Until We Read Again: Paper Towns by John Green ~ Book Review

Publication: September 22, 2009

305 pages

Goodreads Summary:

Quentin Jacobsen has spent a lifetime loving the magnificently adventurous Margo Roth Spiegelman from afar. So when she cracks open a window and climbs into his life—dressed like a ninja and summoning him for an ingenious campaign of revenge—he follows. After their all-nighter ends, and a new day breaks, Q arrives at school to discover that Margo, always an enigma, has now become a mystery. But Q soon learns that there are clues—and they're for him. Urged down a disconnected path, the closer he gets, the less Q sees the girl he thought he knew...

Thoughts:

This book has been on my TBR list for a long time, probably over a year. I really wanted to read it and since the movie is coming out this summer and I thought it would be the perfect time to jump into this book. This book is extremely hyped, so I had very, very high expectations going into this one. Many people say that this is their favorite John Green book, so I thought I was going to feel the same.
Sadly, it did not quite live up to the hype, in my opinion. It was still very good, just not amazing. I had a very hard time connecting with the characters. I liked Quentin, but did not find him very intriguing. I also found myself very, very disconnected to Margo and I think you are supposed to feel disconnected to her. But, it was hard to sympathize for her and worry about her. She was very mysterious and usually mysterious characters really intrigue me, but she fell a little flat for me. I just wanted more character development and less mystery. The characters had such a little history and backstory that it was hard to build that connection. There are some great moments in this book! I loved the road trip with Quentin and all his friends. It was very adventurous and funny. I really liked Ben's character (Quentin's friend). He was very enjoyable to read about and lightened the story a lot. I wish there was a little more to this story. I felt like it could have used a novella or a sequel. I feel very sad that I did not have this "great moment" with this book. I am still very glad that I have read it. I also look forward to reading more John Green books. This is my second John Green book. I have also read The Fault in our Stars. Let me know which one I should pick up next. I am also looking forward to the movie coming out in July!

My Favorite Quotes:

"That always seemed so ridiculous to me, that people want to be around someone because they are pretty. It's like picking your breakfast cereals based on color instead of taste."

"I'm starting to realize that people lack good mirrors. It's so hard for anyone to show us how we look and so hard for us to show anyone how we feel."

"At some point, you gotta stop looking up at the sky, or one of these days you'll look back down and see that you floated away."

"The last time I was this scared, I peed myself." "The last time I was this scared," Radar says "I actually had to face a Dark Lord in order to make the world safe for wizards."

My Goodreads Rating: (3.5 stars)