Paper Towns By John Green

*SPOILERS AHEAD*

It’s no secret that John Green is known best for his effortless ability to play with our emotions. And just like that, Paper Towns is an unusual symphony brought together by the strangest of circumstances and played out in a beautiful harmony. Regardless, however, the unconventional spirit of this book is one that is worth writing a review for.

This book starts off with our two protagonists at the age of nine, Quentin and Margo. In what should’ve been a seemingly ordinary experience, Quentin and Margo, discover a dead body at the park they were playing at. While Quentin has the most normal reaction to run away, Margo decides to stay and investigate the body. This introduces a vital scene where you understand that Margo isn’t quite the same as everyone else. She already gives off a morbid vibe by going out of her way trying to find out why the man died and talks about ‘strings breaking inside of him’, pretty disturbing I must add.

I hope you still remember, she’s nine.

Well, many years pass with little to no interaction between Quentin and Margo, unless creepy window stalking counts, until their graduation year. On a fateful night, Margo climbs through Quentin’s bedroom window at night and asks him to act as her driver to go on a midnight shopping spree. An already smitten Quentin acquiesces to her proposal and both of them go store-hopping. As the night progresses, Margo reveals that all this is a major revenge plot against her lying friends, starting with her cheating boyfriend. She then goes on to pull many intricate revenge pranks on her friends and uses Quentin as her getaway.

Now personally, this peculiar bonding experience they suddenly have out of the blue, that too in such circumstances, felt a little unreal. But, looking at the dynamic between the two, it wasn’t surprising that Quentin’s pushover personality and Margo’s manipulative and mysteriously charming one, went hand in hand.

A central moment occurs when Margo, expresses her views on Orlando mimicking a paper town that is bound to fall apart. Also, if you thought this very outlandish night was over, it isn’t. As they also go on to prank Quentin’s sixth-grade bully and break into Sea World!

Honestly, the number of felonies they must’ve committed at this point and not gotten caught for, will definitely be a mystery for the generations to come.

Finally, they return and Margo bids goodbye with a somber sense of finality, that Quentin doesn’t yet understand. As expected, Margo doesn’t make an appearance in school for the next two days while subplots around school bullying and prom dates play out. Quentin’s obsession with Margo grows until he finds out she has run away from home. Here, we find out that Margo often leaves clues when she runs away but eventually returns. The theme behind Margo’s broken personality starts to emerge slowly in this part of the book.

I won’t go into specifics, but Quentin’s growing preoccupation with Margo helps him find a clue, which he then, with his friends, tries to pursue by ditching school in order to reach Margo. At this point, it’s clear that Quentin has developed feelings for Margo. Quentin and his friends end up going the extra mile for Margo and along the way they bond as a group. The illustration of solidarity and unity between them is such a remarkable aspect to witness, that you almost want to thank Margo for running away. You can also see some character growth within Quentin as he opens up to his wilder and more impulsive side.

Unfortunate dead ends with the clues leaves the group of friends disheartened as they return. All the while, Quentin’s obsession doesn’t let out. He ignores his friends but eventually reconciles with them for one last attempt to find Margo.

Thus, begins a 21-hour car journey to what is Margo’s estimated location, where the friends all come together for who they were and strengthen their bond as one. The buildup here toward finding Margo really envelops you as you create your own expectations of what will happen next. Probably one of the most amusing segments of this story for me.

Finally, on reaching, they do find Margo!

But hold your horses because it’s not a happy ending. Not only does Margo belittle Quentin’s friends but she implores them for finding her. Very obviously they leave, but Quentin stays behind to ask Margo her reasons, to get some closure. Here, Margo discloses the truth about her broken past and suicidal tendencies and refuses to return with Quentin to Orlando. A bit anti-climactic in my view, after all the book was held together by the notion of a big pay off as they found Margo.

Although this ending remains the nonconformist type and may not appeal to all, we can look for a deeper meaning being symbolized here as plots around romance, friendship, and depression are delved into. It speaks of the versatility of human nature and how our dependency on others, almost always, exceeds our reality. I do believe Margo could’ve had a much more stable ending only if her parents had caught the signs and helped her, but I understand her reasons for leaving if it meant finding a life, she thinks is worth living for.

This book, on my account, gets a 7/10.