Paper Towns is a Young Adult novel about finding yourself in a place you don’t belong. But it’s so much more than that. Rating: 5 Books (stars)

I’m not necessarily sure that I can form any type of articulate sentence to really sum up my feelings for this book, it was that good. I loved that at the core of the book was some really serious stuff and there were some really serious moments, but a majority of the time I was smiling while reading, and then quite often actually laughing out loud. I mean, laughing so hard that I felt the need to tell my friend about how funny it is every 20-30 pages or so. John Green really is a flawless author, and I love how he’s able to create these characters that just feel so real that you almost feel as though you’re sitting in the room with them. This story was so real and so genuine, that at times I forgot that I was reading a fictional story, and that at the end of the book I was going to be left with a sort of emptiness you can only achieve when you’re attached to a person and you have to say goodbye. The book had me nostalgic for high school and the memories, and I completely related with all of the characters in different ways. Margo just wants to get the fuck out, check. Quentin cares about his grades but nothing else about school, check. Ben just wants to have a good time, maybe party a little bit, check. Radar is obsessed with an online website, check.

Spoilers will now ensue.

As the story went on, I started to really dislike Margo. Even in those final moments with Quentin. I understand her wanting to leave, I had the exact same moments when I lived at home during high school, which is exactly why I left. Twice. I loved the book much more when Margo was just an idea as opposed to an actual person, and I really loved the Lacey-Radar-Quentin-Ben dynamic. I would have liked to have more of that in the end. It kind of just happened, the ending. All of a sudden there was this big like, “OMG WILL THEY FIND HER?” and then she was there and it was so anti-climatic for all of them and then it just kind of ended. At least he got his kisses. Plural. I mean, we all know Margo probably isn’t going to keep in contact with him. That, or he just won’t care anymore because he’s going to go to college and hook up with some sweet honeybunnies.

It was so weird hearing about places that I live(d) in, and it was so much fun knowing exactly where and what they were talking about in relation to these places. This is one of my favorite books for sure. I want more of their lives, but I know that is a wish that is going nowhere.

My Rating: