I really loved this book, and the way the characters are written realistically made me actually, kind hate them? Because the way the book is set up, his use of metaphors, the confusion, the dialogue and the quirkiness just bordering on being too much balances out the way I actively want to SMACK QUENTIN AND MARGO.

How can two people be SO selfish? Q is obsessed with Margo. In the book, the English teacher is discussing Moby Dick for their finals and she mentions either you applaud the captain for solely focusing on his white whale or criticize him for his dumbassery and obsession and Q decides "Hell yeah, this man was sticking it out and completed his task." Hm, sounds familiar? Because Margo was your white whale? And his trivial fights with Ben and Radar (bless Radar's heart - love him) are because he can't stop thinking about Margo and cannot fathom that someone's life can continue beside his issues?
I understand, yes, that to some degree one would obsess if one of your friends disappeared (is she still a friend if she rarely communicated with him and so? Just an honest question) and they're known for leaving clues - but at what point after searching multiple empty "paper towns", skipping prom and reading what you believe to be hidden suicide messages, do you step back and say, "Hey, you know. This isn't right."

ALSO! He is dumb, and no, I won't be taking any constructive criticism. When he saw the four tack marks in the abandoned minimall on the wall and the marks in the middle, I was like - oh yeah a map! And it took the guy days to figure it out!! I was screaming at him for a whole five minutes when he finally got it.

Q was cute and endearing, but his need for Margo was suffocating. He was searching for that ideal Margo Roth Spiegelman that was in his mind who offer herself to him when he found her like a lost princess in a tower and he wasn't thinking about the girl who hid herself from her family and friends, who is visibly unhappy and who needed that little bit of good attention (the type Q's parents give him).

To be honest, with her need to explore and know more than what the small and undefined town offered, I would escape too. Not as harshly as she did, but my need would be just as great. Her selfish reasons was not thinking of her consequences. I mean, her poor little sister. She was misunderstood by everyone around her and she played into those mirros and views they had of her. It probably added to her exhaustion from the place, but she did play into their ideals of her, The Margo Roth Spiegelman.

And when he finally finds her and the result is so anti-climatic, it's not bad writing or a let down. It's a perfect feeling, because how deflated would you feel if the person you were searching for weeks, just didn't give any positive reaction? It totally makes sense, he was expecting this big "Oh, Q! You found me, now ravage me and be mine forever!" and she simply said, hold on for five minutes.

The things that I loved the most about the book was the broken hulls on a ship metaphor and Ben's redemption arc from being a "honeybunny" enthusiast to beating up a guy for calling Lacey a bitch. Can't forget the initial evening of their quests, loved the intricacy of it all.

And truly, I understand Quentin and Margo's reasons for their actions, but if I ever see them - it's on SIGHT.