pAper TownS

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

Quentin Jacobsen and Margo Roth Spiegelman discovered a dead body when they were nine, after that last adventure their friendship fizzled and Q was reduced to worshiping Margo from afar. A month before high school graduation Margo cracks open a window and (literally) climbs back into his life for a night of revenge.
The next day Margo isn’t at school, she has run away before and always left clues- this time Q believes they are for him and he goes on an elaborate journey of self discovery and Margo Roth Spiegeleman discovery.

“It is so hard to leave—until you leave. And then it is the easiest goddamned thing in the world.”

I’m pretty shocked at how little I liked Paper Towns. Obviously my journey down the John Green rabbit hole has been well documented on this site and I could even find myself saying positive things about An Abundance of Katherines, but Paper Towns irritated me. I think my biggest pet peeve was John Green’s supporting cast wasn’t as strong as his previously read efforts. I’ve come to expect (through Alaska and Katherine’s) that Green will write a whiny protagonist and give him thoroughly entertaining entourage. I was disappointed by Ben and Radar.

I also really, really wanted to smack Margo upside the head. I just did NOT get her appeal.

This was the Manic Pixie Dream Girl that broke the camel’s back and perhaps I need to take a brief respite from YA for a while- read some books written for the post-collegiate marrieds.