Reviews

Ciudades de papel by John Green

lizzymazz12's review against another edition

adventurous emotional medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? N/A
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

amycam's review against another edition

adventurous funny reflective medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Ableism

smuttea_matcha's review against another edition

4.0

Can I just say that John Green is a dream smasher? He's such a great writer with all the personality that he puts into his characters that really bring them to life. They may be paper boys and paper girls, but they're so real to me. The friendship of Ben, Radar, and Q was so perfect. They have fights, but they wouldn't be friends with each other if they were any different. While this book didn't leave me in a sobbing mess like The Fault in Our Stars, it certainly did its damage. I know this book centers around high school seniors, but the characters could not be any more mature. I had this sort of love/hate thing for Margo, but she's just a girl trying to be herself and to know the world. The ending was filled with so much hope and yet not. The guy eventually kisses the girl, sure, but it's not a happy kiss filled with promises of the future. It's a good bye kiss where both parties understand that they won't be following each other because they both have different futures envisioned for themselves. I adore Q and how much heart he put into this, but this book gets reality right. Things aren't how you imagine them to be and this book really gets that message across.

errski's review against another edition

4.0

I liked the book, and I liked the message, but I really didn't like Quentin's obsession with Margo, but I guess that's the point? As I was reading, the book got to a point where I was internally yelling "CAN YOU JUST FIND HER ALREADY? JEEZ." The ending was a little anticlimactic for the build up,

Spoiler

even though Q knew that she wouldn't be coming back with him and their friends once she was found

.

I liked all the references to "Song of Myself" by Walt Whitman, I felt like following that, Q reading and trying to find Margo through that

Spoiler

also ending up finding himself

was well done.

A lot of people review this book and similar to John Green's other books, but maybe the characters are similar in a way, but it seems like John Green gets inspiration from his own life. Also forget just John Green's YA novels, look at most YA novels that involve any kind of romance. Geeky main character falls for jock/popular girl/boy/someone who appears completely out of their league.

Spoiler

And speaking of out of their league, Ben and Lacey was completely random, it could have happened over time, maybe after the trip, but they went to prom (which was anticlimactic) together then are instantly in love, maybe it's a play on the way hs seniors view relationships, but John Green's characters are deep in some ways and then shallow in other ways, this almost seems unrealistic at times.

ashilene's review against another edition

5.0

Funny and clever

Not only was this book heartfelt and clever as you would expect from John Green, but it has moments of laugh aloud comedic enjoyment. Great quick read.

jenmangler's review against another edition

3.0

I am a fan of John Green's work. I love that his characters are smart and quirky and that they feel real to me from the get-go. So it feels strange to not like one of his characters, but I do not like Margo Roth Spiegelman. There are moments when I get a kick out of her, but for most of the book I just felt angry towards her for being so selfish. Yeah, I get that she's young and doing what she feels like she has to do, but she's so self-involved that she doesn't even stop to consider how her actions affect others. Even the people she does like. I do, however, like Quentin. A lot. He made the book for me. I'd like to believe there more people in the world like Quentin than there are like Margo, because it would be a much better place.

writermags's review against another edition

4.0

Not totally sure how I feel about this book. On one hand, The dialogue and narration is fantastic (I really feel like that's John Green's strong suit). My favorite part was definitely the road trip, I really enjoyed reading that. I didn't like Margo very much, but that's just me. I felt like the supporting characters (Lacey, Radar, Ben) were a little flat , but at the same time, they weren't the main focus of the story, so I'm not sure.

Either way, I enjoyed reading the book! It was definitely worth the money I spent.

seyahrue's review against another edition

2.0

I'm so glad that I watched the film first, otherwise this book would have been the most underwhelming thing I have ever read. Seriously, if I didn't already know what was going to happen - and weren't curious if the book had any differences - I would have given up on this about half way through.

None of the characters felt like real people? I just couldn't imagine a single one of them being real, especially Quentin, which made it hard to actually relate to anything he was going through. And Margo too, actually. I understand her need to leave, but just up and going and telling no one and letting people think you're dead is a pretty dick move. She could have at least left an actual note and saved the whole pointless task of Q searching for clues she didn't actually leave behind.

Now that I'm thinking about it, the ending just made the whole book feel pretty pointless, because everything Q thought Margo was trying to tell him was just not true at all. I know that's half the point, that you can't actually ever really know someone, and Margo wasn't who he thought she was, but it was still very annoying to read.

I don't really know what to think of this book, but I'm pretty set on my star rating for it. A good chunk of it could have been taken out and it would not have made one blind but of difference, and that's what bothers me - other than the fact that it was mind-numbingly boring in parts.

This feels like such a negative review, so I'll end by saying that I really liked Radar. And Lacey. And Ben too, even though they didn't feel like real people. Basically anyone that wasn't the two main people, who I felt like I was supposed to like, but didn't.

I'm just going to pretend that the book didn't happen, and live in blissful ignorance, and imagine that the film plot is all there was - that would be more of a three stars, mainly because it cuts out all the tedious parts of this book

kaimju's review against another edition

lighthearted reflective relaxing medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Loveable characters? It's complicated

4.0

sunnyp_2's review against another edition

4.0

1 day read.