Reading is something I have always enjoyed, i am the kind of person that once I start reading a book I cannot put it down until I am finished which means during exam season I avoid reading, but know that it is over I am read to my hearts content and that is how I'm planning to spend my summer, so be prepared for lots of mini book reviews!
I think I must have bought this book way back before Christmas, and it has taken me until now to read it! The main reason behind buying this book was the fact I had previously read The Fault in our Stars, also by John Green and loved it, along with the film which was pretty much identical to the book. Normally, when there is a film released based on a book, I like to read the book first, so I can compare the film to the 'true' story, but with Paper Towns I did this the other way around, purely because I just hadn't gotten around to reading the book before the film came out.
As I have previously mentioned I have read a few novels by John Green, (In fact I have now actually read all of his novels, which goes to show how much I enjoy his style of writing) which meant I had a feeling I would love it before I even began reading.
Before getting into how much I enjoyed the book and why I wanted to share with you a little bit of background information / mini summary without ruining the story for those of you who are yet to finish the book yourselves.
In the prologue the scene is set by describing an event that look place many years before the rest of the novel, when both Quentin and Margo were young children. Throughout the rest of the book there are lots of small links back to the childhood event which is something I like as it slowly uncovers a 'mystery'. I would describe the whole book as being a mystery novel, there are a lot of things Margo gets up to that seem very strange, certainly not things you would expect a typical teenage girl to get up to, but by the end of the book everything makes sense and nothing seems that unusual - even breaking into Seaworld! This is definitely not a bog standard high school experience, once you start reading I can guarantee you will not want to put it down.
One way in which I determine how much I enjoy a book is by how quickly I finish it, the quicker I finish it the more I enjoyed it - as I previously mentioned when I get into a book I will not put it down. Paper Towns took me roughly 3 days to get through, by this I mean I would read a few chapters in the morning and then a few more in the evening , rather than reading all day long, but 3 days is still fairly quickly for a book that size.
The main reason as to why I enjoyed this book was because I found it rather relatable, not all the pranks and mystery (my life is certainly not that interesting), but the fact it was set in Orlando. I have been on many family holidays to Orlando which meant there were multiple points in the book where I could really picture the scene and the characters because I had experienced it myself. I know this wouldn't apply to people who haven't been to Orlando, but for me it made it that little bit more imaginable. Although I would like to point out that whether you have visited Orlando or not you will still thoroughly enjoy the book and be able to connect with all the characters as it is so well written.
Another thing I would like to point out and also conclude upon is the fact the book is not predictable at all. (unless of course, you watched the film beforehand, but even then it is not exactly the same) I know that with a lot of novels I have read in the past it is easy to predict the ending or what happens in the next chapter which sometimes ruins the overall feeling of anticipation. However, Paper Towns is not like this at all. There are lots of twists and turns meaning you can never be quite sure what will happen next or how it will all come to an end, which personally for me makes it much better than stories that are easily sussed out.
If you are a fan of mysteries, enjoy reading books written in first person and are looking for a novel you won't regret buying I would definitely recommend Paper Towns.
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