Review of Will Grayson, Will Grayson by Green and Levithan

Format: Paperback
Genres: contemporary, romance, lgbt,
Pages: 308
Publisher: Penguin
Release Date: 10/05/2012
Find John: Website ¦ Twitter 

Find David: Website
Book Depository ¦ Amazon UK/US ¦ Goodreads

One cold night, in a most unlikely corner of Chicago, two strangers cross paths. Two teens with the same name, running in two very different circles, suddenly find their lives going in new and unexpected directions, culminating in heroic turns-of-heart and the most epic musical ever to grace the high-school stage.

Hilarious, poignant, and deeply insightful, John Green and David Levithan’s collaborative novel is brimming with a double helping of the heart and humor that have won both of them legions of faithful fans.
 

I wasn't sure what to expect from Will Grayson, Will Grayson. Secret clones? Same name romance? More hipster references than I could keep up with? Thankfully it was none of these things and actually turned out to be very sweet, gay, romance that I was completely rooting for throughout the story.

I'm not David Levithan's biggest fan, just to get that out of the way. I've read of his books now and each time I do feel like he's trying to be deep and philosophical and it just doesn't work for me. I know immediately that his Will was the angry one. Probably because I can't see John Green forcing us to read half a book in lower caps, which took some getting used to.

I loved John Green's Will. His section's characters seemed better developed and more memorable, particularly Jane and Tiny Cooper. Oh, how I loved Tiny Cooper. It would be hard not to love a large, sassy, gay man which a penchant for bursting into song. I could completely understand why John's Will found Tiny frustrating though, he did have a habit of only thinking about himself.

Both boys are going through the same thing, despite having different lives - struggling through high school and relationships, both romantic and not. Somehow, despite the darker humour coming off of Levithan's Will, the book was very positive and happy and easy to read. And funny! It did take me 50 pages to really get into it but after that I was hooked. This book is definitely the best one of David Levithan's I've read so far and I highly recommend it. Plus - no vague hipster references! 



Comments

  1. I loved Tiny too! But I was disappointed with the ending. John Green's Will grew the most I think; his ending was the best one for me. I hated Levithan's Will for a fair few chapters. How he was with his Mum made me want to scream. But he grew on me, as did the book. I can see it being an awesome movie! It took me a while to get into, like you, but it became a favourite of mine. And the cover's lovely too.

    shelfofmelanie.wordpress.com

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  2. Yaay! I really loved this book, especially Tiny so I'm glad you liked it!

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