I read the book. I saved the money. I was shaking with excitement.

Paper Towns is out in theaters! And I wasted no time zipping to the movies to see it. I didn’t even cry about not having candy or popcorn. The movie was all I needed to be happy.

And I found a piece of gum in my purse to snack on.

Paper Towns is about Quentin Jacobsen’s love for Margo Roth Spiegelman. She’s mysterious. She’s fierce. She does things he wish he had the guts to do. They live on the same street but at a distance. And then Margo shows up at his window one night and changes his life—only to disappear.

Will Quentin find her? Does she want to be found?

And then he discovers the clues and goes after her.

Paper Towns is a story about life. Real life. What you want and what will make you happy. Whether it’s getting the girl you love, graduating high school, or being a mystery.

I already loved the story behind Paper Towns. Could they duplicate my love for the book into a movie?

The actors were perfect. They were normal teenagers, not too “pretty”, relatable, and quirky. There was friendship. Nat Wolff nailed the role of an awkward, nerdy teenager in love. Justice Smith and Austin Abrams were spot-on as Radar and Ben. And Cara Delevinge’s eyebrows…

I laughed out loud, and gasped, and shuddered. There was even a moment that I wanted to sing along.

In regards to this movie going along with the book, I think they stayed as closely as possible, while keeping within the 2 hour movie attention span.

There was some added sexuality to the movie that wasn’t in the book, which I personally didn’t appreciate. In retrospect, this was my biggest critique. The book did more than fine without it. It could’ve easily been cut out of the movie. I just found it unnecessary. In fact, that minor part may limit the movie to an older high-school crowd. While, without it, parents could have been comfortable with their younger tweens watching it.

Were my eyes and mind polluted? No. I just found it unnecessary.

Turning my back on those selected couple of minutes, I give this movie 5 stars, and I will be watching it again once it hits the dollar theater.

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