Paperback's Pondering's is a weekly discussion when I take a topic and well, ponder about it! This week's topic is where I discuss why John Green books seem to have more negative reviews than good in the bookish community, and why I think he deserves a lot more credit than he gets.
There is one bookish opinion that I have had since I first started YA and that will probably never change, and that is that I love John Green books. I read TFIOS first, and I fell in love with the characters and the quotes. Then I read Paper Towns, which was by far one of my all time favourite books. I respect this author a whole lot, so something that I wasn't expecting when entering this bookish community was the amount of people who seem to hate his books.
John Green gained a lot of hype around 2013/14 when the TFIOS movie came out. Suddenly, quotes spread like wildfire on Tumblr, Ansel Elgort became a teen idol, and even the non-readers fell in love. This YA book was hyped until it couldn't be hyped anymore. I came to discover John Green earlier than the hype, but I have to admit, once it started I bought into it so much and appreciated this book even more. So you can imagine my surprise when I started my blog and wanted to fangirl with anyone and everyone, and I didn't find many people who liked his books.
I can honestly say that I have yet to meet a book blogger who loved TFIOS. Now don't get me wrong, I'm not telling people that their opinion is wrong, but I wonder where all the John Green lovers are? Certainly I'm not the only devoted bookworm who appreciated his books so much?
A lot of people argue that his books are cliche, predictable and just appeal to the hyped up teenage fangirl. Well I beg to differ. Green writes in way that sounds like a song. To me, he weaves humour into tense moments with such grace, that it almost makes you laugh when you actually should be crying. His quotes speak to me on an emotional level, and I think he puts such a positive outlook on life in his books. So why can't other people see that?
I think that there is an image of John Green books that they only appeal to light and fluffy fangirls. Well let me tell you, if you've ever read TFIOS, then you will know that it is far from light and fluffy. People just assume that because the book was hyped up so much, that it has basically been butchered and is too mainstream to try. I wish some people would look beyond the hype!
I have seen negative reviews of Paper Towns as well, which I can't even bring myself to read because I just love this book so much, but there are many times where people almost make me feel bad for loving his books. They are MORE than the hype, they are MORE than just Ansel Elgort's pretty face, and I just want them to touch other people as emotionally as they touched me.
Again, if you've read his books and didn't like them, I'm obviously not telling you that your opinion is wrong, this is just a call out to people who haven't read his books to still give them a try! I also want to be able to connect with more lovers of his books, so if you do love his books, PLEASE let me know! Sometimes I feel as if I'm the only one here.
I want to know what you think! Do you love/hate John Green's books, and WHY?
Emily @ Paperback Princess
