Paper Towns

John Green’s YA (Young Adult) novel Paper Towns narrates the experiences of
a teenager in his pursuit of an enigmatic childhood friend. Quentin Jacobsen, better
known as “Q”, has always harbored romantic feelings towards Margo Roth Spiegelman,
his intrepid neighbor whom he has known since childhood. But after years of slowly
drifting apart, Margo’s reappearance one night brought back the feelings Q had for her.
Although after the night of their two-person adventure, Q discovers the next day that
Margo has mysteriously disappeared. What Q does not know is that Margo purposely
left clues for him to learn that Margo is not what Q thinks she is.

Paper Towns is one of author John Green’s many teen-oriented novels that
focuses on traversing life's ups and downs as a teenager. In his novels, the cast of
characters is mostly made up of teenagers who you can immediately relate to, due to
their realism and how easily you can see yourself among said characters. Unlike other
authors, Green's characterization of teenagers is much more grounded and believable
as real teenagers, in contrast to other novels wherein teenage characters feel one-
dimensional. Although Green’s proficiency in creating characters that are mainly
relatable has been received with praise, some readers still react with skepticism
whenever he releases a new book. This is because readers have noticed that Green
writes most of his characters from different books similar to one another.

This book review would mostly consist of my thoughts about the book’s
substance, structure, and style. The book’s themes and ideas will be explored, as well
as breaking down the story to fully understand what the characters' motivations are. I
would also include some comparisons to the 2015 movie which had some changes from
the source material.

The novel is split between four parts: The Strings, The Grass, and The Vessel,
with a prologue that serves as a flashback to when Q and Margo were kids when they
found a dead man laid near a tree. Because of this experience, their bond throughout
growing up is made. Paper Towns’ story mostly happens in the fictional subdivision of
Jefferson Park in Orlando, except for the third part is a road trip headed to Agloe, which
is the paper town where the story’s third act revolves around.
 The story is set in motion when Margo suddenly reappears in Q’s window after
many years. Margo tells Q that she needs his help in enacting an eleven-part plan to
enact her revenge. Their night consisted of busting into the houses and cars of those
who did Margo wrong. The end of the revenge plan is one of the moments from the
book that were changed in the movie. In the movie, their night ends on the top floor of
the SunTrust building, with Q and Margo sharing an intimate dance. Whereas in the
book, their journey ends in SeaWorld.

Part two touches on the set of characters, and the weeks that lead to the end of
their high school life. After their night of adventure, Margo suddenly disappears, but left
clues for Q. Q recruits the help of his best friends Ben and Radar, along with Margo’s
friend Lacey. Searching the clues left behind led the group into concluding that Margo is
staying at Agloe, a "paper town" which is a fake town that serves as a landmark by
cartographers to know if their maps are copied or not. After learning this, Quentin
decides to head there.

The third part consists of the road trip that Q’s group took from Orlando to Agloe.
The road trip is told from Q's perspective, with him documenting the trip hour by hour.
Throughout this road trip, the group's bond gets closer and closer.

At the end of their trip to Algoe, they finally reach the point where Margo is
supposed to be. After searching for a while, the group finds Margo in an abandoned
barn, which leads to an argument where both sides lash out at each other. This
argument leads to Ben, Radar, and Lacey leaving. But Q stays behind to learn why
Margo left Orlando. After talking, both have an emotional moment. Q finally finds the
strength to let go of Margo and his expectations of her. The novel ends with the two of
them agreeing to stay in touch and sharing an emotional kiss.

Green’s novels have always had been about coming-of-age, and Paper Towns is
no different. The trio’s conversations can be compared to high school students in real
life, a good example of these types of conversations is when Ben stated “Bro, it’s our
senior prom. It’s my last best chance to be some honeybunny’s fondest high school
memory.” (p. 53). Another example is the emotional growth that Q experiences during
his final conversation with Margo. “I stand in this parking lot, realizing that I've never
been this far from home, and here is this girl I love and cannot follow. I hope this is the
hero's errand because not following her is the hardest thing I've ever done.” (p. 163) is
the part where Q finally realizes that he was never meant to be with Margo, and thus
finding the strength to let her go.

An idea that the book follows through is about the titular "paper towns"
themselves. Paper towns are the physical place where Margo ran away, but the idea of
paper towns can also be associated with the characters themselves. The quote "People
love the idea of a paper girl. They always have. And the worst thing is that I loved it, too.
I cultivated it, you know?” (p. 158) by Margo explains the relationship she has had with
paper towns, with her identifying herself as a “paper girl", and her stating that she feels
like she is constrained to fill some sort of role in life.

The novel’s strengths, in my opinion, come mostly through the form of the
characters themselves. The characters felt real enough that understanding them was
not a problem. Another strength of the novel is the structure itself. For someone who
does not read a lot of books, it was easy for me to read, because of the character’s
words and references. The book is also short, clocking at only around 170 pages,
shorter than books that Green has written before.

The book also had its fair share of weaknesses. The small problem I had is that
the book had questionable points. It happened with some of the clues Margo left behind,
an example of this is the final clue Margo inserted in Omnictionary, which I had some
questions about such as what if Q did not read about Agloe in Omnictionary at all?
These small plot holes pulled me out of the story at points, but not enough to turn me off
the book altogether.

As for the movie version of the book, it was a watered-down version of the book.
The characters and cinematography were done right, but the biggest change for me is
that parts of the book were changed to fit the movie. Some of the changes were subtle
enough to go unnoticed. The most visible example of change is the road trip in the
movie, with Radar’s girlfriend Angela tagging along unlike in the book. With her
character being fleshed out a bit more, it also gave Radar more character development.
 Paper Towns is a fine book in my opinion, even if it has faults at times. This novel
should be considered as an important read especially for teenagers in the same age
group as the characters, as they could easily relate to the book. John Green is an
exceptional writer, and this book proves it again.

References:

Bio. (n.d.). John Green. Retrieved December 28, 2020, from

http://www.johngreenbooks.com/bio

Paper Towns: Plot Overview | SparkNotes. (n.d.). Paper Towns Summary, Themes.

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towns/summary/

17 Book Review Examples to Help You Write the Perfect Review. (n.d.). Discovery.

Retrieved January 2, 2021, from https://reedsy.com/discovery/blog/book-review-

examples

Summary. (n.d.). Paper Towns by John Green. Retrieved January 2, 2021, from

https://thepapertowns.weebly.com/summary.html

Palmer, I. (n.d.). Why John Green Just Gets It. Brightly. Retrieved January 2, 2021,

from https://www.readbrightly.com/john-green-just-gets/

Yandoli, K. L. (2020, August 31). Here’s What It’s Like To Visit An Actual Paper Town.

BuzzFeed. https://www.buzzfeed.com/krystieyandoli/welcome-to-the-agloe-

general-store-come-back-soon
Literary Themes. (n.d.). MasterClass. Retrieved December 30, 2020, from

https://www.masterclass.com/articles/the-complete-guide-to-narrative-theme-in-

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