Green, John. Paper Towns. New York, NY: Penguin Random House, 2008. Print.
305 pages
Reviewed by Jess d'Artagnan Love
My YouTube Review
My YouTube Review
"Paper towns" are town names that map makers use to catch plagiarizing competing map makers. The towns don't actually exist in reality. This concept of perception versus reality is a theme of John Green's novel. The enigmatic Margo is missing and her childhood friend, Quentin, is searching for her. She's left a series of clues for him to follow and each clue leads Quentin to question how well he really knows Margo.
A fan of one of Green's most famous works, The Fault in Our Stars, I read this with high expectations. By the end of the novel, I found myself disappointed. Paper Towns lacked the finesse and sophistication of his other work. Some of the dialogue felt forced. It was typical teenage dialogue with lots of "dudes," and "likes," scattered in for age appropriateness.
Ben and Radar, Quentin's two friends, could easily have been just one character. There weren't many differentiating qualities between the two and I found myself not able to keep track of who did what. In my head, they just became one merged character. The same happened with the two supporting female roles. They would have worked just as well being one character rather than two.
I did like the discussion of perception both how we perceive ourselves and how others perceive us. This discussion is what got me through the end of the book. I wasn't attached to the characters or the plot, but I was curious about how perception was discussed.
Overall, not a bad read, but not a great one either.
Would I read it again?
No, but I will keep reading Green's other work. Other fans I've discussed this book with agree that Paper Towns isn't his strongest work..
Recommended for
John Green fans who already know he's a good writer.
Not Recommended for
Readers who haven't read Green yet. Start with The Fault in Our Stars.
Word Bank
- None
3 stars out of 5
John Green's website: http://www.johngreenbooks.com/
John Green on Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/1406384.John_Green
John Green on Twitter: https://twitter.com/johngreen
Connect with me!
Instagram: @jdartagnanlove
Twitter: @jdartagnanlove
No comments:
Post a Comment