John Green is often regarded as one of the most famous young adult romance authors of the time. Two of his works, The Fault in Our Stars and Paper Towns, were even made into movies. I believe John Green has a way with words, and the fact that he has amassed such a fan base really says a lot about his talent.

That said, while I do have an appreciation for his work—I have read all but two of his books due to my cousin’s persistence that his works are stellar—I feel as though there are underlying themes in his books that, while not necessarily intended, were never addressed or commented on. I read the three most famous books because I held hope that his characters and themes would shift or become more well-rounded. As I read, however, I found his characters to become more infuriating and poorer influences.

I loved Green’s syntax and choice of diction, but everything else seemed forced. Ultimately, I found his characters cliché and the plots contrived and somewhat unbelievable. Considering his audience is young adults, I also felt that his novels depicted romance and relationships as unrealistic, setting dangerous standards and expectations for love through the relationships between the characters. 

The Fault in Our Stars

This is least present in The Fault in Our Stars, yet each issue is still there, just not as exaggerated. The main characters, Hazel and Augustus, two teenagers who both have cancer, fall for each other over the course of the book. Unfortunately, while the books we hold connections with often have characters that we can relate to, I found it extremely hard to relate to either Hazel or Augustus. Additionally, the whole plot of The Fault in Our Stars feels like a stereotypical romance movie.

Essentially, the plot revolves around two teenagers named Hazel and Augustus who meet at a cancer support group and end up falling in love. Augustus learns that Hazel yearns to meet the author of her favorite book, but the author lives in Amsterdam. Augustus then decides to give up his one wish from a Make A Wish style organization so that Hazel can go visit her favorite author. After spending some time in Amsterdam, they travel back home, but not all is well as Augustus’ cancer becomes terminal and he dies.

The whole plot hinges on Augustus, a boy who has osteosarcoma (a type of bone cancer), sacrificing his one wish for a girl he barely knows—someone who, aside from lung cancer, he has no other connections with. Hazel and Augustus form a friendship in the span of a few hours, then a relationship over the course of about a month or two. This comes across as a forced or unrealistic style of love because it sets up the expectation of grandeur and overly romantic situations crammed into a short timespan.

A real, true love comes from getting to know each other for their flaws, dreams, and passions, a message that Green does not expand upon in the book. Love may be spontaneous and a little reckless at times, but the strongest relationships take time to form a connection.

While Augustus’ incredible gesture for his newfound love can be seen as romantic, it also sets an unrealistic expectation of how teenagers should show their love and affection. The message to Green’s audience seems to be that the way to a person’s heart is through extreme acts. Much like Augustus in Green’s novel, teenagers are still learning to understand what constitutes a healthy relationship and what it means to be romantic. Augustus’ act is portrayed and perceived as romantic, but it is also incredibly extravagant, excessive, and kind of unnecessary. What if he and Hazel didn’t work out? He would be left with a broken heart and no wish to use before he succumbs to cancer.

Hazel’s relationship with Augustus also appears opportunistic. Hazel seems borderline obsessed with her favorite author, who ignores her fan mail for years. However, she finds a way to visit Amsterdam to see the author by convincing Augustus to use his dying wish to travel there together. In many ways, Hazel treats Augustus more like a friend than a romantic interest. In Amsterdam, Hazel is mainly preoccupied with reaching out to her favorite author to find out what happens at the end of her favorite book. When the author does not give the answer she wants, she immediately claims he is a jerk and acts pouty instead of enjoying the fact she got to see him in the first place through Augustus’ huge sacrifice for her.

Ultimately, I found both characters to be pretentious to the point of annoyance. They both act in ways that seem overly mature for their age but are also devoid of reason. I sympathized most with Hazel because I too desire to meet my favorite authors; however, that sympathy quickly dissipated when I realized just how pompous she actually is. As for Augustus, I found his behavior to be smarmy and grandiose. His gestures for Hazel were over-the-top, especially considering the relationship just formed.

These unnecessary tropes with the characters make the whole story seem somewhat forced and cliché. This, in turn, makes the “budding romance” between Hazel and Augustus feel contrived and played out, much like the characters. She has something she would like to see, Augustus helps her see it, they fall in love, then one of them dies. It’s a very cut-and-paste romance with little sentimentality. The use of overly quirky characters also makes the book feel oversaturated to the point of nausea. In short, the characters and plot are so unrealistic that it becomes difficult to identify with the characters.

Paper Towns

Much like The Fault in Our Stars, Paper Towns was a let down for different reasons. After reading the first two or three chapters, I found it hard to root for either of the main characters, Margo and Quentin.

Margo comes across as immature, self-absorbed, and manipulative, not to mention a bona fide drama queen. She is prone to running away from her family for periods of time for various reasons, yet leaves clues so her family can find her later on. I found Quentin to be a desperate, sad, and pathetic character. Green wrote him as nothing more than a boy willing to do whatever it takes to get Margo to love him, which drives him to do some incredibly reckless things. Quentin is the guy that got friend-zoned and cannot seem to accept it.

Quentin, who is Margo’s neighbor, has loved her ever since she moved into the neighborhood as a child. These two characters grew up together, and Quentin watched Margo fall for boy after boy while always pining for her on the sidelines. The whole plot is based on Quentin’s desperate attempts to do anything to show Margo he loves her. When Margo finds out that her latest boyfriend cheated on her, instead of letting go, Margo asks Quinten to help her pull off an elaborate stunt that involves breaking and entering, taking pictures of one of the persons in question completely naked, and being an all-around ass.

Of course, he agrees to help her without hesitation. After this night of wild, law-breaking revenge, Margo runs away again, but not before she leaves subtle clues for Quentin to stumble across so he can find her. When Quentin sees Margo left him clues, he instantly decides that he is going to follow her clues to find her. He never stops to think about the consequences because he is so in love with Margo.

Quentin’s willingness to help Margo in her quest for revenge without question doesn’t appear as sweet or dedicated, but instead, makes Quentin seem like a sad and pathetic character. He is willing to abandon logic and empathy without a second thought, all for a girl who doesn’t even want to date him in the first place.

Furthermore, Quentin’s immediate decision to chase after her, as well as convince his friends to ditch school with him to do so, is borderline absurd. This cliché road trip setup, mixed with Quentin’s delusional idea that chasing after Margo will somehow make her love him, is hard to get behind. It’s pretty cringeworthy to watch Quentin make terrible choices for a girl who time and time again has shown that she has no romantic interest in him (or that she even cares about him at all).

Margo and Quentin’s delinquent behavior in the beginning made me dislike the main characters immediately. And as I continued reading, I grew to like them even less. Margo’s selfish and manipulative behavior is appalling, but Quentin’s readiness and willingness to risk everything to be with a girl who doesn’t care about him in the slightest is blatantly unrealistic. Ultimately, this book sets a poor example for the young audience who enjoys it: if you run, those who love you will engage in any necessary reckless activity to prove they love you, even if you take advantage of them.

At the core of Green’s novels, much like any novel, are the themes and messages that the reader takes with them. Green, while presenting some positive messages to his audience, ultimately details that if you truly love someone, they can do no wrong and you must go to extreme lengths to show it. This is a volatile message to send to his mainly young, hormonal teenage audience.

I find this is very concerning given his target audience and the troublesome characters and messages they send. Reckless behavior, infatuation disguised as love, and ambiguous goals that don’t seem to be achieved. These three ideas perfectly describe Green’s characters… and the fault in looking for paper towns.