"Paper Towns" (2008) by John Green

Phew! Read it with a month to spare before the movie comes out!

Ever since they met each other when they were toddlers, timid and worrisome Quentin "Q" Jacobsen has loved Margo Roth Spieglemen, a girl who likes to live life on the edge. Up until a fateful night in their senior year, Q and Margo have only traded few words. On said night, Margo comes into Q's room and ask him for a favor: Be the assistant of the nine things she wants to do tonight to get back at those who wronged her. It's a crazy night, and Q will never forget it. Deep down inside, he hopes this will change their friendship. However, the day after their escapades, Margo disappears without a trace. That is, until Q and his friends realize she left clues behind about her whereabouts. However, the more clues Q puts together, the more he realizes Margo wasn't always the person she lead them all to believe.

Being a fan of John Green's other works (Looking for Alaska, The Fault in our Stars), I wanted to finish this book before I went to see the movie. Though it's not as great as the other two books I mentioned, Paper Towns was still a decent read. The writing was a bit block-y at times and the dialogue unrealistic, but the story still contains great scenes and shows a message of how many different ways people can see one person. Most of the jokes here work as well, maintaining comic relief in this mystery drama that has rather thrilling scenes.

In short, Paper Towns isn't one of my favorite books, but I definitely enjoyed it for it's clever mystery and message.

4/5 Stars

Order your copy from Amazon right here!

Comments

"Need for Speed" (2014) REVIEW

I know I'm not the only one who thought this movie was going to be a flop. I mean, not only is it a high-speed street racing movie, but it's also a videogame movie. Still, I gave it a shot, but mostly for the D-Box experience. Even with the earnings from winning illegal street races, Tobey Marshall (Aaron Paul) is still unable to keep his auto repair shop from his father open. For a chance to get $500,000, Tobey takes an offer from his street racing rival and successful car dealer Dino Brewster (Domonic Cooper) to finish building the Ford Mustang that Caroll Shelby was working on when he died. After building the car and selling it without Dino's consent, Dino challenges Tobey and Tobey's friend, Pete, to a street race for the money. Nearing the end of the race, desperate for revenge, Dino pushes Pete over a bridge and drives away, leaving Tobey to be blamed for vehicular manslaughter. Two years later, fresh out of prison, Tobey seeks out to knock Dino off his p...

What to Read After Insomiac's Spider-Man

So you've just defeated the Sinister Six, maybe done a side mission here and there, or perhaps 100% completed what most are considering the best Spider-Man game ever made (and they're right). What now? Where do you go from here to learn more about the wisecracking wall-crawler? Besides Tom Holland's performance in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, we've never really seen Spider-Man portrayed so solidly like we have here. This, my friends, is where the fun part comes in: Entering the vast world of Spider-Man presented in comics and novels. Allow me to be your guide, providing recommendations for any requests you may be wishing for. "I just want more..." Well, you're in luck because Marvel has 2 options for you! Spider-Man: Hostile Takeover is the official prequel novel to the game, taking place 6 months prior. It follows Spider-Man trying to find an imposter killing people, working with a newfound friend from the police force to take ...

Blue Beetle Rebirth Vol. 1: The More Things Change (Rebirth #1, #1-#6)

2/5 Jaime Reyes as the Blue Beetle has interested me and been on my reading list for a while. When I first discovered the character watching Batman: The Brave and the Bold , seeing Jaime as a relatable teen arguing with the sentient suit that gives him his powers, his New 52 line had already been cancelled. Then Geoff Johns wrote Rebirth and added a little scene with Jaime Reyes that I thought was both very interesting and promising. In short, Keith Giffen doesn't deliver in this volume until issue #6, where he kind of gives a small splice of what the series could be. Getting the obvious out of the way, the dialogue here is absolutely horrible. I tell myself it feels like a first draft, but then there are moments of repetition and sentences upon sentences of nothing going on. By then, it feels more like a very bloated outline with the characters speaking mostly hot air. The dialogue here isn't flat, it's completely empty. This, in turn, makes all the charac...

Kevin Lau

Search This Blog