Years ago, I read the first half of the book "Maximum Ride" because I was such a huge James Patterson fan. I never forgave him, and didn't read anything he wrote again until about a year ago when I read "Honeymoon" which was one of the greatest thrillers ever with the single most disappointing ending I've ever experienced. Now, if you're a reader of this blog, you'll know that endings aren't important to me, so this was a rare exception. However, my rare exception wasn't without provocation, BECAUSE, on the cover it says: "DON'T GIVE AWAY THE ENDING" so when you read that, you expect something earth shattering and not the shitstain you're given. Really, I'm not taking the blame for this disappointment, this was Pattersons once more, for dropping the ball yet again AFTER telling me I'd be blown away. That being said, I did love the book and I still rated it a 4 out of 5 because of how good it was despite it's shit ending; sadly, "The Fault Ib Our Stars did NOT receive the same treatment.
It's odd, I'm not usually very critical of books, which is weird because I'm a writer first and foremost. One of the taglines for this book is "Cancer books suck" and boy is that true for this. Now, this is a loaded gun with you young people, so hear me out. I like John Green, but I often feel he should be BETTER. In fact, Paper Towns is the only one he's written that's actually been GOOD, as his other work is just mediocre to ok. He's not a bad writer, at all, and he's got a really cool voice (and I love his blog and stuff, he's got some really good points on things) but one of the first things you learn as a writer are your strengths and weaknesses and that just because you WANT to write about something doesn't mean you CAN or SHOULD. The problem isn't the cancer aspect, the problem isn't the "mary sue" I've seen people call Hazel (a Mary Sue is a bland underdeveloped lead designed to allow any reader to insert themselves into the lead role, a character with no faults or poor traits) because Hazel was one of the only enjoyable things, and it wasn't even really the all over the god damn place feeling of the book.
The problem was Augustus Waters.
He is hands down one of the WORST characters I've EVER read. AND, not only is your lead male love interest fucking terrible, but the novel borderlines on "Twilightesque" romance, and what that means is never is it really indicated WHY these two love one another. A big issue in romance (movies, novels, whatever) is understanding why two characters love one another. NOW, while it's a bit realistic to NOT have a real reason because people fall in love for no reason at all all the time and I do kind of admire that, it also doesn't work for all love stories. "Because they both have cancer" isn't a reason, it's an excuse. These characters outside of their somewhat similar sense of humor had NOTHING. IN. COMMON. Not that the old time phrase "opposites attract" is right or true, but you have to have SOMETHING in common besides just both being sick, otherwise what the hell do you build your relationship on? Vanity? Because these two certainly do. CONSTANTLY you are told by Hazel how hot Augustus is. He constantly tells her she is beautiful, so is this mirroring teenage romance where it's almost all purely physical and lust based? Even when I was a teenager I didn't understand teenagers, and I certainly don't now either at 24. The book was also all over the place, and the subplot regarding the author of Hazels favorite book was better than the entire main plot. In fact, he's really the only character who acts like a real person (outside maybe Hazels parents) in this entire book. Book was pretty damn funny though. I will give it that much.
It's not that it's a bad book, it's more one of those overly hyped pieces of media that just fell completely flat. I read to the end waiting for it to get better-and it was given a million chances-but it never does, sadly. Its completely blah, mediocre and despite being well written isn't all that interesting. I was told by so many people it's "the saddest thing ever" or they they cried through the entire thing or that it was so movingly beautiful or that it "gave them feels" (that shit needs to stop, ok? Stop taking 4chan stuff and making it your own. Fucking stop it. "Feels" is fucking stupid now) and yet I felt NOTHING. The only time I felt anything was near the end when Van Houtons realization of his daughters death came to light, and that's because it was REAL. It felt realistic.
Ironic, isn't it? The most "unlikeable" character in this book is the only one I really liked.
Either way, I'm waiting for Green to finally write another book that hits the highs that Paper Towns hit, but I may be waiting a while, given now that it seems this book sold out entirely to the tween audience, and that it may only spawn more generic sad love stories.
RATING: 2 OUT OF 5
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