Wednesday, March 2, 2011

John Green "Paper Towns"

Just to start off, I should say that while I am a huge fan of the vlogbrothers on youtube, I hadn't actually read a John Green novel. It was on my to read list for ages. Now I have. And I'm going to do my best to create a pure and unbiased review.


It was awesome. Go read it NOW. End of review.

What I liked most about this novel was the pacing of the story. It pretty consistently stayed at a fast pace that kept everything rolling. The story never stops going forward, and I think that this will be appreciated by a lot of young readers. Except for a bit around the first chapter that I found pretty boring- but I know why, because I'm not a guy and I couldn't care less about prom, even when I was a teenager I didn't care and didn't even go to mine. Maybe because I'm not a boy? Maybe because I hate reading words like "honey bunny over and over again. But then the plot goes on and doesn't stop. It is interesting and hilarious at points-it's so hilarious just in case someone is reading this and hasn't finished it or will one day read it, I wont even mention the epic hilarity. Towards the end of the book, something made me laugh for about 10 minutes, and I'm getting a little giggly thinking about it now. Lately books just haven't been that funny to me. The novel also has a lot of discussions about human nature, personalities, and the like. And expectations of the future and other people. I think it hit me deeply because since high school I "upped and left" a few times and just stopped talking to people I once knew. I liked how the novel reveals people's perceptions about other people and their actions-Margo's parents change the locks, Q's parents are willing to guide her and help her out, some people just think she simply ran away and leave her be. People made these assumptions without asking her, which I think young people can identify with, because aren't people always making assumptions for you on your behalf? Your parents certainly do, but so do your friends, don't they? They see you as a snippet in time, and you cannot evolve as a person past that or else you're not the same in their eyes.

To sum up, I really enjoyed this book. I hope in a few years I can give a copy to my little brother.  

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