Book Review : Paper Towns by John Green

Paper Towns by John Green

"Margo always loved mysteries. And in everything that came afterward, I could never stop thinking that maybe she loved mysteries so much that she became one."- Q

Quentin 'Q' Jacobsen has been in love with Margo Roth Spiegelman ever-since they were little. Things changed by the time they were both in high school, when Margo became the 'it' girl.

So when Margo turns up outside of Q's bedroom window- dressed like a ninja- and invites him- "Basically," she said, "this is going to be the best night of your life."- on a mission to 'right some wrongs and wrong some rights' , Q follows.

Having had the night of his life with Margo, Q thought things will finally work out between the both of them. Unfortunate for Q, Margo vanishes the next day, leaving series of clues of her whereabouts, the paper town. 

As he embarks on the journey to the paper town with his two best friends; Radar and Ben, alongside Margo's Lacie, he begin to realize how different the real Margo is from his Margo- "Margo always loved mysteries. And in everything that came afterward, I could never stop thinking that maybe she loved mysteries so much that she became one."

As I was reading the book, all I could think about was "where's Margo! What happened to her? Is she dead?". As unexpected as it was, Paper Towns was,...well...a disappointment? *sigh*

I was so in love with most, if not all of John Green's books that it kills me to say that I'm disappointed with the existence of Paper Towns. As similar as Margo is to Alaska Young from Looking For Alaska, this so-called 'manic pixie dream girl' is way less amiable, and selfish. 

What drives the novel is Quentin's refusal to let go the thoughts of Margo, I reckon. The things that got me reading though, were Radar's endless jokes and the metaphors used in the novel(John's really good with metaphors, I can tell you that for sure), the Black Santas, and of course, Quentin's awesome parents. 

Nonetheless, Paper Towns promise you hell-worth-reading adventures that map-less-ly got you wondering what's next. John can never go wrong with educating the readers on how to become a decent people. At the end of the story, I learnt about how each of us are only humans, and how we should not be judging others.

Rating

"The fundamental mistake I had always made- and that she had, in fairness, always led me to make- was this: Margo was not a miracle. She was not an adventure. She was not a fine and precious thing. She was a girl."

Extras