March 24, 2015

"Paper Towns" Review


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Book: Paper Towns

Author: John Green

Format: E-book

Page Count: 332 

Publisher: Speak

My Rating: ★★

Synopsis: When Margo Roth Spiegelman beckons Quentin Jacobsen in the middle of the night—dressed like a ninja and plotting an ingenious campaign of revenge—he follows her. Margo’s always planned extravagantly, and, until now, she’s always planned solo. After a lifetime of loving Margo from afar, things are finally looking up for Q . . . until day breaks and she has vanished. Always an enigma, Margo has now become a mystery. But there are clues. And they’re for Q.

Printz Medalist John Green returns with the trademark brilliant wit and heart-stopping emotional honesty that have inspired a new generation of readers.

       I want to start this review off by saying the sole reason why I read this book was in preparation for the movie. I didn't want to judge the movie without reading the book. Same thing happened when "The Fault in Our Stars" came out, though this situation is a little different. That being said, I did not like "Paper Towns" and that's okay, because I came in knowing that I was more than likely not going to like it.
      The first John Green book I read was "The Fault in Our Stars". I really liked it, though I believe it was such literary gold as everyone makes it out to be. I then read "Looking for Alaska"... I hated Looking for Alaska. I hated the characters, the plot, basically everything about it, which really surprised me because everyone is always saying how great his books are. This is one of the first instances where I learned I need to start trusting my gut feeling on a book rather than the hype. Don't get me wrong, I like John Green, I just don't think I particularly like his writing. His style can be nice at times, but honestly it isn't that great. His writing style and plots are very formulaic. He tries to come across as elegantly funny, sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't. His characters are always the same too. The shy guy, the bold girl, funny sidekick.
      All of this can be applied to "Paper Towns". I didn't connect to the story and honestly I didn't care. I didn't care about finding Margo-- who in my opinion is one of the most annoying and self-centered female characters I have ever come across. The plot didn't seem to go anywhere. In the beginning it was about one thing then quickly switched to another; I never really became interested in what was happening. At about half way through the book, I just skimmed until the ending because I didn't care about what was happening.
      Overall this book was a bust for me, and that's okay. I had a feeling I wasn't going to like it, and I didn't. That being said, I don't think I will be reading anymore John Green books, even if they become movies. I'll watch the movies and try to be content.

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