Paper Towns

"She loved mysteries so much that she became one". 

Here as a reader, we discover two teenagers. Quentin Jacobsen, more commonly known as Q. by his best friends and Margo Roth Spiegelman, both neighbors who have, so to speak, played in the sandbox together. However, those times are far away since our two heroes, who find themselves in this novel, in their final year, their last year of high school, no longer have the same frequentations or even the same interests, and that is much to Quentin's chagrin. While she's sort of the most popular girl in school, a sort of mascot, he hangs out with his two best buds, Ben and Radar (which is of course just a nickname, as you'll understand ). All of this takes place in a perfect little routine until that famous evening when Margo comes knocking on Q.'s window to drag him into a crazy devilish night and it's that night that will change everything for him.

Fear is a tenacious emotion in this novel, it is also one of the strongest feelings; the one I felt until the end. Afterward, there is melancholy and a feeling of loss in the last pages; just like a big relief. It was only at the end of this work that I had tears in my eyes, the end is not sad; it's just filled with hope. The emotions are very confused, just like the characters. Yet they are there, mesmerizing. Q.'s admiration, his love for Margo; the latter a little lost, perhaps even empty. The terror of having abandoned someone, the need to discover the truth.

John Green has this feather that few authors have. The one who carries, transports. It is always full of metaphors, they often have a hidden meaning. It's not necessarily fluid, but his writing is a mixture of sweetness, heart, and benevolence. His words and phrases constantly make me think. And in this novel it is not lacking, I wanted to get into the minds of the heroes as well as the author to grasp the full value of the synopsis. As said on the back cover: "Nobody really cares about the important things". 

A reflection on adolescence, the quest for identity, and worrying about how others will judge us according to the actions we perform (or not). I would like to point out that this last point is not specific to the period of adolescence but that it pursues us throughout our lives. A novel, for young and old, remarkably well written. To discover and to make discover !