Will Grayson, Will Grayson by John Green and David Levithan

Will Grayson, Will Grayson by John Green and David Levithan
"One cold night, in a most unlikely corner of Chicago, two teens—both named Will Grayson—are about to cross paths. As their worlds collide and intertwine, the Will Graysons find their lives going in new and unexpected directions, building toward romantic turns-of-heart and the epic production of history’s most fabulous high school musical."- summary from Amazon

I have been anticipating this book for a long time and was so excited to get an early look at it. I love David Levithan's work and while I've only read one thing from John Green (his story in Let It Snow), I love his vlogs and sense of humor, so the two of them together was like Awesomeness squared. The novel did not disappoint or, well, at least not much.

What I thought was funny was that I switched which Will Grayson I wanted to read most a little ways in. The chapters alternate between each one, and they have their own distinct style and voice. WG1 is (I think) John Green's, and WG2 is (I think) David Levithan's; the two are easily distinguished by the fact that WG2 does not use caps (not even at beginning of sentences), except for like one or two instances, and the story for him is written almost like a screenplay. I originally wanted to read WG2 most as he was gay and I'm naturally drawn to that (being a gay man myself), but he was too emo for my tastes and I was really put off by him after the first chapter so I went with WG1. But then I switched back around halfway through.

I loved the character of Tiny and kinda wish there was a book written from his perspective. He's such a larger-than-life character and is the one character that is present in both stories after the two Wills meet. The concept of them meeting is interesting and I was wanting to see how it would all play out. The story has got a lot of humor, heart, and revelations that make you think about your own life and how you live it.

I was not a big fan of the ending because it felt abrupt to me. If the acknowledgements had not been right on the next page, I would've thought they had failed to print the rest of the story since there were several blank pages after that. There were a lot of threads left undone (and one that started on the second-to-last page- WHO DOES THAT?!), but not enough for a full novel (I don't think). I feel like several characters were just left hanging and I'm left wondering what's going to happen to them. So someone please tell me there will be a sequel or something in the future.

So, after hearing some comments about my review and all that, I understand that it ends that way on purpose because life is not tied up like a bow. And I understand the reasons for doing that, however I don't have to like it. I want my bow!

Overall though, it is a very good book and a compelling read that's hard to put down. Also, the musical mentioned in the summary is FABULOUS and the lyrics to some of the songs are just hilarious. Those are worth the price alone!


FTC: Received ARC from publisher. Amazon link is an Associate link; any profit goes toward funding contests.