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A review by jessibellepip
Paper Towns by John Green
3.0
2.5 with the ending making it slightly better to give it 3.
I read this book over the course of days, when in reality, it should have taken only a few hours. It was so hard to get through because I just didn't like it. Q was pretty insufferable throughout the book. He thought poorly of his friends; had long internal monologues complaining about their thoughts on prom, only to have them himself later; and most of his thoughts were spiraling and consumed by Margo, who he barely knew. He was a shithead.
He was also a creep because he was trying to spy on a girl having sex, and creep is putting it lightly. All throughout this book, he is being a shit and being gross, and I am not sure why people genuinely like him, both in the book and in reality.
Also, Margo is not an enigma. She is just a girl who seems to be more of a private person, who just wants to leave her town she doesn't like. And what do you know, that is what happens. But instead, he is obsessed with her and reads into too much of everything. Literally his entire life seems to surround this girl, and he doesn't really know her. It seems no one really knows this girl.
The ending of the book made it better. But not much, in my opinion. There were too many unhealthy ideals foisted upon the reader in this book. The ending addressed that he didn't really know her and used long winded metaphors to explain it, but it did not address how unhealthy it was. It's also really a shit thing that Q admits he never saw Margo as a person. That is unfathomable to me because everyone is a person. Also, it was pretty racist that he jumps to a stereotypical life story of a Hispanic woman as her being in the US illegally.
If John Green meant for Q to be an awful shit of a human, and he's just a self-centered ass, Green nailed it. But I am sure that was not what he was trying to do.
Back go the ending. The ending wrapped everything up. For me, it redeemed the book some, and made it just fine. The concept of this giant mystery and adventure to find this girl, and paper towns as a whole, are such great concepts for a story. But the telling of it through a character like Q made it fall flat and it frustrating. I really liked Ben as a character and as a person, and the other side characters were good as well. Just Q and Margo, I don't get the appeal. And the entire thing was a manic pixie dream girl chase, which is again, unhealthy. Though, I appreciate the acknowledgment that he did not really know her, and her yelling at him about it as well. I just think also discussing how unhealthy that is would have made the book better and had better character growth for Q.
I read this book over the course of days, when in reality, it should have taken only a few hours. It was so hard to get through because I just didn't like it. Q was pretty insufferable throughout the book. He thought poorly of his friends; had long internal monologues complaining about their thoughts on prom, only to have them himself later; and most of his thoughts were spiraling and consumed by Margo, who he barely knew. He was a shithead.
He was also a creep because he was trying to spy on a girl having sex, and creep is putting it lightly. All throughout this book, he is being a shit and being gross, and I am not sure why people genuinely like him, both in the book and in reality.
Also, Margo is not an enigma. She is just a girl who seems to be more of a private person, who just wants to leave her town she doesn't like. And what do you know, that is what happens. But instead, he is obsessed with her and reads into too much of everything. Literally his entire life seems to surround this girl, and he doesn't really know her. It seems no one really knows this girl.
The ending of the book made it better. But not much, in my opinion. There were too many unhealthy ideals foisted upon the reader in this book. The ending addressed that he didn't really know her and used long winded metaphors to explain it, but it did not address how unhealthy it was. It's also really a shit thing that Q admits he never saw Margo as a person. That is unfathomable to me because everyone is a person. Also, it was pretty racist that he jumps to a stereotypical life story of a Hispanic woman as her being in the US illegally.
If John Green meant for Q to be an awful shit of a human, and he's just a self-centered ass, Green nailed it. But I am sure that was not what he was trying to do.
Back go the ending. The ending wrapped everything up. For me, it redeemed the book some, and made it just fine. The concept of this giant mystery and adventure to find this girl, and paper towns as a whole, are such great concepts for a story. But the telling of it through a character like Q made it fall flat and it frustrating. I really liked Ben as a character and as a person, and the other side characters were good as well. Just Q and Margo, I don't get the appeal. And the entire thing was a manic pixie dream girl chase, which is again, unhealthy. Though, I appreciate the acknowledgment that he did not really know her, and her yelling at him about it as well. I just think also discussing how unhealthy that is would have made the book better and had better character growth for Q.