Paper Towns

Reader reviewed by yayreader

Quentin and Margo used to be friend, then they grew up and grew apart.
Now, unexpectedly, Margo appears on Quentin's "Q" window and takes him
on the night adventure of a lifetime which include fish, SeaWorld, and
broken windows. Q feels that he and Margo are back to being friends.
That is why he is surprised when next day at school, Margo is not
there. He doesn't give it much thought until it is apparent that Margo
has disappeared. And she has left clues that only Q would know.



Q follows these clues until finally, he comes across the word Paper
Towns. He fears that Margo has committed suicide and searches all of
the paper towns in Central Florida for her body.



One day, his graduation day to be exact, Q finally figures out where
Margo is hiding. Q and his friends undertake a nineteen hour road trip
to a fake town were Margo is hiding.



When they discover her, Margo explains that she didn't mean for them to
find her, only just one of her other many hiding places. And the sad
part is: she's never coming back.



This beautiful story mixes everything perfectly, humor, romance,
sadness, and mystery. We are following Q on his quest to find the girl
he has always loved. The adventure begins from page one. It is fast
paced and has an ending that you will never guess. I've always wanted
to do a road trip with my friends and found that this story has just
that. Time crunching, near-death experiences, and amazing humor that
portrays teenage life, and love, very realistically.



In one sentence:

What an adventure!

Reader reviewed by Christi

I loved Paper Towns By John Green.
  John Green writes with such amazing wit, and irony. Paper Towns danced between serious issues, and lighthearted observations so flawlessly.
 The Character of Margo Roth Speiglman was crafted so wonderfully imperfect, I had to read it until the very end.
 I love how Walt Whitman wove in and out of the story line. It coincided beautifully with the stories' message and meaning.

Reader reviewed by Jessica

In a highly simplistic novel, John Green introduces the reader with a girl who wants the ultimate escape and a boy who wants to keep her the same forever. After a long night of getting back at the town, she suddenly disappears and a long series of clues follow her disappearance. This book had strong parallels with both "Shift" and "As Simple as Snow," both of which were published before "Paper Towns."

I personally dislike John Green's style of writing, and believe that he doesn't know how to end a novel, and this book was no exception. The plot was interesting, yes, and the characters were real and more 3D than in his other books, but "Paper Towns" had a highly disappointing ending that simply just ended the way that a chapter would. All of the story and build up of suspense crashed down in the ending without any prestige and seemed as though John Green simply got bored with the book and just wanted to pile everything together into a few simple words.

My suggestion to anyone who wants to read this book is to read all but the last couple chapters, because, up to that point, the adventure is well done, but, as I said earlier, the ending of the book is a disaster. I wouldn't recommend reading this book.

Reader reviewed by Mairi

Q is surprised when Margo Roth Spiegelman shows up at his window and invites him on a midnight jaunt around town, but he goes. That night, in between spray-painting an M on the house of Margo's cheating ex-boyfriend and shaving off the class bully's eyebrows, Margo takes Q to the top of the SunTrust Building to look out over downtown Orlando. She says that it is a paper town, and that she (much to Q's distress) is a paper girl whose last string has just broken.

Several months ago, a friend talked me into reading Looking for Alaska and I enjoyed it, so I was happy when I saw this book sitting on the shelf in my school library, though not as happy as I was when I began to read it- Looking for Alaska may well have been as good, but I don't remember that. I really did try not to read it during class, but I couldn't help myself. This book is a quick read in the sense that it doesn't take long to finish, but I couldn't stop thinking about it after I closed the book.

I know a lot of high school students prefer to stay away from realistic books set in high schools, but even they should read this one.  

Reader reviewed by Kathleen

To Quentin Jacobson, his neighbor Margo Roth Speiglemen has always been an enigma. Even at the age of nine he thought that she was the most wonderfull girl he knew. His miracle. As they grew up, they grew apart. He became a band geek who couldn't actually play any instruments and she became the daring and dangerous girl that everyone in the school knew and loved. One night, Margo shows up at his window dressed in black and announces that they have something to do. Quentin spends the best and longest night of his life getting sweet revenge on the people who've made his life miserable and breaking into SeaWorld. He's so sure that this night will change the way Margo sees him but when he goes to school the next morning, she's gone. Convinced that Margo would not just run away without telling anybody where she was going, Quentin begins to follow a series of cryptic clues. But he soon realizes that maybe Margo didn't want to be found so much as understood.

I. Loved. This. Book.

I'm so used to reading fluff that takes cookie cutter teenagers and plops a dab of magic on to cover up the fact that the story is really about nothing. I've generally tried to stay away from non fantasy Young Adult fiction because it all seemed to be chick lit. The sugar cookie life without the magic. John Green has opened my eyes to a new genre that i can't even begin to name. This book is real.

He took all of the pitfalls that comes with being a high schooler, all of the muddled up emotions and relationships, all of the dumb high school boy stuff, all of the parties that you don't get invited to, the friends that you're only with because it's convinient, the pain and excitement of graduating, scooped it all up and stuck the most fascinating girl right in the middle who just wanted to get away from it all. This book wasn't about cliques, who's dating whom, or what she did to stab so and so in the back. It's about understanding people past the thin protective layer they put up to survive in high school. It's about reaching out to the people that you don't think need to be reached out to.

This book also had a million and one heavy quotes in them that make you want to stare at a wall and mull over your life for awhile. One of my favorites is this;

"Look at all those cul-de-sacs, those streets that turn in on themselves, all the houses that were built to fall apart. All those paper people living in those paper houses, burning the future to stay warm. All the paper kids drinking beer some bum bought for them at the paper convenience store. Everyone demented with the mania of owning things. All the things paper thin and paper frail. And all the people too. I've lived here for eighteen years and I have never once in my life come across anyone who cares about anything that matters." -Margo Roth Speiglemen

Read this book. It will change the way you think of young adult fiction.

Reader reviewed by Elise

Paper Towns was
extremely fantastic. Let me just say that now. The writing and voice
was hunorous and witty, but also very real. There was a distinct yet
not unbelievable difference between Quentin's internal
narration/thoughts and his actual dialogue. It made him very real and
created depth. Major kudos to
John Green for his character development and voice--both of these
points surpassed my expectations by miles and kept me reading until I
couldn't possibly go further. The character of Margo Roth Spiegelman
was beautifully constructed out of a medley of all-too-human emotions
under a facade of a girl we all wish we were. Through Quentin, we come
to know Margo and, consequently, the entire human race. This is a book
of discovery, philosophy, and speculation that took me on a journey
from which I emerged feeling cleansed. I strongly urge anyone and
everyone who has ever admired someone from the outside to read this
book.

Paper Towns
takes place in a modern American town, with the protagonist a modern
American eighteen-year-old boy. Quentin and his friends are just like
all teenage boys at their age--foulmouthed and interested in girls. At
first, their awful stereotypical teenage antics offended me
and made me question my choice of the book. But I quickly got over it.
Green's narration more than makes up for the language and jokes, and,
though I don't guarantee that you will be able to look past it as I
did, I do urge you to go ahead and read the book if this is your only
qualm.

Reader reviewed by Lauren

John Green's Paper Towns is the story of tested friendship and finding your way in life. Quentin and Margo have been neighbors and used to be very good friends when they were little. As the years went on, they made their own friends and didn't have much to do with each other. Secretly, Q has always had a huge crush on Margo.

It's a surprise when she shows up at his bedroom window late at night requesting him to be her driver for 11 things she has to do that night. Reluctant at the late hour, Q finally agrees and is kind of excited to hang out with Margo. He drives her through a series of pranks where she gets revenge on her cheating ex-boyfriend and his other girlfriend, her (now ex-) friend, and causes other havoc. On the journey, for the first time in a while, Q sees what he believes to be the real Margo.

Margo didn't show up the next day at school, or the next or the next. Q discovers that she ran away, and he ends up finding clues that he thinks she left for him to find so he could find her. He's afraid she is (or is going to be) dead from suicide, so with the help of his friends he begins a search. Through looking for Margo, he learns more about the foundations of his friendships with he buddies, and eventually learns about himself.

This story is just an all around wonderful read that has a lasting impact on the reader. It was great and I'd suggest it to EVERYONE!

Reader reviewed by Melissa

When Margo Roth Spiegleman shows up at Quentin Jacobsen's (Q's) window late at night and dressed all in black, Q knows something big is going on.  She enlists him in an all night campaign of revenge against some of their classmates.  Q thinks this might be his chance to reconnect with Margo, but she runs off the next day leaving him some very cryptic clues.  While Q and his friends Ben and Radar try to find the missing Margo Roth Spiegleman, they actually find out more about themselves and their lives along the way. 

There were moments that were laugh out loud funny.  I found this book very enjoyable, and the characters well drawn and likable.  Ben and Radar are the two best friends you wish you had when you were in high school.  My only gripe with the book was the ending, I was hoping for so much more, but the journey to get there was so enjoyable that even that didn't bother me.  Highly recommended.

I would recommend caution to sensitive readers and teachers, who do not like foul language or references to sex or sex organs in books they read or recommend.  There is some bullying, and mild violence.

Reader reviewed by Krista

Quentin "Q" Jacobsen is in love the perfect Margo Roth Spiegelman. One day, Margo shows up at Quentin's window, and together they play pranks on Margo's enemies. The next day, Margo has disappeared. Soon, Quentin finds clues left by Margo, and his quest to find her begins.

I absolutely loved Paper Towns. I could not put this book
down, and I ended up finishing it in three school days. Usually, with
school, it takes me at least a week to finish a book. The book was
witty, meaningful, and just plain fun. The deeper meaning was my
favorite part of the novel. Because of the similar theme, Paper Towns strongly reminded me of The Great Gatsby. In fact, after I finished reading The Great Gatsby and Winter Dreams
(a short story also by F. Scott Fitzgerald with the same theme) for
English last semester, I could not stop thinking how people wrongly
perceive other people as idols or perfections. Now, I am experiencing
the same feeling.

Green also seamlessly wove symbols into the story. One example is
the black Santas that Radars parents collect. I actually did not catch
this one while I was reading. How did I find out about it, then? By
looking at a vlog by John Green. I dont know how many of you have seen
it, but if youre interested, its at the end of this post. Another
thing I enjoyed about the novel was the inclusion of interesting
tidbits. The obvious one is paper towns, specifically where Margo
disappeared to. Omnictionary was also a clever name, and I enjoyed Leaves of Grass too. Paper Towns is now one of my favorite novels.  

Reader reviewed by Stephanie

The brilliant John Greens third novel starts off quietly, then builds to a roaring finish that sets a new bar for all young adult literature.

After years of running in different social spheres, towards the end of senior year, Quentin Jacobsens childhood friend, next-door neighbor, and unrequited love, the beautiful and eccentric Margo Roth Spiegelman, enlists him to help her in what becomes the wildest night of his life. However, just when he thinks he and Margo are on track to be friendsand maybe something moreagain, she disappears, leaving some clues behind for him to wonder about.

Quentin is convinced that following and figuring out the clues will lead him and his friends to Margo. What happens next, then, is an epic, unforgettable journey of self-discovery, humanity, adolescence, friendship, and love.

What could be a typical detective plot is brought alive at the hands of the witty and talented John Green, but this book is so much more than a simple mystery: youll want to read it again and again to discover all the philosophy, themes, and lessons Green has packed into this novel, as well as to laugh again at the many hilarious moments. I thought that LOOKING FOR ALASKA couldnt be topped, but I am proved wrong. With PAPER TOWNS, John Green establishes himself as the premier young adult author, one to which every other person will be compared to.