Paper Towns by John Green
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

This was my 2nd John Green (Looking for Alaska). A better title might have been Looking for Margo Roth Spiegelman, but I think Green might have lost some originality points for self-plagiarizing. There certainly was much more physically searching for someone in this book than their was in his debut.

The story drove me forward and was compelling. I liked this book at least as much as Looking for Alaska. What I think Green does best is creating a narrator that the reader wants to spend more time with. There is something vastly universal about the narrators in his works I have read thus far. Green establishes narrators that are so human: not the coolest kid in school by any means, but not necessarily a bottom-feeder either. The insecurities in this narrator, Quentin, are what allowed me to most identify with him. The narrator sees himself as safe, a non-risktaker, which I think everyone identifies with to a point. It is easier to look outside yourself and see bold and strong people, Margo in this case. (view spoiler)[ In the end, however, I think the author's message might be that we don't see ourselves as we truly are. We also don't see others as they truly are, and the bigger the metaphorical mask we place on ourselves, the more insecure we may truly be. (hide spoiler)]

Green really helped me develop a love for the character of Margo Roth Spiegelman through the eyes of Quentin. The first act (section, whatever) of the novel is comical, heartfelt, and adventurous. While reading the beginning, I had flashbacks to Nick and Norah's Infinite Playlist-- it was another story of a one-night urban adventure for the ages, but there was a shift during the 2nd part of the book. It also did remind me of The Breakfast Club in certain parts.

John Green seems to have a heartbeat for school-age antics, dialogue and behaviors. He seems a literary John Hughes for the modern age. I believe the characters when they talk. Certainly, there are some archetypes here that Green is playing with: the school bully (Chuck), the popular jock (Jase), the misunderstood hot girl (Lacey), the horn dog (Ben), and the true nerd (Radar).

After the first act, the story turns into a mystery: where is Margo Roth Spiegelman? (view spoiler)[Like Quentin, I was certainly worried that she had committed suicide or died tragically somehow. I was worried about getting another repeat of Looking for Alaska in that sense: where I fall in love with one of the characters only to have to go through the difficulties associated with letting that person go with the characters. By the end of the book, I had to let go of Margo with Quentin, but I felt a lot more resolution and not as if something had been ripped from my heart, vastly missing, not able to be replaced. Wondering where exactly Margo was and if she were dead or alive kept me on edge. I did, however, have an issue with characters missing such a major clue that seemed so transparent to me. I mean, these were intelligent teenagers: running off to Princeton and Duke after their high school graduation, and they miss the pinholes in the wall? That threw me off a little at the end. (hide spoiler)]

The third part of the book seemed a little rushed to me. (view spoiler)[ I mean certainly the characters are in a rush to get to Margo before she once again vanishes into thin air, but sometimes the pacing didn't make sense. I certainly wouldn't have minded another conflict or two on the trip. Green did do a good job of making me feel the "carlag" the characters experience on the road though. I was right there with them. The yelling which begins the end of the book: the argument between Quentin and Margo, seemed a little ingenuine to me. I would have rewritten this small section differently. The conclusion itself establishes some powerful themes for me (which I mentioned earlier). I love the symbolism in the burying of the stories Margo has crosshatched: burying the "characters" of Quentin and Margo forever so that the people can live their lives. (hide spoiler)]

The book is truly a compelling read (I mean, it took me three days).

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