Will Grayson, Will Grayson by John Green and David Levithan
Page count: 304
Reading Level: YA
SUMMARY: One cold night, in a most unlikely corner of Chicago, two teensaboth named Will Graysonaare 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 historyas most fabulous high school musical.
MY REVIEW: I have not read a book so thought provoking, touching, and downright funny like WILL GRAYSON before. The story is narrated by the two Wills, one written in regular diction, the other all in lower case. Each author did an excellent job at getting to the heart of their characters. By the time I closed the book I felt I knew these people they had become so real and endearing to me. This book is not easy to forget. Will is best friends with Tiny who is nothing like his name being 6”6’ and huge. Tiny is gay and falls in love easily and frequently. Will keeps to himself, quiet, but witty and sharp with his observations about the world and its inhabitants. One night Will meets someone else with the same name while in Chicago. Both guys will never be the same.
I haven’t given a full-fledged five star rating to any book I’ve reviewed on this blog. Until now. This is exceptional storytelling and these masters of the craft have created a timeless tale of friendship, identity, acceptance and love. WILL GRAYSON is the best book I’ve read so far this year. Each Will is so individually captured and portrayed with unique, honest dialog and emotions. Yet the story never falters or becomes too heavy to read. Quite the opposite. Each author hooks the reader in so thoroughly I didn’t want to stop reading. I wouldn’t be surprised if an actual musical is made from Tiny’s fictitious school musical. The lyrics and story are that well done. Exceptional.
FAVORITE SCENE: So many to list so I’ll use the one which really touched me first. (From page 47 in the ARC.) This is the original Will Grayson narrating about his friend, Jane:
“I realize this is not, like, boyish. I realize that properly speaking guys should only think about sex and the acquisition of it, and that they should run crotch-first toward every girl who likes them and etc. But:The part I enjoy most is not the doing, but the noticing. Noticing the way she smells like oversugared coffee, and the difference between her smile and her photographed smile, and the way she bites her lower lip, and the pale skin of her back. I just want the pleasure of noticing these things at a safe distance—I don’t want to have to acknowledge that I am noticing. I don’t want to talk about it or do stuff about it.
I did think about it while we were there with unconscious, snotcrying Tiny below us. I thought about stepping over the fallen giant and kissing her and my hand on her face and her improbably warm breath, and having a girlfriend who gets mad at me for being so quiet and then getting quieter because the thing I liked was one smile with a sleeping leviathan between us, and then I feel like crap for a while until finally we break up at which point I reaffirm my vow to live by the rules.
I could do that.”
COVER COMMENT: This is one cover I’m glad they didn’t plaster with the faces of the two main characters. For once I like keeping my own interpretation of the Wills in my mind. The blurred effect of the spotlights is symbolic of Tiny’s musical production and the light shone on the characters in general.
RATING: +++++
FOR FANS OF: Contemporary YA.
BOOK SOURCE: Traveling ARC Tours.
REVIEWED BY: Laurie
Thank you for the heads-up review. I just finished The Fault In Our Stars (loved) and am reading Two Boys Kissing (also loving) so perhaps it makes sense that I should go back and read Will Grayson, Will Grayson.
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