everythingisastory

Ah, John Green. The leading author of Young Adult books, it seems. Nothing short of a genius, to be honest. His books always give out a particular message. Paper Towns was written by Green to show that we, as people, romanticise others. We either treat them as Gods or dismiss them as animals (As he says). And it is crazy how true this is. Paper Towns is the story of a boy named Quentin who romanticises a girl, she is a Goddess in his eyes, and he's obsessed with her. And it isn't healthy, it isn't healthy to love someone so much.

Many people see Paper Towns as a love story, many people only care about what happens of Margo and Quentin. I have a friend who I gave my copy of PT to and after reading a couple of pages, she came to me and said 'just tell me, do Margo and Quentin get together in the end'. I told her she was missing the point of the story, I told her to carry on reading. Paper Towns is about Q finding himself, it's about him realising that some things matter more than the girl next door and that some relationships like his friendships matter more than his unhealthy love for Margo. Of course, Q will never not have feelings for Margo, but he has learnt his lesson by the end of the book. I do agree with you, John Green, it is a treacherous thing to treat a person as more than a person.

For regular readers, Carry On by Rainbow Rowell will cause emotions; tears, laughter and love for each and every character. For readers who have previously read Fangirl-like me-Carry On will destroy you. For a reader who survived on small passages from Carry On, small portions of Simon and Baz at a time, Carry On is like a pool of fresh, clean water and you are the very thirsty reader.

It is so good.

I fell instantly for Penelope, whom I love ever so much and Simon was probably the character I felt closest to but also furthest away from. I've felt like this before with Eleanor from Eleanor and Park (also by Rainbow Rowell), where I felt like I knew her so well and at some times, felt like I didn't know her at all. And that is what makes Rowell's writing so real. You can't expect to know a person fully, in and out, whether you've known them for thirty days or thirty years, you just can't. A person is an enigma, a character is an enigma, and so Rowell's characters each have their own personal story. Be it Agatha who had her own dreams or be it Baz who had his demons. They weren't just co stars in Simon Snow's story, they were the leading characters of their own lives, that's what makes them all so special and relatable.

Carry On is over 500 pages long and I finished it in under two days, simply because it is so, so good. Rainbow Rowell is a master at writing dialogue-I don't know how she does it, but she does-and once again, she caused me to fall hopelessly in love with the characters. I even loved Davey at one point, not The Mage, I loved the young Davey. The truth is that Rowell is not just an author, but a magician herself. I don't know if she even knows how good she is, but I sincerely hope she does.