Paper Towns

"What a treacherous thing to believe that a person is more than a person." 

Paper Towns is the first John Green book I have read, and I'm making sure it isn't my last. (I've already started a new John Green book, called An Abundance of Katherines, but I'll talk about it when I'm finished.) I've written a book suggestion/review thing here, but this is mostly my thoughts and reflections on what I've read. Please be mindful though, under the cut is a crapload of spoilers.

First things first: holy crap it's amazing. No, really. It was so deep, yet comical while focusing around Margo's disappearance. I don't even know how it worked so effortlessly. It made me laugh, it made me think, and it made me feel invested in what was happening to Q and his friends.


Normally, I ship things, and I look for happy endings. Paper Towns comes with something bittersweet. It's not the ending you really want, but it's the ending that works best. It was the first book that really reminded me that not everything works out. Not everyone gets a happy ever after just because it's a book and it's fiction. And that's what really stuck with me: just because it's fiction, doesn't mean it isn't realistic. Happy endings don't always happen.


This brings me to the second point of this - the shipping of Margo and Q. They're two completely different people, yet you can tell that they rely on each other. The term 'opposites attract' can be used to describe them. But that's the thing - in most cases, they're so opposite that they want different things, which results in them not being able to be together in the end. Q would search for her, and Margo will continue to think about him, but they can't be together, because their conflicting personalities can drive them apart. They want different things.

That's where the story really got to me, though: Q loves Margo, and has since he was a child. But he finds himself wondering if he's fallen in love with his idea of Margo, or Margo herself. And you find, over the course of the book, that he does fall in love to who Margo truly is, but he can't embrace it because he's too different. He'll do anything to make sure she's okay, but he can't stay and pretend that he wants what she does. Because he can't. Because he's so different.

And even though they both know that, they both can't help but wish they can change each other. Margo wishes that Q can stop thinking about his future, while Q wishes Margo can start thinking about its importance.

I don't know. They love each other in spite of that, but they know they can't stay together. It made my heart ache, but it was just so beautiful.

Also, Radar and his Black Santas. That was... I couldn't even stop laughing. It was hilarious.

As you can tell, my thoughts are in a jumble but that's because this book is so beautiful and deep and everything. And if you haven't read it and clicked read more, GO READ IT. If you have read it, go read it again if you can. Because it's honestly a beautiful book.