Paper Towns by John Green
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Rating: 4.5 stars

This book is a total gem. A total absolute sparkling gem! I mean, I have always been on the fence about jumping on the john-green-fan-wagon, simply because of all the hype surrounding his work. After reading Looking For Alaska, I truly started admiring his work. But THIS BOOK has got me hopping on the bandwagon. I am now a true fan. In my honest opinion, I think Paper Towns is so much better than Looking For Alaska. But you can't really compare. It all depends on which you really connect with. The storylines are abit similar.

Here we follow Quentin Jacobsen on his last days of senior year. He will be graduating soon and the future awaits him. All his life, he has been nursing a major crush on his next-door neighbour, Margo Roth Spiegelman who is a legend in his small town. Slowly his love for this gung-ho, spontaneous young girl turns into full-blown love as she appeared one night in front of his window and brings him on an unforgettable night adventure. However, as quickly as she came and shook up his life, she disappeared. Leaving behind a trail of clues as to where she really is. As Quentin searches for Margo, the clues would lead him to not just a location but perhaps lead him to the answer to the question, "Who is the real Margo Roth Spiegelman?"

First and foremost, let's talk about the characters. All of which are lovely, suburban and realistic. Quentin is very relateable in his averageness. But not the point where he is bland. He is intelligent enough, witty enough and brave enough to be a protagonist without being overtly so. And we can see how love transforms people. Also, we see how love can transform into an obsession. We read how Quentin struggles to find this balance. The struggle to find Margo became, to me, a struggle to find himself 'cos he thinks that he can find himself in her. That is a feeling anyone who has had young love can identify with.

Margo is superlative, an exclamation point. She is always the centre of attention even if she isn't physically there. She is that type of person, but not at all unlike-able because she is unpretentious in her attention-seeking ways. Safe to say, she is freakin' cool! And you can see why Quentin would fall for her. But when we dig deeper into her life and psyche, we see that there are so many dimensions to her. Behind the sparkles that she dazzles people with, inside she is very dark indeed. I keep reading because I genuinely wanna know more about her.

Other characters like Radar, Ben and Lacey are also brilliantly done. Everyone had a distinct role to play in Quentin's life and my fave has to be Radar. He is a total nerd badass. They add lots of humour to the book as well. I find myself laughing out loud at the scenes that involve Ben, especially. He is ONE CRAZY DUDE.

The plot is great! I love how John Green divides the book into three parts and the images that each part of the story is associated with. I feel like there are pitstops to the journey of finding Margo. Although I did find the road trip towards the end a tad bit lengthy.

Another problem I have is the ending that seemed abit anti-climatic. I felt myself going, "That's it?". But then John Green makes up for it with his SPECTACULAR writing. Omg. THIS MAN SERIOUSLY KNOWS HOW TO WRITE. As in, he just phrases things that you can't quite place your finger on and hits the nail on the head. I find myself reveling in his poignant sentences that are so quote-worthy. There are so many times I catch myself gasping at the beauty of his imagery. SO FREAKIN' GOOD!

There is no real closure in this book. It is a story that will linger long after you turned the last page... That is always the sign of a fantastic read.

View all my reviews