Will Grayson, Will Grayson by David Levithan
Genre: YA Realistic Fiction
Blurb (on back of book):
Will Grayson meets Will Grayson. One cold night, in a most unlikely corner of Chicago, two strangers are about to cross paths. From that moment on, their world will collide and lives intertwine.
It's not that far from Evanston to Naperville, but Chicago suburbanites Will Grayson and Will Grayson might as well live on different planets. When fate delivers them both to the same surprising crossroads, the Will Graysons find their lives overlapping and hurtling in new and unexpected directions. With a push from friends new and old - including the massive, and massively fabulous, Tiny Cooper, offensive lineman and musical theater auteur extraordinaire - Will and Will begin building toward respective romantic turns-of-heart and the epic production of history's most awesome high school musical.
MY OPINION: **
It's not that this book was necessarily horrible, but my main problem with it was it was
bland and boring and was
not what I expected. There were lots of parts of it that I genuinely like and was tempted to give it a higher rating but there were just so many things about it that I didn't like as a whole and it ended up being a 1.5 star rating.
I've been trying to grade "harsher" lately when reading.
Sometimes, I really found it hard to keep reading this book. There were times when I put it down out of sheer lack of interest and I found myself making
a schedule to try to get this book finished and done. Like, I would be like "I am going to read 2 chapters today and then I'm going to read something else." Generally, books that I love really make me want to keep reading.
This book was about two boys named Will Grayson and we learn that that's where their similarities end. The first Will Grayson, or John Green's Will Grayson, is honestly really confused about his feelings about his friends and his possible love interest. He comes off as annoying and a tagalong to his more "fabulous" friend, Tiny Cooper, and I found it really hard to relate to him. He definitely felt left out half the time and I couldn't help but want him to make some NEW friends. I didn't really feel it with him. His entire relationship with Jane felt fake and I couldn't let myself delve into their possible feelings for each other. He also was constantly feeling put down by Tiny until he realizes that he actually appreciates Tiny for who he is and needs him in his life.
The other Will Grayson, or David Levithan's Will, was definitely more of my resonating character of the story. I really loved this Will Grayson. He had a lot of feelings and I felt like I could definitely understand his character more.
My heart truly went out for him when he found out that Isaac, the supposed "love of his life" was not real and that it was instead his friend Maura. I definitely did not see that one coming. The only thing that I didn't feel with him was his depression. I did understand that he was dealing with depression but at points, I didn't really see that. I don't know, maybe I just didn't read into it as well as I should have but at some points, my mind would wander off when reading and I would have to reread the pages again. However, this Will Grayson gets an extra half-star rating just for his pure awesomeness. Also, he's written in all lowercase letters and I LOVED that for some reason (it's some sort of phase I've been going through--writing in lower letters).
I really can't decide between one and two stars so I ended up rating it somewhere in the middle. I was really disappointed because I really had high hopes for this book, seeing as we have two amazing authors collaborating on what seemed to be an interesting idea. The characters had enough jazz and spice but there was something missing from the book that I can't quite put my finger on.
HONORABLE MENTIONS (CHARACTERS)
Tiny Cooper. I LOVED HIS CHARACTER. He was so perfectly comfortable in his body and in himself even though he admits that he knows he's being judged for his size. He writes a musical about himself which is incredibly awesome in itself. He is the president of the gay-straight alliance and he plays matchmaker with the first Will Grayson. He also falls in love with the second Will Grayson, effectively bringing the characters together! YAY!
Jane. She was a smart, intellectual, amazing person that I really would like to know in real life. Although I didn't feel the sparks between her and the first Will Grayson, I did like her as a person and would have loved to see more of her. She likes a wide variety of music and she's overall a very unique person.
Maura. Can I just say how much I hated her? What she did was unforgivable and at times, I thought she was overly rude and blunt. I couldn't stand her and I was glad that Will tried to cut her out of his life, though at least she did get some closure by the end. I didn't really understand her whole character and would have liked to gotten to know her better to possibly like her better..
ENDING
Well, the ending was something to be applauded. It was truly one of the most enjoyable parts of the book because it was uniquely amazing. I could just imagine it coming to life and it actually made me smile.
Overall, I would have liked more context and more character development. I would recommend to readers looking for a book about musicals and finding yourself.
Main Character: Will Grayson, Will Grayson
Sidekick(s): Tiny, Jane, Gideon, etc
Villain(s): Misunderstanding, love, friendships, etc
Realistic Fiction Elements: This book was all real to life.
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