Book Review: Paper Towns by John Green

     There are some books that lodge themselves deep inside your heart, and you can't point your finger on WHY. That's this book for me.
     Paper towns is about a boy named Q, who is in love with the girl next door. He hasn't spoken to her since they were eleven, though- the day they found the dead body in the park. He admires her from afar, until one night, weeks away from Senior Graduation, Margo shows up outside his window and wants Q to come with her on an adventure. After a night of pranks, Q thinks that maybe they'll finally be friends again, and maybe he'll have a chance with her. But that all changes when Margo runs away and stays away for longer than usual. Margo is famous for her runnings away- a trip to Mississippi, breaking into Universal Studios- and she always leaves clues for her parents to find out where she is, though they never try. This time, Margo leaves the clues for Q, and as he uncovers them, he finds something that leads him to believe that she's going to commit suicide. The race is on to find her- dead or alive- at any cost.
     Paper Towns could be said to have multiple themes- accepting people for who they are, for example- but I think the thing I will take most out of the book is the main focus, which is an element that lasts throughout the book. No spoilers, but it's about the way we see people.
     I really enjoyed this book, in spite of the language and not unfrequent sexual inuendos. I laughed so hard while reading it; the humor was great.
     I would recommend this book to John Green lovers, and people who want to read a mystery that's not only suspenseful, but prolific.
     This is going to be a short review, because as I can't figure out what it was about this book that I loved so much, I don't have much to say. But I can say this: Give the book a shot, because you (like me) will be very surprised at what you will find.

Book Review: Looking for Alaska by John Green

     After falling in love with not only the story line, but John Green's writing style as well, of The Fault In Our Stars, I picked up Looking for Alaska. I was told by many people how great this book was, and I was excited to start.
     I get that most teenagers nowadays are all about drinking and smoking and sex, but geez- almost the whole book had SOMETHING to do with one of those three things. I skipped so many pages due to vulgarity, and I was shocked. If that's what you're into, if you like that type of behavior, and support it, then this is a book for you, but I don't agree with it, which was a major reason that I didn't like this book.
     The first half of Looking for Alaska was about a boy named Miles who leaves his public school in Florida to go to a boarding school in Alabama, looking for a Great Perhaps. At this new school, he immediately falls in with a group of friends, something he never had at his old school, and his life changes. His new friends include his roommate, known as the Colonel, and the sexy, mysterious, Alaska Young. In this part of the book, Miles becomes close with these kids, and discovers his feelings for Alaska. Along the way, Miles goes from the innocent, do-good kid, to the kid who smokes and drinks and has sex just like the Colonel and Alaska. To sum up the first half of the book: leaves home, goes to new school, smoke, cuss, smoke, drink, cuss, cuss, smoke, drink, smoke, pull pranks, drink, smoke, hook up, smoke, smoke, make out, smoke, drink. In the second half of the book, the sexual scenes cease, but the rest continues. The book is separated into two parts- the first being before the death of a character, the second being after the death- and while the first half is about Miles fitting in and finding himself, the second half is about the group of friends searching for answers about their friend's death.
     Where is the "Don't change yourself for other people- Be you"? Because Miles changed his entire self t be like his friends. He picked up smoking and drinking just because his friends did it, and if they could do it, so could he. What does that say to teens? Be who your friends are, not who you are? Don't stand up for what you believe in? Go along with everything your friends do, and join in?
     I wanted to put this book down multiple times wile reading it, but since I already knew which character was going to die -Thank you, Spoilers!- I had to find out what happened. It did keep me laughing, though, which is why I gave it two stars instead of one. I wouldn't recommend this book to anyone.
     If you loved this book, then I respect your opinion, but I was just honestly disappointed with it. The language and behavior was not my forte, and I hope the rest of his books aren't like this. Again, this is just my personal opinion.

The Fault In Our Stars Trailer Released!

                                                            http://youtu.be/9ItBvH5J6ss
The trailer for The Fault In Our Stars! Watch it, love it, cry over it, let the feels explode!!!! Looks like Shai and Ansel will do this film some major justice :)

Book Review: The Fault In Our Stars by John Green

*Spoilers*

So I already knew the ending because so many people from Twitter love it and talk about it 24/7, so I didn't have that shock and awe, tears flowing type experience I would've normally had. But I can honestly say that this book has changed my life.

I read it in 5 hours, and I love how brutally honest Hazel is. She doesn't sugar coat anything, and she tells it like it is, the good, the bad, and the ugly. (Thank you Mr. John Green) Then when Augustus came into the story, I didn't want to put it down. He just brought the story to life, brightened the pages up a little. I loved the story, the disappointment with Van Houten in Amsterdam, everything was perfect. I managed to hold the tears until this line:

"Augustus Waters died eight days after his prefuneral...(cntd)"

From then on I had to have tissues, and had to take frequent breaks to clear the water from my eyes so that I could actually read the rest of the words. I like that the story ended in Gus' death, no matter how much I miss him now, because, just like AIA it shows that life doesn't always have a happy ending.

I would recommend this to everyone, really, because of the multitude of meanings behind it. I kind of went around in a stupor for about two hours after reading the last page, not because the story depressed me, but because there was so much to think about, and frankly, I really want my own Augustus.

This book has changed my life, I already know. I now look at everything in a much different way, and I'm probably going to be a lot more thoughtful from now on. My mind was pretty muddled after reading TFIOS, because I liked it, but I didn't get as attached to the characters as I usually do. Though I assure you, many many tears were shed over Augustus Waters, and I'll not soon forget his name.

"My thoughts are stars I cannot fathom into constellations"