Overall Rating and Opinion of "Paper Towns"

Discuss the April 2015 book of the month, "Paper Towns" by John Green.
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How do you rate Paper Towns?

1 star - poor, recommend against reading it
3
3%
2 stars - fair, okay
15
16%
3 stars - good, recommend it
48
53%
4 stars - excellent, amazing
25
27%
 
Total votes: 91

Raven1128
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Re: Overall Rating and Opinion of "Paper Towns"

Post by Raven1128 »

So I enjoyed the story and the journey of the characters, but I kinda hated the ending.
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Post by zoelaurynn »

I love John Green's clever writing in Paper Towns. The Fault in Our Stars was the first book of his that I read, so I had high expectations. Though the books are pretty different in style, I think, I still enjoyed reading this book.
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Post by readingrainbowbright »

With the Paper Towns starting quick paced with a fun adventure of night time, teenage revenge between two childhood friends. Quentin thinks maybe this will be his chance after having loved Margo. But when morning comes, it leaves Quentin slowly peeling the wall paper off of what everyone seems to see in Margo. Each new layer reveals something new and almost disturbing about her. When he reaches the real Margo, he realizes nothing or anyone is ever as it seems.
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Post by Sarah_Khan »

I thought this book was overrated and Margo's character was so unrelatable and annoying. I think John Green tried too hard to make this book profound.
I enjoyed reading the parts of the book where it's just Quentin and his friends. The only other plus side of this book for me is that at times I actually laughed out loud which is not something I do often. I gave this book 2 out of 4 stars.
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Post by VinuW »

I loved this book. It wasn't your average YA contemporary book, and it gave me a lot to think about.
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Post by Taylor Razzani »

Sarah_Khan wrote:I thought this book was overrated and Margo's character was so unrelatable and annoying. I think John Green tried too hard to make this book profound.
I enjoyed reading the parts of the book where it's just Quentin and his friends. The only other plus side of this book for me is that at times I actually laughed out loud which is not something I do often. I gave this book 2 out of 4 stars.
I agree wholeheartedly about Margo's character! I tried to find something to like about her in the beginning to understand Quentin's obsession with her, but I had no such luck. I guess he just saw what he wanted in her, hence the whole "paper girl" thing. I did like her a little better at the end when she wasn't so fake and playing a role, but she was still wasn't relatable as you said.

Her character aside, I did enjoy this book and the hunt for her. It was hard to put down because I wanted to know where she went off too, especially when the possibility popped up that she could be dead. The ending had some good and bad points, so this is a tricky one for me to rate, but I'd say 3 out of 4.
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Post by BookerK »

The book wasn't completely terrible. I personally thought there was too much cursing. It had a good structure and I liked it until the end. I feel like the ending of a book needs to make me feel like everything was completed and summed up. Paper Towns didn't do that for me, and that's why it's just okay.

I would recommend it to someone, but would warn them about the cursing. I would also tell them that I wasn't it's biggest fan, but that they should try it out for themselves because I know other people who have liked it.
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Post by DeeMariaR »

This book is a personal favorite of mine. I fell in love with before I'd even finished the first chapter, and I loved it so much that I've read it at least 3 times since. It has so many witty and memorable lines that I had to grab a highlighter just to be able to go back through and giggle.
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Post by baltimorebooklover »

I LOVED "The Fault in Our Stars" but HATED "Looking for Alaska" and "Paper Towns". I felt like "Alaska" and "Paper Towns" were incredibly similar... both with some slightly geeky guy trying to get the popular (slightly crazy) girl. Didn't like that whole concept to begin with... didn't seem realistic to me, and made me mad that some girl would try to control a guy like that. Don't tell me they didn't know what they were doing!! I started "Abundance of Katherines" and want to see if John Green can redeem himself in my eyes with that book.

Also, "The Fault in Our Stars" was sweet and touching. "Alaska" and "Paper Towns" were more about things kids shouldn't do (but maybe I just feel that way because I'm 42!) I didn't like that the kids in the book were drunk or not following the rules at school or running away or whatever stuff they were doing. I felt like that would set a terrible example for any teen reading the book.
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Post by Renee Bella »

Although 'Paper Towns' is a good book, I feel as though once you have read one of John Green's books, you have read all of them. The exception to this was 'The Fault in Our Stars'. I began reading his books at the recommendation of a friend and we read a few of them together, discussing them afterwards. If I remember rightly, we began with 'Looking for Alaska' and both enjoyed it so much that we decided we should give his other books a try.

Low and behold the next book we read was 'Paper Towns' and whilst we enjoyed the book, the similarities between the two were all too transparent, to the point where they could be considered the same book with different character names. But, I was determined to honour the reputation Green upholds as a result of 'The Fault in Our Stars' and persevered by reading 'An Abundance of Katherine's' and sadly, the disappointing and all-too-familiar sense of deja vu washed over me once again.

Considering that 'The Fault in Our Stars' was the first book by Green I had read, I had high hopes for his other works. Unfortunately, seemingly lazy plotting with the facade of a new state as the setting was not enough to convince me of his prowess. But, i do appreciate that his books have fun and adventurous plots though I would not recommend reading more than two.
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Post by charlottemichael1401 »

John Green has done some great work, but I would not include Paper Towns on that list. He tricked me by The Fault in our Stars and Looking for Alaska into reading Paper Towns. Spoiler alert: The boy does NOT get the girl. Which is probably to his benefit because said girl is an egocentric trouble maker. Quinten literally travels hundreds of miles up the east coast of the US to find Margo after following many clues to find her location in a desolate place up north. Upon finding Margo she tells Quentin she did not want to be found, nor did she want to be found by him despite leaving MULTIPLE clues for him to... find her. I could deal with Quentin not living happily ever after with Margo but the author never addresses why she left him the clues if she didn't want him to find her. Nor does the author address why Margo came into his bedroom window after years of not speaking to one another.
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Post by fari30 »

I would rate this book 2 out of 4 stars because, while this book had the potential to be a favourite of mine, it completely failed for me. By the end of the novel, I ceased to care about the characters and what happens to them, I was not immersed in the novel the way I hoped I would be and the book just fell flat for me. I liked the road trip in general but other than that, the book does not very many redeeming qualities for me.
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Post by Genaaa »

I rate the book a 4 out of 4 because I genuinely enjoyed. Like usual, John Green created another amazing work of art. Margo and Quentin are both extremely cool characters and I absolutely love the story line. The development of the character as time goes on and how they change is incredible. Would definitely recommend this book to others.
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Post by curious_daisy »

I was not a fan of neither book nor movie mostly because I found Margot to be a really annoying character
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Post by Sindhu Srinath »

I think it was a real page-turner and a philosophical eye-opener. Margo really views the world and a life of adventure differently. She is bold and daring, good qualities which can be appreciated in a person. The idea of 'thick as thieves' friends is also portrayed beautifully. A real roller-coaster of emotions and events. Good read!
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