Reviews with content warning for Bullying - Ciudades de papel

Reviews tagging 'Bullying'

Ciudades de papel, by John Green

9 reviews

grboph's review against another edition

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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_mm_'s review against another edition

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adventurous emotional mysterious medium-paced

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

2.0

To be honest it was just not that good. I just didn’t like it unfortunately… 2/5

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a_sleepy_berry's review against another edition

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adventurous dark mysterious sad tense slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

1.0

I read it several years ago and thought it was good. When I reread it now it went way below my expectations

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stampest's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional funny hopeful mysterious medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.75

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leilaliw's review against another edition

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adventurous hopeful mysterious relaxing medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.75

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rachel_here's review against another edition

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adventurous mysterious reflective medium-paced

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

2.25

Paper Towns is kind of a funny book to me. We follow Quentin, an average high school guy who embarks on a one-night adventure with his neighboor and childhood crush Margo Roth Spiegelman. But the following day Margo has gone missing, and Quentin figures it is up to him to gather the clues that will lead him to her - and possibly help him understand who she really is.

The story was pretty entertaining. There is a mystery, clues that lead Quentin from one place to another, a road trip, american highschool shenanigans... But I can't say I enjoyed the book all that much.

Quentin as a main character isn't exactly likeable. He's judgmental, a bit of a snob, and assumes he knows people better than they do - which often leads him to devalue them or put them on a pedestral, as he does Margo. Which isn't a problem in itself because he has an arc to go through to grow as a person. Except I don't think his story arc was really all that conclusive.

Spoiler

For someone who was supposed to learn how to see Margo as a real person instead of this inaccessible, grand mystery he had to figure out, he sure kept seeing her as a metaphor or a poem or whatever-else until the very end. And since we only ever see Margo through Quentin's narration, where he never really listens to her or take to heart what she's trying to say but thinks he does, it kind of defeats the purpose of showing that she is her own person unrelated to him - which itself isn't exactly groundbreaking, or at least shouldn't be.

For what it is, it's a fun mystery / coming-of-age story. But it still is overly stereotypical, both with its characters (especially the side cast) and the way some of the themes are written. Some casual remarks treated as facts or "boys will be boys" also made me raise an eyebrow, but it was otherwise pretty okay. It just wasn't my cup of tea.

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maxiemumbo's review against another edition

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

4.0

Not much variation from the typical John Green formula, but it's still as poignant and entertaining as ever.

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gray_713's review against another edition

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emotional reflective sad tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.75

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literalottie's review against another edition

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funny mysterious medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.0

Well, this is actually a bit more mediocre than I remember it being.

There is one key issue that I have with Paper Towns: the deconstruction of the "manic pixie dream girl" trope is just not very well-executed. In fact, John Green had already done it well a few years prior with Looking for Alaska, and this just feels like a poor imitation with shallower characters and a flimsier plot.

Margo is just so, so selfish, and I have a hard time sympathising with her towards the end. I mean,

Spoiler

how can she get mad at her friend for coming to find her (after essentially abandoning everyone who cared about her) when SHE was the one who left the trail of breadcrumbs? And yes, she does explain her intentions behind the clues, and how she didn't actually intend them to lead to her, but honestly her excuses just feel like a pathetic attempt to deflect from all of the frustration she puts everyone through

. As for Q, he spends so much of this book being almost as self-centred as Margo. I actually felt bad for his friends with how little regard and care he shows them. And that's saying something, because Q's friends, along with the other side characters, all range from uninteresting to aggravating. Lacey and Radar are the only ones that I maybe liked.

The one saving grace of this book, the one thing that keeps it from getting a 1/1.5 star rating, is the road trip which makes up most of the final third. It is full of genuinely hilarious moments and interactions that actually made me like the characters, even if just for that brief section. I haven't watched the film adaptation of Paper Towns, but I would do so purely to see those scenes adapted for the screen.

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