lot of his books, and this was an excellent review!

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