Reviews with content warning for Suicidal thoughts - Paper Towns

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Paper Towns by John Green

24 reviews

blb2006's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging mysterious slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.0

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b00ks_'s review against another edition

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adventurous fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

2.0

Paper Towns by John Green wasn't terrible, but I’m not going to actively try and recommend it to anyone. It was a nice and quick read, but I have three major complaints. 1. The slang and jokes in this book are super outdated and didn’t age well. They weren’t anything I couldn’t deal with, but they definitely didn’t make me laugh. 2. Lacey had no personality, and it felt like the only reason she was included was to check the “female character included in story” box. It was really annoying. 3. Margo’s obvious mental illness was completely glossed over. She ran away enough times that people were no longer surprised by her disappearance and she basically idolized death. Instead of using Margo’s actions as a way to discuss mental illness, she turned into a stereotypical “manic pixie dream girl.”

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meganlovesreading's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional mysterious tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.25

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grboph's review against another edition

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adventurous dark lighthearted mysterious medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

I read this book in middle school and decided to re-read it after finding a copy in a junk store for a quarter. My perception of it was definitely different this time around. I think the characters were well-developed, the story was compelling and entertaining, and the general message (that we never really know what is going on with other people and that people and things never exist in the ways you imagine them to) was nice, and that it was conveyed in a unique, creative way. I do think it tries a bit too hard to be profound at times (like the extensive and at times exhausting use of Walt Whitman quotes) and that it could have gotten its message across just as effectively without being so emo about it. While I loved Radar, Ben, and Lacey as characters (as well as Q's parents), I found the characters of Q and Margo to be sort of insufferable. Unfortunately, they are the two main characters, and the story is all about Margo and told from Q's point of view. In short, I thought Q was incredibly self-centered and for someone whose parents are both therapists, he had a remarkable lack of awareness that girls also, in fact, have thoughts and feelings and lives just like everybody else. Margo clearly had some mental health issues and shitty parents, but I still found her to be a bit "not-like-other-girls"-y and in my opinion, she does not treat those around her with the greatest degree of respect or kindness. In conclusion, I enjoyed reading this book due to John Green's writing and the interesting story, but the fake-deepness and annoying narrator definitely made me reconsider why I enjoyed this book so much when I was thirteen. (Of course, maybe that says something about the book's target audience, but I digress.) I would recommend this book to anyone who likes a good road-trip story or is into books that are pretty meta and reference lots of other books to move their plots along.

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