Now... the big question is how can I get more people to stop here and read five minutes. I probably would have found time to post if I thought a thousand fellow readers were waiting impatiently for any news... I would post more detailed reviews if I knew they would be read.
I read Paper Towns last week too, a very late reading, as the book has been published in 2009. And guess what? I did not care much for it. I did not like Margo, her deeds, her character, her weirdness, the way she runs away. I probably should say I did not understand her, not at all. First, if you want to call a character Margo, you may choose between two spellings: Margot, the old classical, which comes from Marguerite, or Hemingway' creation, Margaux. I totally favor Hemingway's, the -aux at the end gives the name some structure, some weight. It does not change the way it is pronounce, only the spelling is affected. But Margo, the way it is written here? where does it come from? who was ever called Margo? and when you see it written, it looks ugly, unfinished. I have read recently ( a few months ago) a book where a French character was called throughout the book Jeano, and it was so stupid I have forgotten the book it came from. Jeannot is a diminutive form of Jean, a boy's name in France, but even endearing names have a spelling! and I reckon no one has used Jeannot in the past fifty years, as it is very un-trendy.
So, anyway in Paper Towns, Margo is a complete brat, who is eighteen and acts like she is five. Every one (but me) admires her, for being so daring, so full-of-life, for being different, and mostly for being unreachable. She is the star you crave for, knowing no matter how long you wait and try, you won't get her. Quentin, like all the other heroes in John Green's books, is a bit of a nerd. If he knew more about stuff, he would be a geek. But he is mostly a normal guy, who falsely believes he loves Margo. I say falsely, because he is smitten the way you can only be as a teenager, when your love is perfect. The view you have of a person is completely twisted by the rosy glow of love. Quentin should be able to see (and not tell, if wants) Margo's actions as stupid, childish, silly, useless etc. But he does not. We are talking about Perfect Margo, the love of his life. Just simple thoughts of criticism, constructive criticism should be punished with shunning or excommunication, at least. This is not love, it is called idolatry.
 Change the point of view for a minute. When you look at Margo from Q's side, you see a mystery, and her disappearance makes her more out-of-reach than before. Now, study the situation from Margo's view of it. She ran away for nothing, or maybe because of her boyfriend cheating, though she does not really care. She does not have anywhere to go, nobody is expecting her. She is not curious enough to roam in the USA; not rich enough to fly anywhere; not imaginative enough to create her own reality. So, out of ideas, she settles in a paper town, doing nothing, getting bored to death. She won't say it, but she wants to be found so badly she wrote the message telling when she leaves, and has been praying they - someone - will come before it is time. Is that the life you wish? and what will she do next week, month or year?
Of course, she cannot go back with Q and the others. She would lose face, which is worse than death for pretentious losers like her. So, she will remain the lonely heroine, going away in the sunset.
Very sad, in reality.
Wait for the movie, anyway. I still don't know if Cara Delavingne (another French name damaged by Ellis Island, it should be Delavigne) has read the book or not. But she is pretty, and will make people dream of her as Margo.