Book Review: John Green's #PaperTowns

You know one of the many things I miss about being a kid? How stories ended; "And they lived happily ever after," "The end". Nothing was left to the imagination. Once a story ended it ended, except now when you think about it what happened to Little Red Riding Hood? Did she and the fox (or was it a wolf) form an alliance and start punking other kids visiting their grandparents...just a thought guys.

Then comes young adulthood where nearly everything is a sequel or left suspended in mid air. Well John Green has mastered the latter. I guess that's the beauty in his books really.

With Green's books, you never want the books to end but you do want to know what happens in the end and when you find out what does happen you a) want to hurl the book across the room because the ending and the road to the end is everything you did not expect or b) read everything after the last page, acknowledgements, discussion questions I mean everything in an effort to appease the denial phase you've just entered (denying that the book has indeed come to an end) and to make sure no "An Imperial Affliction" has been pulled on you.

Paper Towns in particular is no different.

May I just say, that before John Green wrote Paper Towns he read "Into the Wild by John Krakauer" which I also happened to have read before reading Paper Towns. Purely coincidental. Oh well you know what they say about great minds.

I found this book so captivating that you remember how I bowed down to TFIOS? Yup that's yesterday's news.

It basically revolves around Quentin or Q,  a senior in his last few months of high school and how it all unravels after the sudden disappearance of the school's IT girl Margo Roth Spiegelman who also happens to be Q's all time crush.

I'll be the first to admit, that it does not sound like much, but it is so much more than a mystery novel, in fact, it's far from it. That's what makes it sooo great. It's more of a  welcome-to-the-male-species-mind and the never ending high school experience type of novel.

The welcome-to-the-male-species-mind couldn't be brought out any clearer by anyone other than Q's friends, Ben and Radar. From referring to girls as honey bunnies and bringing the word "bro" back to absurd outfit ideas for graduation these guys will have you girls rolling your eyes and you guys giving imaginary high fives for this trio's "awesomeness".

High school experience, I don't think anyone can forget but in case you have or are yet to experience it or you happened to miss out on it, Paper Towns fills you right in.

This book offers that teenage temporary high and does not forget to include the trials and tribulations most teens go through. Basically, a roller coaster ride that is only going up my friend (see what I did there, put a little TFIOS in it).

By the time you're done reading this book, you'll probably be calling everybody bro and even though its not a sequel looking for anything John Green related to read and I almost forgot you'll be enlightened on what a paper town is...at least I was.



Picture courtesy of: www.dailycal.org