Margo also has her own routines and patterns, although they look very different from Quentin’s. If Quentin is predictably predictable, Margo is predictably unpredictable. Wild stories circulate around school about Margo, like her sneaking into concerts, and all of them are true. But while Quentin finds comfort in routine, Margo feels as though she’s trapped in them.

Margo and Quentin both engage in obsessive planning to go on their respective missions. Margo has been plotting her escape from Central Florida for years. Quentin obsessively tracks Margo. But in order for either of them to grow up, they have to break their own self-inflicted routines. Margo has to learn how to trust that Quentin cares about her, and that he’s not just a “paper boy.” Quentin has to look beyond his trepidation in order to take risks. To move forward past the routines that have trapped them in the past, Margo and Quentin need to borrow each other’s strengths.

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