Review: Paper Towns by John Green

Book: Paper Towns

Author: John Green

Publication Date: October 16, 2008

Publisher: Dutton Juvenile
Rating: 3 Stars

I never really understood what people meant by the John Green formula until I read this book. The mysterious, cool, distant girl, the slightly geeky boy, and the journey. It's very reminiscent of Looking for Alaska, which I think is part of the reason I didn't like it as much. Looking for Alaska is my least favorite John Green book, and I think that if I hadn't read that, Paper Towns would've gotten a higher rating from me. As it is, I think it's just a better done regurgitation of LFA.

There are some things about John Green's writing that I really enjoy, despite the repetitive formula. I like how he uses symbolism and how his books usually revolve around one clear concept (in this case, paper towns and facades). Some people might see it as needlessly rehashing something, but his ideas are usually pretty unique and about stuff I've never heard of. Also, his dialogue and characters never fail to make me laugh. The road trip in this book was my favorite part. It was so isolated from everything else and it really brought the friendships among all the characters into perspective. The way they all come together for a 23 hour car ride and the strangeness of the situation highlights John Green's capacity for imagination. Out of all the characters, my favorite character was Radar because he didn't suffer from the melodrama and selfishness that the others had. I didn't have much patience for Q and Margo's dramatics. In fact, I didn't understand how they went from not really talking to each other at all to suddenly in love. For Q, it's understandable. But why would Margo give him the time of day after years of not really interacting with him? Doesn't make sense.

The book is exciting, I'll give it that. I wanted to keep reading. But I got tired of Q's obsession with the projection that Margo was giving off, and I guess that was kind of the point. However, it was too reminiscent of Pudge's angst after Alaska's disappearance. I probably need a break from John Green before I pick up another one of his books.

View all my reviews

Review: Will Grayson, Will Grayson by John Green and David Levithan

Book: Will Grayson, Will Grayson
Author: John Green, David Levithan
Publication Date: April 6th, 2010
Publisher: Dutton Children's
Rating: 4 Stars

This book is one of the strangest combinations of things ever. I mean, if I told you to read something involving a straight guy who watches a girl with an extremely masculine boyfriend he's not sure he likes so much anyway so he can get her locker combo who meets a boy with the same name who suffers from depression and has an online relationship with another guy, and they have in common one extremely large, extremely gay, and extremely musical guy called Tiny, wouldn't you look at me like I've gone crazy?

Will Grayson, Will Grayson is a book gone crazy. And with two authors like John Green and David Levithan, I'm not surprised. My English teacher actually recommended this book to me and said that, true to the blurb on its cover, it was rude and crass, but that it was wonderful. I agree with her, to an extent. I guess the hype around this book got to me, so I still have some reservations concerning it.

The book is a quirky mix of characters, and though every person stood out to me, I never felt that connected to any of them. For some reason, I thought Will Grayson, Will Grayson would be about two guys named Will Grayson meeting and falling in love, and I kept expecting that to happen. But it never did. However, one thing that I really admired was the portrayal of Depressed Will's mother, who is one of the best parents ever. Though she isn't used to dealing with her son's troubles, she takes it all in stride and has a courage that I think many parents lack when their children come out to them.

Anyway, I thought this book was about Will Grayson(s). Instead, it ended up revolving more around someone else. I don't know if the authors intended this, but if they did, it worked out well. Still, I expected the two Wills to have more interaction than they did in the book, and that disappointed me a little. In this book, I liked David Levithan's character more, since John Green's wasn't anything unusual. If you've read his books and you read WGWG, his Will is pretty much any of the angsty, philosophical males out of his other novels.

Even though this book is unrealistic, it was somewhat a journey for me, and I liked how everything culminated in a huge, gay musical. It would've been cliche, but it wasn't. And I loved that.


View all my reviews