A review by bewildered_and_blase
Paper Towns by John Green
5.0
This one was my third John Green book. Although his books are always fast reads, I really enjoy them, and they seem to have a certain kind of depth. At least the always occupy my mind for long time afterwards. A depth which really lacks in a lot of modern Young adult litterature.
The language doesn't make it difficult for any reader, no matter how old they are (or whether they like me, have english as their third language), to read this books. At the same time it doesn't get boring, the langugage is varied. However I do also enjoy every single of his intertextual references, something which often lacks in YA books.
On the other hand, Green uses the same pattern for his character as he also uses in other of his novels, for example the "Looking for Alaska". He describes how a young nerdy, not-so-cool boy who falls in love with the popular, but different girl, who somehow is a bit of a rebel. OK, the structure is seen before, but it really makes sense. Green reads the protagonist and thereby also the reader through first love, the meaning of friendship, but also provides a critical angle on the society, a critical angle on those who criticize society, and a critical angle on those who criticize those who criticize society (it gets kind of confusing. I know.)
But instead of all this meta-book-talk, back to the story. As mentioned is the structure well known, but Green uses a lot of humor to losen it up and he is really funny. Pace gets slower in the middle of the book, but it is definitely worth it, since the end is REALLY, REALLY good.
I think the book is suited for any one, teenage girls or boys, adults and those in between. Also, if I wanted my grandparents to read something to make it easier for them to understand teenagers, it would probably be this one.
The language doesn't make it difficult for any reader, no matter how old they are (or whether they like me, have english as their third language), to read this books. At the same time it doesn't get boring, the langugage is varied. However I do also enjoy every single of his intertextual references, something which often lacks in YA books.
On the other hand, Green uses the same pattern for his character as he also uses in other of his novels, for example the "Looking for Alaska". He describes how a young nerdy, not-so-cool boy who falls in love with the popular, but different girl, who somehow is a bit of a rebel. OK, the structure is seen before, but it really makes sense. Green reads the protagonist and thereby also the reader through first love, the meaning of friendship, but also provides a critical angle on the society, a critical angle on those who criticize society, and a critical angle on those who criticize those who criticize society (it gets kind of confusing. I know.)
But instead of all this meta-book-talk, back to the story. As mentioned is the structure well known, but Green uses a lot of humor to losen it up and he is really funny. Pace gets slower in the middle of the book, but it is definitely worth it, since the end is REALLY, REALLY good.
I think the book is suited for any one, teenage girls or boys, adults and those in between. Also, if I wanted my grandparents to read something to make it easier for them to understand teenagers, it would probably be this one.