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Tanaya wrote:@dhaller I like that you pointed the theme of idealization. It's easy to paint a picture of what we want to believe about ourselves and others, but reality can be far off from our own fantasies. Despite the drastic example under which this happened, it's better to figure this out earlier in life than later, so that's one takeaway for Quentin.

Thanks!

So many books today, especially the most popular ones, are made by author insert or for reader insert. In other words, the main character isn't so much a character as a blank space for the reader to imagine themselves, like one of those cardboard cutouts in a fair that you put your face in and get your picture taken.

Triss from Divergent is a good example, as are Harry Potter and Bella Swan.

John Green excels in that he doesn't do this: while Paper Towns's main character is a typical teenager, he isn't an insert, and he learns over the course of the novel that love isn't making someone into an ideal, which is not a typical lesson to learn.

Such a great book.

I just finished this book today and am still trying to process how I feel about the ending. For a YA book I was thinking and kind of hoping for a happy ending, which is unusual for me. I didn't really like Margo in the beginning of the book but at the end I could appreciate her a little more. She seemed to be the queen of high school and was well liked, but no one knew the real her and only saw a "paper girl". I liked the fact that she was aware of that and tried to do something about it, even if it wasn't the smartest decision.

I do normally like books that don't have happy, clear cut endings, but I guess the whole mission to find Margo and all the characters went through made me want a more clear ending. Mostly I wanted to know how the relationships between Margo and Quentin, and Margo and Lacey ended up.

At first, I was disappointed because Q put in so much effort and heart into finding Margo. But I love how realistic the ending turned out to be. Life is not always a fairytale! They were young kids on totally different paths with different ideas of what life is all about. I think it's so important to remember that even if you love someone, it does not mean you should be together. I think the ending was perfect as far as an overall lesson learned.

The ending originally surprised me. I think it's an excellent ending though, especially due to the fact that it goes against the normal endings. Unlike most young adult books, it doesn't end with a cliche guy and girl get together and stay together forever type of ending.

I saw the movie first, and in fact the only reason why I decided to read the book was because someone in the IMDb forums said the book had a better ending. In the end I have to agree. It's almost the same except for the fact that in the film Margo remains the Manic Pixie Dream Girl, but in the book you see behind the myth and legend of Margo Roth ... why does John Green give his characters so many names?

I liked that Quentin learned a lesson at the end, and Margo seemed to have learned something from him as well. I don't like that he skipped his high school graduation to chase after somebody who didn't deserve it, and didn't even want to be found, but I'm glad that good came of it. They will both likely remember the lessons they learned for the rest of their lives. And, of course, if he hadn't chased after her, there wouldn't have been a story.

The ending was really unsatisfying for me but it made the most sense. I appreciate that not all authors use stereotypical happy endings.

dhaller wrote: ↑31 Jul 2015, 19:35 I felt that the ending was perfect.

The "moral" of the book, or at least the main theme I took away, was that idealizing people is a mistake. The book ends, therefore, with a very unidealized ending to a high school crush.

And the best part is that the main character learns the lesson.

Great. I love it when the main character learns a really important life lesson. I, also, love the real-life application of such lessons.

I loved the ending as well. I think one of the reasons I like it so much is that it showed that love ( marriage) isn't always the end solution to growing up

The book ended surprisingly well. I was expecting some kind of dark twist in the end, I guess. But thankfully it ended well.

We are all used to "Happy endings" in the conventional sense where the boy gets the girl. But this ending was refreshing.

The way the book was going before the legendary road trip, I honestly believed that Margo might be dead so I was relieved that Q at least got to meet her and talk to her.
I would have liked for them to end up together maybe or at least for Margo to come back as Q and the others had put so much effort into finding her but it was nice that the ending was unpredictable.

I'm actually very surprised by the ending. I loved the way it ended for the realism of the scene, where she did not change her course and he realized that his love for her was him chasing a dream. It was absolutely real, and I am glad John Green wrote it that way.

I loved the ending. John Green squashed our expectations of the happy ending but didn't do it in a cruel way. That kiss at the end left room for possibilities. Also, there are so few books where our protagonist does NOT get the deuteragonist it was refreshing to see other avenues explored for a change.

I loved the ending. The romance wasn't set on the HEA. We obviously see where the characters are important to one another, their history and revenge trip together made that clear. It was instead more for the journey and character growth, awesome in itself.