A review by bbckprpl
Paper Towns by John Green

5.0

Best book so far this year. (Yes, I know it's only February.) Still.

Great writing generally leaves me feeling one of two ways: as if I should NEVER. WRITE. AGAIN., or as if I should neverstopWRITING!!!! Somehow, this book left me with both feelings. I had so much to say about Margo Roth Spieglelman (and the word Spiegleman itself!), and the construction of paper towns (and the idea of paper towns!), and Q and his amazing friends who didn't tell him to go screw himself when he decided to do a bunch of incredibly risky/stupid/ and/or ridiculous things, but instead showed up for him and made him show up for them, and just rocked, in general.

But then I read more about it - fan stuff, and commentary and reviews -, and I watched a ton of Vlog brothers videos (obsession activated!) and read all of that commentary and stuff, and now I feel like... I have nothing smart enough to say because geniuses (a lot of them who are half my age) have already discussed it all in depth long before I even read it. Which is fine; because all of those things are just totally amazing, and I will glom on them. (But I still can't read TFiOS, people: I don't think I can handle the sads just yet.)

But I still want to blame my writing slump on John Green. (Which only works if John Green were code for "I am being lazy", which it is definitely NOT.)