Paper Towns

Title: Paper Towns
Author: John Green
Pages: 305 (paperback)
Published: September 2009 by Speak
(All links lead to the books' respective Goodreads pages)

Summary: Who is the real Margo? 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...

My Thoughts: This is the first John Green book that didn't have me in tears, but I stilled enjoyed it immensely. That's not to say it wasn't moving. I was greatly moved, don't get me wrong, it just made me think more about how the world functions and our place in it rather than loss or finding out something about yourself or others when there is a loss, which was a big part of The Fault in Our Stars and Looking For Alaska, in my opinion.

In this novel, our protagonist Quentin is in love with Margo Roth Spiegelman (there is no other way to say her name other than saying it in it's entirety) from afar until she becomes a mystery. It's hard to give much more summary to the book than what is above without giving away any spoilers. But I think I can safely say that this book was more about Quentin discovering himself and what he wanted and not about unraveling the mystery that is Margo Roth Spiegelman.

That was my favorite part of the book. When it comes down to brass tax, this book was not a love story. It was more of a coming of age story if anything. And oh my goodness it was hysterical and intelligent and everything I hope for when reading a John Green book. The only reason why I don't give it a full five out of five stars is because I feel like it could have been about 20 pages longer. It felt slightly rushed when it came to the resolution of the whole thing and I was left wanting more rather than feeling completely satisfied with my reading experience.

With that aside, I recommend this book to anyone else who has enjoyed a book by John Green or has ever just wanted a smart and funny contemporary novel that makes them think in profound ways. I came to realize certain things about myself and others through this book that I might not have otherwise, and for that I am grateful. This is why I read books, so that I can have experiences such as these and get inside someone's head and understand them a little better without having to be them. (Oh no I'm getting mushy and emotional. The feels. thE FEELS!) I can definitely see myself rereading this book over and over again in the future.

As with most great and amazing books, I found it extremely difficult to put this one down. And as with most John Green books, I loved it from beginning to end.
My Rating: 4.5 out of 5 stars.