"Paper Towns" by John Green

Genre: YA
Publication: 2009 by SPEAK
Format: Paperback; 305 pages
Cover Rating: 4/5 Stars
Links: Goodreads, Amazon, Book Depo

From Goodreads: Who is the real Margo?

Quentin Jacobsen has spent a lifetime loving the magnificently adventurous Margo Roth Spiegelman from afar. So when she cracks open a window and climbs into his life—dressed like a ninja and summoning him for an ingenious campaign of revenge—he follows. After their all-nighter ends, and a new day breaks, Q arrives at school to discover that Margo, always an enigma, has now become a mystery. But Q soon learns that there are clues—and they're for him. Urged down a disconnected path, the closer he gets, the less Q sees the girl he thought he knew...


My Thoughts: Oh, John Green, will you ever write anything that I don't like? No? Didn't think so. Paper Towns is an excellent coming of age story with tons of life lessons, humor, and mystery weaved into it. Simply put, if you liked Looking for Alaska, then you will enjoy Paper Towns.

But I do have some small issues with it. First of all, this was my least favorite John Green book. Did that mean it sucked? No freaking way. It is a John Green book after all, and anything that man writes I will gladly devour. So, no it didn't suck, but it also didn't hold the same intensity that Looking for Alaska and The Fault in Our Stars held for me.

Second, I do have to agree with some of the other reviewers. there are some similarities to Alaska/ Margo and Miles/Q. But they're by far not the same characters... just the same formula. Which yeah, is a bit disappointing, but doesn't really take anything away from the story itself.

Bottom Line: I would recommend this book only after Looking for Alaska and The Fault in Our Stars. If you've read both and are looking for something to cure your John Green book hang-over then definitely pick this one up. Otherwise, start with the other two.

My Rating: 3.5 Stars

"Looking for Alaska" by John Green

Genre: YA
Format: Paperback; 221 pages
Publication: December 28, 2006 by Speak
Cover Rating: 5/5 Stars

From Goodreads: Before. Miles "Pudge" Halter's whole existence has been one big nonevent, and his obsession with famous last words has only made him crave the "Great Perhaps" (François Rabelais, poet) even more. Then he heads off to the sometimes crazy, possibly unstable, and anything-but-boring world of Culver Creek Boarding School, and his life becomes the opposite of safe. Because down the hall is Alaska Young. The gorgeous, clever, funny, sexy, self-destructive, screwed-up, and utterly fascinating Alaska Young, who is an event unto herself. She pulls Pudge into her world, launches him into the Great Perhaps, and steals his heart.

After. Nothing is ever the same


My Thoughts: I think it's safe to say, if you're reading a John Green novel it's going to be amazing. Looking for Alaska is my second JG read and now I don't know which one I love more- this one or The Fault in Our Stars. They're both exceedingly different stories, but they still have that coming of age theme going on.

For me, this story was just so, so fantastic. I live in the city it takes place in, and at first that made me weary to read it. Being southern, I know there are a A LOT of misconceptions about Alabama, and it's a real pet peeve of mine. For instance, we're all suppose to have that southern drawl and be a bunch of rednecks. The first thing that stuck out to me abut this book, is that John Green didn't really mention ANY southern accents... except for one that I can remember. Which I loved, because WE DON'T ALL HAVE THAT SOUTHERN HICK DRAWL. Sorry to burst that bubble, but it's true. Also, the city that I live in is pretty rad, and has a lot going on that has nothing to do with sister lovin' or country concerts lol.

Sorry, back to the book. I found LFA to be so insanely relateable, it was almost scary. Even though I am a girl, I found myself laughing along with Pudge's journey through his young adolescent years, saying "Oh yeah, I remember how that was such a big deal" or "Yep. I felt that way too." The older I get, the more I realize that the passion I carried as a teenager is fading away from me. I just don't get those huge overwhelming feelings about certain things anymore. Which is sad, but something I can be grateful for at the same time (I mean, honestly being a teenager is the best/worst). However, when I read a novel like this one, it all comes flooding back. It makes me sad and nostalgic and brings that "being alive and reckless" feeling back. Looking for Alaska, though, really hit home for me. It was the first time I had ever read a book where I related more to the guy than I did the girl. In school, I felt like the dorky, socially challenged Pudge, and my best-friend Jerm was more like Alaska- eccentric, philosophical trouble-maker, slightly relying too much on booze and cigarettes to get by, with an excellent taste in books and music. It was a hard book for me to read. Especially because the ending was so very similar to my own friendship.

But that is what makes John Green such an amazing author. He tugs at our heartstrings and makes us remember what it was like (or if you are a teenager, he makes you feel like you're not alone in all the crap that's going on in your world). If this book had fallen flat, I wouldn't have been up crying in the middle night, taking a stroll down memory lane. I loved, loved, this book, even though it was painful for me to read. Because if a story can make me cry, well then, it's worth it.

My Rating:

"The Fault in Our Stars" by John Green

Genre: YA/ Fiction
Format: Hardcover; 313 Pages
Publication: January 10, 2012 by Dutton Books
Cover Rating: 3/5 Stars

From Goodreads: Despite the tumor-shrinking medical miracle that has bought her a few years, Hazel has never been anything but terminal, her final chapter inscribed upon diagnosis. But when a gorgeous plot twist named Augustus Waters suddenly appears at Cancer Kid Support Group, Hazel's story is about to be completely rewritten.


My Thoughts: This book tore my soul in half and left me sobbing into my pillow late into the night.

Seriously.

Every once in a while, you find a book that just makes you reevaluate everything you thought you knew about life, love, and death. It becomes one of the hardest books you've ever had to read, but yet you can't stop yourself from devouring its pages as your mind whirls and spins soaking in every word it offers up to you. When you finish (usually crying tears of joy or sadness, sometimes both), you know that this will be one of those important "things" that you carry with you throughout your life. This will be something that you will reference back to many times, that you will keep in your heart and say "That was the moment I realized..."

And that is exactly what The Fault in Our Stars was for me. It was amazing, splendid, heartbreaking, witty, touching, and memorable.

Hazel quickly moved herself to my favorite book character ever. She is beyond words, and so I can not give you any kind of accurate character insight. Just know that she and Augustus and her parents and Isaac are all worth reading about. They're worth knowing.

This was my first John Green novel, and I can promise you it will not be my last (in fact, I have Looking for Alaska on my TBR shelf right now). If you read absoluely nothing else that I have ever recommend, please let this be the one you DO read. It's the most worthwhile book I've read in quite some time. Simply amazing.

My Rating: