Paper Towns by John Green
Review by Mirah Welday (mwelday)
Paper Towns won the 2009 Edgar Award for Best Young Adult Mystery, was number one on the New York Times bestseller list, and was written by the same author who gave us The Fault in Our Stars. I had very high expectations.
Meet Quentin and Margo, neighbors who were close as children, but who have grown apart as teenagers. They have had very little to do with one another until Margo climbs into Quentin’s window one night during their senior year of high school. Margo takes Quentin on a reckless ‘adventure’. Margo dishes out some teenage justice to those who have wronged her and Quentin lets go of some of his ‘good boy’ personality for a few hours. And then Margo is gone. Did she run away or did something more malevolent happen to her? Thus, begins a quest to find Margo.
There were a couple of things I really liked about this book. One, Quentin’s friendship with Ben and Radar and two, the dialogue between the characters. Ben and Radar reminded me of those fabulous friendships where you can say almost anything to one another and still be loved. They provided the brutal honesty and constant ribbing perfect for any situation or for any emotion. Ben and Radar provided the levity that was much-needed in the more complex, difficult to understand mentality of Margo. And Green did not disappoint with the dialogue between the characters. Witty and quick-paced, it read like a natural conversation and had me smiling or laughing out loud at times.
While there were things I liked about the book, I did feel it was a bit of a letdown in the end. In my opinion, the character of Margo and her perceived complexities came off as artificial and forced. I thought the other characters were much stronger, so having the character I considered the weakest at the center of the story made it a bit harder to truly appreciate the novel as a whole.
Overall, I think the premise was a good one but the lack of character in Margo impacted the result in the end, so I give this one 3.5 out of 5 stars. I would recommend The Fault in Our Stars more heartily than Paper Towns. You can also read my review of The Fault in Our Stars on the PaperBackSwap.com blog.
