Oh, this book. It has to be the funniest book I have ever, ever read.
While I have to admit that Paper Towns, unlike The Fault in our Stars, had many, many faults, it was witty, hilarious, and...awesome. There's no other word to describe it. Like Looking for Alaska, Paper Towns is so much more of a coming-of-age novel than The Fault in our Stars. It's about people who are young and in love and have the freedom to pursue their dreams. It's about how young and wild and free teenagers will one day step across and become Adults with Responsibilities without actually consciously realising it. Paper Towns made me realise this, that we make journeys towards becoming Adults, and that this journey is defined by tiny moments that we may not even notice. The big problem I had with Paper Towns was that, unlike in The Fault in our Stars where there were parts of the text I marked in my brain as John Green Philosophical Ramblings, this book was chock full-of them, rubbing against each other. And it exhausted me to read, because (sorry, nerdfighters, but I must be honest here) it seemed like John Green forgot about the true meaning of the metaphors after a while and just started rambling for the sake of sounding philosophical. It just began blurring into long paragraph after paragraph of nonsensical metaphor. He overdid it this time. Part 1 and 3 of the book were the best. While Part 2 felt like a tryhard author was writing it, John Green is a truly hilarious person, and what better way to represent being young and free than to have your characters [spoiler, highlight to read]go on an impromptu road trip?[end spoiler] I have to say that this book was the funniest story ever, and Margo, Q, Radar, Lacey, and Ben's adventures were terribly young and wild teenager but so fun to read about. I liked Margo's journey, but I felt like the book built up to an awfully limp climax. And while I was kind of glad for the ending, all the same, it didn't feel right or true to this story. I'm not going to say any more as I think it will give the whole thing away, but yeah. You know, I would recommend this book to anyone. To teenagers unsure of their identity, to adults wanting to experience youth again, and to anyone who wants to read a great story written by a great author. Paper Towns was so worth my time and I will continue to read and re-read it again and again. Four and a half stars for a book that was awesome and so full of heart.
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AuthorRobert Robinson is a tutor, writer, author of Book Reviews at ThePaperGuide and literature explorer. Robert was born in Austria. He moved to New York 10 years ago. Robert likes to travel, spend time with family and friends. Archives
December 2018
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