John Green : PAPER TOWNS

Warning! Prepare yourself to catch a travelling fever!

PAPER TOWNS is a contemporary YA novel written by the king of contemporary young adult genre himself. . He melted the hearts all over the world with his amazing, but heart-shattering novel The Fault in Our Stars and now I am reaching for another story from his pen. Yes, I am talking about the one and only - MR JOHN GREEN.


I have a whole collection of John Green's novel. As a big fan of the YA genre, I am kinda required to own his full collection, otherwise I wouldn't be able to call myself a YA reader. So far, I've read Let It Snow, The Fault in Our Starts & The Abundance of Katherines. I have been meaning to read Paper Towns for quite some time, but the release of the film adaptation is coming closer, the trailer has been finally posted online for the world to see, so I have decided to give up and finally find out what is this story about.

*****

'The thing about Margo Roth Spiegelman is that really all I could ever do was let her talk, and then when she stopped talking encourage her to go on, due to the facts that 1. I was incontestably in love with her, and 2. She was absolutely unprecedented in every way, and 3. she never really asked me any questions...'

Quentin Jacobson has always loved Margo from afar. So when she climbs through his window to summon him on all-night road trip of revenge he cannot help but follow. But the next morning, Q turns up at school and Margo doesn't. She's left clues to her disappearance, like a trail of breadcrumbs for Q to follow. And everything leads to one unavoidable question: WHO IS THE REAL MARGO?

*****

Firstly, let's talk about the edition of the book. I own the paperback edition published in 2013. 305 pages, divided into 3 parts : THE STRINGS, THE GRASS & THE VESSEL. The cover of the book has an illustration of Orlando in black and white on a dark blue background. Red writing announcing the title of the book - PAPER TOWNS. Beautiful and mesmerising.

The writing is very modern, easy to read, entertaining and very relate able. I was hooked on the story straight from the first page. I really liked the fact that the story was written from Q's point of view. It was one of the first books from a guy's point of view I truly enjoy reading. I even managed to empathised with him. Or maybe, on some levels, I even found a little bits of me in him. Another fact I have enjoyed was how the story was divided into 3 different parts.


THE STRINGS introduces us to the relationship between Margo and Q. I love the crazy night these two spent together. The daring things they did together are inspiring. And adventurous. It is one of those nights which will change your life forever. THE GRASS then describes the story after Margo disappears and Q's frantic,  looking for clues she left for him. And that takes us to THE VESSEL. 24 hours drive to a literary town with one inhabitant - Margo. The story is different to other I have read. I love how while Quentin is searching for Margo, he starts to find himself. What he really wants and who he truly is. It's a beautiful love story with an ending I truly did not expect.

Margo is one of the most complicated characters I have ever managed to meet. She is an introverted explorer who doesn't really want to show the world who she truly is. She is desperate for some attention from the people who supposed to love her - her parents. And Q? Quentin is a hopeless romantic who fell in love with the wrong girl. She is too different. They have nothing in common. They are not meant to be. But that doesn't stop him to look for her. He doesn't lose hope and he still wants her back with him. Maybe this time, it will be different. Maybe she realises how much he truly loves her. Their relationship is complicated. They haven't talk at all in recent years. But when a chance to spend night with the girl he loves arises, he grabs it with both hands. And when the girl leaves him, he does everything he can to find her and bring her back. That's how strong his love is.


All in all, I enjoyed reading the story. I think I even prefer to The Fault in Our Stars. Yes, TFIOS was heart-breaking and unique, but this story was closer to my heart. Because we all, at certain point in our lives, are trying to find out who we truly are and what makes us happy. And that is the reason why I love this story that little bit more.

So thank you Mr Green for this wonderful story, I cannot wait to see on the big screen. But in the meantime, at least here is a little preview before the film adaptation of the book comes out. Here over the pond in UK we have to wait a little longer that our American friends. PAPER TOWNS is due to be released on August 21st 2015.