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Hazel (1853 KP) rated And Then We Ran in Books
Dec 7, 2018
<I>I received this book for free through Goodreads First Reads.</I>
Have you ever felt so desperate to achieve your dreams that you would do anything, no matter how crazy, to reach them? Seventeen-year-old Megan dreams of becoming a professional photographer, however, her parents have other ideas. <I>And Then We Ran</I> by Katy Cannon is a Young Adult novel about learning to be yourself and realising your dreams.
Megan’s older sister died in a terrible accident the year before she completed her A Levels. Now, Megan is at the same stage and is fed up of trying to live up to her sister’s memory. Forced to study subjects she does not care for and pressurised into applying to Oxbridge, Megan feels she only has one option left. Her grandmother’s will stipulates that on her 21st birthday or when she gets married, a little flat in London will become hers. Unable to wait another four years, Megan decides marriage is the only way forward.
Two characters narrate <i>And Then We Ran</i>, the second being an old friend of Megan’s. Elliott has given up all hope of going to university to study archaeology and no longer has any ambitions for the future. Then, Megan approaches him with a proposal that could change his life forever. If Elliott agrees to elope with her to Gretna Green, he could live with her in London and study at UCL. So, with a new future developing before their eyes, the two coalesce and begin to develop their clandestine plan.
Naturally, it is not a simple procedure; they cannot get married on the spur of the moment. Careful planning and a long month later, they are ready to go ahead with their plan, however, things outside of their control seem intent on preventing their marriage. From delayed trains to inclement weather, Megan and Elliott determinedly carry on until, after a more circuitous route, they arrive at their destination. But, that does not necessarily result in their happy ever after.
Getting married for a chance at freedom seems a rather peculiar idea, however, you have to appreciate how determined they are to achieve their dreams. Applying to university is a decision that can alter your entire future, so it is understandable how angry Megan feels that her parents are dictating where she goes and what she studies. <i>And The We Ran</i> is an encouraging book that shows two teenagers seriously contemplating their future and making decisions that will make them happy, rather than doing what everyone else expects.
Although it is a fun story, Megan is not the most relatable character. To begin with, it is hard to connect with her outgoing personality, unlike Elliott who is more reserved and introverted. But, once the story gets going, Megan’s façade begins to slip, revealing that she is not much different from other teenagers with hopes and dreams for the future.
<i>And Then We Ran</i> is not the most realistic of contemporary stories, but it is enjoyable and makes us as readers question the methods of Megan and Elliott’s journey to freedom. Most significantly, it highlights the importance of learning and being who you are, rather than whom other people want you to be. Finally, this story emphasises that there are more than one way of achieving your dreams.
Have you ever felt so desperate to achieve your dreams that you would do anything, no matter how crazy, to reach them? Seventeen-year-old Megan dreams of becoming a professional photographer, however, her parents have other ideas. <I>And Then We Ran</I> by Katy Cannon is a Young Adult novel about learning to be yourself and realising your dreams.
Megan’s older sister died in a terrible accident the year before she completed her A Levels. Now, Megan is at the same stage and is fed up of trying to live up to her sister’s memory. Forced to study subjects she does not care for and pressurised into applying to Oxbridge, Megan feels she only has one option left. Her grandmother’s will stipulates that on her 21st birthday or when she gets married, a little flat in London will become hers. Unable to wait another four years, Megan decides marriage is the only way forward.
Two characters narrate <i>And Then We Ran</i>, the second being an old friend of Megan’s. Elliott has given up all hope of going to university to study archaeology and no longer has any ambitions for the future. Then, Megan approaches him with a proposal that could change his life forever. If Elliott agrees to elope with her to Gretna Green, he could live with her in London and study at UCL. So, with a new future developing before their eyes, the two coalesce and begin to develop their clandestine plan.
Naturally, it is not a simple procedure; they cannot get married on the spur of the moment. Careful planning and a long month later, they are ready to go ahead with their plan, however, things outside of their control seem intent on preventing their marriage. From delayed trains to inclement weather, Megan and Elliott determinedly carry on until, after a more circuitous route, they arrive at their destination. But, that does not necessarily result in their happy ever after.
Getting married for a chance at freedom seems a rather peculiar idea, however, you have to appreciate how determined they are to achieve their dreams. Applying to university is a decision that can alter your entire future, so it is understandable how angry Megan feels that her parents are dictating where she goes and what she studies. <i>And The We Ran</i> is an encouraging book that shows two teenagers seriously contemplating their future and making decisions that will make them happy, rather than doing what everyone else expects.
Although it is a fun story, Megan is not the most relatable character. To begin with, it is hard to connect with her outgoing personality, unlike Elliott who is more reserved and introverted. But, once the story gets going, Megan’s façade begins to slip, revealing that she is not much different from other teenagers with hopes and dreams for the future.
<i>And Then We Ran</i> is not the most realistic of contemporary stories, but it is enjoyable and makes us as readers question the methods of Megan and Elliott’s journey to freedom. Most significantly, it highlights the importance of learning and being who you are, rather than whom other people want you to be. Finally, this story emphasises that there are more than one way of achieving your dreams.
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Bob Mann (459 KP) rated Can You Ever Forgive Me? (2018) in Movies
Sep 28, 2021
McCarthy and Grant in a memorable double act.
I have a big apology to make to Melissa McCarthy. A few months ago, at the excellent Picturehouse Harbour Lights film trivia quiz (every 2nd Tuesday of the month in Southampton… “be there and be… well… a bit of a film geek”!) there was a fun round of suggesting New Year’s resolutions for movie stars. Mine was the rather spiteful and cutting “Melissa McCarthy…. to retire”. In my defence, I did have the truly dreadful “Happytime Murders” fixed in my memory, and McCarthy’s track record since “Bridesmaids” has not exactly been stellar. As the quiz’s host – Stephen ‘Grand Moff’ Sambrook – justly admonished me for at the time “McCarthy is about to come out with a very different role which is supposed to be pretty good”. This film is that role…. and I take it all back.
For McCarthy is a revelation in a dramatic role which, whilst having moments of levity, is largely downbeat and very moving.
The Plot.
Based on a true story, McCarthy plays Lee Israel; a cat-loving bestselling biography writer who has seen better days. Her work is now so poor that her publisher (“3rd Rock”‘s Jane Curtin) no longer returns her call. She doesn’t help herself by having an alcohol problem and an ability to get on with other people that borders on the sociopathic.
Stumbling by accident on a letter from a famous author, she sells it for a decent sum to a dealer in such documents and is asked if she has any similar documents. What follows is a criminal trail of counterfeiting and grand larceny, into which she introduces her only friend: the gay and itinerant Jack Hock (Richard E. Grant).
With newfound success can Lee find criminally-induced happiness? Or will the authorities eventually catch up with her and Jack.
A great double-act.
The reason to see this film is the tremendous double-act between McCarthy and Grant which is just magic. Both have been lauded with nominations during awards season, and both are richly deserved.
Without aspersions against the excellent Shakespearean actress Brenda Fricker, this film could have turned into a 2 hour downer featuring a literary-equivalent of the bird-woman from “Home Alone 2”. The fact it doesn’t – notwithstanding a Central Park scene that just about re-films the final scene of HA/2! – is wholly down to McCarthy’s stunning performance. Although having some scenes of darker comedy, the majority of her performance is dramatically convincing as the conflicted and depressed victim of chronic writer’s block.
Grant as well is just superbly entertaining, all teeth and over-confidence in the face of all odds. If he wasn’t up for an Oscar nomination at one point in the process, then his final scene in the film absolutely nailed it. If you are not moved by this scene, you have a very hard heart indeed.
Ephron-esque.
The script is by the relatively unknown Nicole Holofcener and the debut writer Jeff Whitty, who are nominated for best adapted screenplay for both BAFTA and Oscar award: not bad going! It’s ironic that the late Nora Ephron is (comically) referenced by the screenplay, since there is a strong whiff of Ephron-esque about the film. (This is further enforced through reference to struggling book shops, that harked me back to “You’ve Got Mail”). The movie’s directed by the up and coming Marielle Heller, who’s debut was the well-regarded “Diary of a Teenage Girl”.
Cheer on the anti-hero.
Once again, like last year’s disappointing “Ocean’s 8“, for the film to work we have to emotionally support the actions of a criminal woman and, in this case, her damaged man-friend. This movie almost gets away with it, in that a) the ‘victims’ are unseen wealthy ‘collectors’ who ‘probably have too much money to burn’ anyway and b) Lee expresses such a wondrous delight in the quality of her work; delight that pulls her out of her destructive downward spiral of depression. It’s hard not to get behind her to at least some degree.
Given the movie dives into subjects including animal – or at least animal owner – cruelty, death, depression, homelessness and terminal illness, will you enjoy it? My bell-weather here is my wife Sue, who was unwillingly dragged along to see this, but ended up enjoying it mightily.
For McCarthy is a revelation in a dramatic role which, whilst having moments of levity, is largely downbeat and very moving.
The Plot.
Based on a true story, McCarthy plays Lee Israel; a cat-loving bestselling biography writer who has seen better days. Her work is now so poor that her publisher (“3rd Rock”‘s Jane Curtin) no longer returns her call. She doesn’t help herself by having an alcohol problem and an ability to get on with other people that borders on the sociopathic.
Stumbling by accident on a letter from a famous author, she sells it for a decent sum to a dealer in such documents and is asked if she has any similar documents. What follows is a criminal trail of counterfeiting and grand larceny, into which she introduces her only friend: the gay and itinerant Jack Hock (Richard E. Grant).
With newfound success can Lee find criminally-induced happiness? Or will the authorities eventually catch up with her and Jack.
A great double-act.
The reason to see this film is the tremendous double-act between McCarthy and Grant which is just magic. Both have been lauded with nominations during awards season, and both are richly deserved.
Without aspersions against the excellent Shakespearean actress Brenda Fricker, this film could have turned into a 2 hour downer featuring a literary-equivalent of the bird-woman from “Home Alone 2”. The fact it doesn’t – notwithstanding a Central Park scene that just about re-films the final scene of HA/2! – is wholly down to McCarthy’s stunning performance. Although having some scenes of darker comedy, the majority of her performance is dramatically convincing as the conflicted and depressed victim of chronic writer’s block.
Grant as well is just superbly entertaining, all teeth and over-confidence in the face of all odds. If he wasn’t up for an Oscar nomination at one point in the process, then his final scene in the film absolutely nailed it. If you are not moved by this scene, you have a very hard heart indeed.
Ephron-esque.
The script is by the relatively unknown Nicole Holofcener and the debut writer Jeff Whitty, who are nominated for best adapted screenplay for both BAFTA and Oscar award: not bad going! It’s ironic that the late Nora Ephron is (comically) referenced by the screenplay, since there is a strong whiff of Ephron-esque about the film. (This is further enforced through reference to struggling book shops, that harked me back to “You’ve Got Mail”). The movie’s directed by the up and coming Marielle Heller, who’s debut was the well-regarded “Diary of a Teenage Girl”.
Cheer on the anti-hero.
Once again, like last year’s disappointing “Ocean’s 8“, for the film to work we have to emotionally support the actions of a criminal woman and, in this case, her damaged man-friend. This movie almost gets away with it, in that a) the ‘victims’ are unseen wealthy ‘collectors’ who ‘probably have too much money to burn’ anyway and b) Lee expresses such a wondrous delight in the quality of her work; delight that pulls her out of her destructive downward spiral of depression. It’s hard not to get behind her to at least some degree.
Given the movie dives into subjects including animal – or at least animal owner – cruelty, death, depression, homelessness and terminal illness, will you enjoy it? My bell-weather here is my wife Sue, who was unwillingly dragged along to see this, but ended up enjoying it mightily.
Carma (21 KP) rated Crash Landing (Stop The Wedding, #3) in Books
Jun 17, 2019
While I have quite a few Lori Wilde books sitting on my TBR shelf, this one was a freebie of the day for my kindle and I decided to give it a gander. I read it in about a day so it flowed pretty well. Here are my thoughts on Crash Landing by Lori Wilde.
We start the book with a girl staring at a hunky guy, I mean who doesnt like to do that on occasion right?? Sophia Cruz likes very much what Gibb Martin has to offer in the looks department. He is an American, she is Costa Rican and American by birth. He is all business all the time, while she likes to take each day slow and steady. What could they possibly have in common??
Gibb needs a ride to Florida quickly because his best friend is getting married after only knowing his fiancée for a month. He is backing out of partnering with Gibb, because of his new love, on a new money making deal and that cant happen. Sophia is a bush pilot and his only hope to get there in time to stop the wedding. Now if he can only stop lusting after her long enough to get focused on stopping this wedding.
Sophia wouldnt mind a quick roll in the hay with this rich boy but no long lasting relationship, why would he possibly look at her twice? She really needs the money so she goes against her own better advice and agrees to fly him to Florida. A long close cabin ride will certainly not help squelch her desire.
Gibb and Sophia get to know each other on the flight then the unexpected crash landing on a deserted island gets them even closer. Will they find out they have more in common than they both realize?
I liked the flow of this story for the most part. I feel like it started off and a good pace then slowed a little in the middle. Without giving too many spoilers I feel like there was a weird middle part on the island that served no real purpose but I thoroughly enjoyed the part with the monkeys. I am giggling still as I write this review. I liked Lori Wildes way of capturing the culture and interactions so you could really picture it all in your minds eye. Crash Landing captured my attention pretty quickly and kept it all the way through. I would say this was a good way to get my feet wet in Lori Wildes title pool.
We start the book with a girl staring at a hunky guy, I mean who doesnt like to do that on occasion right?? Sophia Cruz likes very much what Gibb Martin has to offer in the looks department. He is an American, she is Costa Rican and American by birth. He is all business all the time, while she likes to take each day slow and steady. What could they possibly have in common??
Gibb needs a ride to Florida quickly because his best friend is getting married after only knowing his fiancée for a month. He is backing out of partnering with Gibb, because of his new love, on a new money making deal and that cant happen. Sophia is a bush pilot and his only hope to get there in time to stop the wedding. Now if he can only stop lusting after her long enough to get focused on stopping this wedding.
Sophia wouldnt mind a quick roll in the hay with this rich boy but no long lasting relationship, why would he possibly look at her twice? She really needs the money so she goes against her own better advice and agrees to fly him to Florida. A long close cabin ride will certainly not help squelch her desire.
Gibb and Sophia get to know each other on the flight then the unexpected crash landing on a deserted island gets them even closer. Will they find out they have more in common than they both realize?
I liked the flow of this story for the most part. I feel like it started off and a good pace then slowed a little in the middle. Without giving too many spoilers I feel like there was a weird middle part on the island that served no real purpose but I thoroughly enjoyed the part with the monkeys. I am giggling still as I write this review. I liked Lori Wildes way of capturing the culture and interactions so you could really picture it all in your minds eye. Crash Landing captured my attention pretty quickly and kept it all the way through. I would say this was a good way to get my feet wet in Lori Wildes title pool.
Lottie disney bookworm (1056 KP) rated As Old As Time in Books
Aug 16, 2019
Review by Disney Bookworm
I’m going to come right out and say (although you will probably be able to tell if you make it to the end of this blog) that this is, so far, my favourite book in the twisted tale series. Seriously, this is the second time I have read it and I loved it just as much as the first time. I got just as engrossed in the story and I seriously think Liz Braswell and I could be best friends!
As Old As Time is the retelling of Beauty and the Beast and opens with the familiar story of the enchantress and the young, vain prince that we all know. You can probably still picture the stained-glass scene from the original 1991 movie and the dramatic ballroom scene in the 2017 remake.
Refusing to be eclipsed by these though, Braswell follows the well-known tale with: “It was a very good story. It often entertained the woman who lay in her black hole of a room, manacled to a hard, cold bed.”
Wait! What?
There, with one fell swoop, on the second page, Braswell brings an almost gothic darkness to the fairy tale. Of course, some would say it is already dark: very few people who are cursed to become a beast are particularly jolly about the situation! However, Braswell goes one step further by both revealing the story behind the enchantress and taking us on a journey to discover the ugly truth in the present.
Liz Braswell creates a kingdom where magic and non-magic people have lived together peacefully for years but where politics and a lack of cultural understanding is threatening to tear that apart as les charmantes find themselves persecuted by les naturels. (I can’t imagine where she draws her inspiration from(!))
It is in this kingdom that we meet a young dreamer called Maurice and the enchantress Rosalind, Belle’s mother (nicknamed Rose- so clever!). Maurice is very much a younger version of the character we grew up with: loveable and devoted to his inventions. Rosalind however is much more headstrong and impulsive: even changing her appearance on a whim. Her pride is fierce and we first meet her holding her own against a large man insulting ‘her kind’, calling her unnatural and a child of the devil. The bully soon learns the error of his ways when his nose is replaced by a pig’s snout but a warning runs all the way through this tale: “magic always comes back on itself”.
Maurice and Rosalind’s life is happy and settled at first but they soon start to witness the persecution of les charmantes for themselves. Thus, when the King and Queen call on Rosalind to protect them against the advancing plague, she passionately fights for her people…only to be rejected and turned away. Maurice, always the voice of reason, convinces Rosalind to at least protect the children and servants and so it comes to pass that Rosalind later visits the young prince, on the eve of his coronation, carrying with her the simple gift of a rose.
Braswell’s character development is, as always, impressive. Belle is immediately relatable as the kooky bookworm we know and love: her story running parallel to the film until we, as readers, develop a relationship with her parents. It is then that we discover there is a slight edge to Belle. Although clearly tortured by the fact her mother cursed a 10-year-old boy, Braswell’s Belle is desperate to be adventurous and heroic like the characters in her books but soon realises an adventure is not all it is cracked up to be. Like her mother, Belle can be quite impulsive: grabbing the enchanted rose before the beast can stop her and destroying any chance of breaking the spell. However, she is also quick and cunning, tricking the wardrobe into revealing the curse’s timeline. Nevertheless, the bravery of our protagonist can never be doubted and Belle embarks on one hell of a journey to discover the truth about her family and herself.
Uniquely, within As Old As Time we slowly see side-line characters weave their way into the lives and stories of our characters. Levi and Alaric, for example, are old friends of Maurice and Rosalind and are seemingly insignificant to the story at first. However, Levi is also the godfather to Belle and the village bookseller (“If you like it that much, it’s yours!” – that guy). Alaric on the other hand has a significant link to the castle and both carry clues with them that assist Belle on her quest.
Any Beauty and the Beast tale would not be complete without LeFou and Gaston – that infamous double act- but even Gaston is ever so slightly darker than his animated counterpart. Frederic: another friend from the past and, quite frankly, odd from the start also plays a pivotal role in the story but I won’t spoil the surprise for you!
As Old As Time is true to its name: weaving two stories into its plot at different points in time: the story that we all know and the story of how that came to be. It is an ominous tale with curses, murder, creepy ivy statues and a frankly terrifying tour of the lunatic asylum.
It is not all doom and gloom however; Liz Braswell takes a very tongue-in-cheek attitude towards the infamous scenes within Beauty and the Beast: invoking a dry sense of humour into the story. From a chapter named “Be Our … Oh You Know the Rest” to a direct reference to Stockholm Syndrome: Braswell makes sure that we do not expect her novel to be a copycat, heartfelt tale with a happy ending. Belle even remarks to the Beast that hoping she would fall in love with him within a month or so was wildly unrealistic.
This is very much a novel for the cynical Disney lovers amongst us and highly deserving of its title of a twisted tale!
As Old As Time is the retelling of Beauty and the Beast and opens with the familiar story of the enchantress and the young, vain prince that we all know. You can probably still picture the stained-glass scene from the original 1991 movie and the dramatic ballroom scene in the 2017 remake.
Refusing to be eclipsed by these though, Braswell follows the well-known tale with: “It was a very good story. It often entertained the woman who lay in her black hole of a room, manacled to a hard, cold bed.”
Wait! What?
There, with one fell swoop, on the second page, Braswell brings an almost gothic darkness to the fairy tale. Of course, some would say it is already dark: very few people who are cursed to become a beast are particularly jolly about the situation! However, Braswell goes one step further by both revealing the story behind the enchantress and taking us on a journey to discover the ugly truth in the present.
Liz Braswell creates a kingdom where magic and non-magic people have lived together peacefully for years but where politics and a lack of cultural understanding is threatening to tear that apart as les charmantes find themselves persecuted by les naturels. (I can’t imagine where she draws her inspiration from(!))
It is in this kingdom that we meet a young dreamer called Maurice and the enchantress Rosalind, Belle’s mother (nicknamed Rose- so clever!). Maurice is very much a younger version of the character we grew up with: loveable and devoted to his inventions. Rosalind however is much more headstrong and impulsive: even changing her appearance on a whim. Her pride is fierce and we first meet her holding her own against a large man insulting ‘her kind’, calling her unnatural and a child of the devil. The bully soon learns the error of his ways when his nose is replaced by a pig’s snout but a warning runs all the way through this tale: “magic always comes back on itself”.
Maurice and Rosalind’s life is happy and settled at first but they soon start to witness the persecution of les charmantes for themselves. Thus, when the King and Queen call on Rosalind to protect them against the advancing plague, she passionately fights for her people…only to be rejected and turned away. Maurice, always the voice of reason, convinces Rosalind to at least protect the children and servants and so it comes to pass that Rosalind later visits the young prince, on the eve of his coronation, carrying with her the simple gift of a rose.
Braswell’s character development is, as always, impressive. Belle is immediately relatable as the kooky bookworm we know and love: her story running parallel to the film until we, as readers, develop a relationship with her parents. It is then that we discover there is a slight edge to Belle. Although clearly tortured by the fact her mother cursed a 10-year-old boy, Braswell’s Belle is desperate to be adventurous and heroic like the characters in her books but soon realises an adventure is not all it is cracked up to be. Like her mother, Belle can be quite impulsive: grabbing the enchanted rose before the beast can stop her and destroying any chance of breaking the spell. However, she is also quick and cunning, tricking the wardrobe into revealing the curse’s timeline. Nevertheless, the bravery of our protagonist can never be doubted and Belle embarks on one hell of a journey to discover the truth about her family and herself.
Uniquely, within As Old As Time we slowly see side-line characters weave their way into the lives and stories of our characters. Levi and Alaric, for example, are old friends of Maurice and Rosalind and are seemingly insignificant to the story at first. However, Levi is also the godfather to Belle and the village bookseller (“If you like it that much, it’s yours!” – that guy). Alaric on the other hand has a significant link to the castle and both carry clues with them that assist Belle on her quest.
Any Beauty and the Beast tale would not be complete without LeFou and Gaston – that infamous double act- but even Gaston is ever so slightly darker than his animated counterpart. Frederic: another friend from the past and, quite frankly, odd from the start also plays a pivotal role in the story but I won’t spoil the surprise for you!
As Old As Time is true to its name: weaving two stories into its plot at different points in time: the story that we all know and the story of how that came to be. It is an ominous tale with curses, murder, creepy ivy statues and a frankly terrifying tour of the lunatic asylum.
It is not all doom and gloom however; Liz Braswell takes a very tongue-in-cheek attitude towards the infamous scenes within Beauty and the Beast: invoking a dry sense of humour into the story. From a chapter named “Be Our … Oh You Know the Rest” to a direct reference to Stockholm Syndrome: Braswell makes sure that we do not expect her novel to be a copycat, heartfelt tale with a happy ending. Belle even remarks to the Beast that hoping she would fall in love with him within a month or so was wildly unrealistic.
This is very much a novel for the cynical Disney lovers amongst us and highly deserving of its title of a twisted tale!
NT
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Hazel (1853 KP) rated Paper Towns in Books
Dec 7, 2018
This was my book of the month for March 2014. You can view and reblog my Tumblr post here: http://fuzzysparrow.tumblr.com/post/81305903630/x
<i>Paper Towns</i> is a brilliantly written novel by John Green. Having only previously read <i>The Fault in our Stars</i> I have little to compare it to and cannot say whether it is his best. I am writing this less that half an hour after finishing <i>Paper Towns</i> therefore it is still fresh in my mind, which may explain my slight preference over <i>TFIOS</i>. However the story lines are so different that it is not really fair to compare them.
Set in Orlando, Florida, <i>Paper Towns</i> is narrated by eighteen-year-old Quentin Jacobson (often referred to as Q). It begins with a flash back to when he and next door neighbour, Margo Roth Spiegelman, were nine and discovered a dead body in the park. It is here that the differences in character are pointed out: “As I took those two steps back, Margo took two equally small and quiet steps forward.” Q is an anxious boy, whereas Margo comes across as very confident.
Despite their childhood relationship, for the main bulk of the story Q and Margo have grown apart. They belong to different social circles: Margo to the popular crowd and Q with the gamers, band members and social outcasts. But things take a turn when one night Margo climbs through Q’s bedroom window and insists he accompany her on a nighttime adventure, going around righting wrongs and wronging rights.
But the next day Margo runs away telling no one where she is going, except it appears that she has left clues to her whereabouts. Clues only intended for Q to discover. With the help of his prom-obsessed friend, Ben; Radar, the guy whose parents own the world’s largest collection of black Santas (seriously, where does Green come up with this stuff?); and Lacey, Margo’s best friend and Ben’s soon to be girlfriend; Q struggles to understand the clues and uncover Margo’s hiding place.
To begin with it is exciting to read about Q and his friends unscrambling the hidden messages but as the story goes on and Margo is yet to be found a sense of dread creeps up on us and Q begins to think the worst.
The final section, however, is fast past and thrilling to read as the characters travel across states, with a rather short time limit, in Q’s mini van in a final attempt to find Margo. What will they find when they arrive? Will Margo still be there?
At first I was not sure that I would like this book. Chapter one is mostly about Quentin, Ben and Radar fooling around as boys do, but once everything kicks off with Margo it is really exciting. Similarly to <i>The Fault in our Stars</i>, Green has filled <i>Paper Towns</i> with clever metaphors with paper, string, balloons and grass being used to represent life. It is a very witty narrative containing lots of humour, yet also manages to convey important ideas about the way we see the world, and the people in it.
<i>Paper Towns</i> can be described as a contemporary, coming-of-age story. As mentioned already, Margo was portrayed as a confident girl whereas Quentin was the opposite. Despite Q stating “I wanted Margo’s disappearance to change me; but it hasn’t, not really” I think Green has shown major character developments, and possibly even role reversals. Q may never completely get rid of his anxieties and does not totally become a different person, but he does gain more confidence as he is forced out of his comfort zone, and his perception of other people also begins to alter. Margo on the other hand may not be all that she seems. The real Margo may in fact be a quiet, rather lost teen in a world she feels trapped in. I think this story and Q’s development has the potential to inspire others of similar ages and make all readers question things about themselves.
Overall, an exceptionally good read.
<i>Paper Towns</i> is a brilliantly written novel by John Green. Having only previously read <i>The Fault in our Stars</i> I have little to compare it to and cannot say whether it is his best. I am writing this less that half an hour after finishing <i>Paper Towns</i> therefore it is still fresh in my mind, which may explain my slight preference over <i>TFIOS</i>. However the story lines are so different that it is not really fair to compare them.
Set in Orlando, Florida, <i>Paper Towns</i> is narrated by eighteen-year-old Quentin Jacobson (often referred to as Q). It begins with a flash back to when he and next door neighbour, Margo Roth Spiegelman, were nine and discovered a dead body in the park. It is here that the differences in character are pointed out: “As I took those two steps back, Margo took two equally small and quiet steps forward.” Q is an anxious boy, whereas Margo comes across as very confident.
Despite their childhood relationship, for the main bulk of the story Q and Margo have grown apart. They belong to different social circles: Margo to the popular crowd and Q with the gamers, band members and social outcasts. But things take a turn when one night Margo climbs through Q’s bedroom window and insists he accompany her on a nighttime adventure, going around righting wrongs and wronging rights.
But the next day Margo runs away telling no one where she is going, except it appears that she has left clues to her whereabouts. Clues only intended for Q to discover. With the help of his prom-obsessed friend, Ben; Radar, the guy whose parents own the world’s largest collection of black Santas (seriously, where does Green come up with this stuff?); and Lacey, Margo’s best friend and Ben’s soon to be girlfriend; Q struggles to understand the clues and uncover Margo’s hiding place.
To begin with it is exciting to read about Q and his friends unscrambling the hidden messages but as the story goes on and Margo is yet to be found a sense of dread creeps up on us and Q begins to think the worst.
The final section, however, is fast past and thrilling to read as the characters travel across states, with a rather short time limit, in Q’s mini van in a final attempt to find Margo. What will they find when they arrive? Will Margo still be there?
At first I was not sure that I would like this book. Chapter one is mostly about Quentin, Ben and Radar fooling around as boys do, but once everything kicks off with Margo it is really exciting. Similarly to <i>The Fault in our Stars</i>, Green has filled <i>Paper Towns</i> with clever metaphors with paper, string, balloons and grass being used to represent life. It is a very witty narrative containing lots of humour, yet also manages to convey important ideas about the way we see the world, and the people in it.
<i>Paper Towns</i> can be described as a contemporary, coming-of-age story. As mentioned already, Margo was portrayed as a confident girl whereas Quentin was the opposite. Despite Q stating “I wanted Margo’s disappearance to change me; but it hasn’t, not really” I think Green has shown major character developments, and possibly even role reversals. Q may never completely get rid of his anxieties and does not totally become a different person, but he does gain more confidence as he is forced out of his comfort zone, and his perception of other people also begins to alter. Margo on the other hand may not be all that she seems. The real Margo may in fact be a quiet, rather lost teen in a world she feels trapped in. I think this story and Q’s development has the potential to inspire others of similar ages and make all readers question things about themselves.
Overall, an exceptionally good read.
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