Review: Will Grayson, Will Grayson by John Green & David Levithan

Title: Will Grayson, Will Grayson
Author(s): John Green & David Levithan
Publisher: Dutton (Penguin)
Pub. Date: 4.6.2010
Genre: Contemporary YA
Keywords: Love, Chance Encounters, Homosexuality, Theatre, Musicals
Pages: 310
Description (from arc):
Will Grayson, meet Will Grayson.
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 towards respective romantic turns-of-heart and the epic production of history's most fabulous high school musical.

WILL GRAYSON, WILL GRAYSON has been sitting on my to-be-read pile for quite some time. Other books kept pushing ahead in line until, finally, I took it off the stack and stuck it in my bag, refusing to look at another book until I'd finished it.

At first, I wasn't as enthralled as I'd imagined I'd be. I thought that John Green's Will Grayson was hilarious and I was enjoying the sections he narrated, but I simply couldn't connect with David Levithan's Will. He was just too for me. Too negative, too sarcastic, too much in general. I found him extremely annoying - until he met the other Will Grayson. I can't pinpoint the exact change that occurred, but I know that when the Will Graysons met in that "unlikely corner of Chicago," I started to like Levithan's Will, sometimes even more than I liked Green's! *gasp* Once I made a connection with both Will Graysons, my attitude towards the book changed completely. At first, I could easily set the novel down and was distracted by other things, but after, it was nearly impossible to tear my eyes from the page. So, if you've yet to read WILL GRAYSON, WILL GRAYSON, don't give up on it if you aren't connecting with both characters. There's a chance that this will change for you, as it did for me, but, even if it doesn't, this novel is definitely worth finishing!

I can't write a review of this novel without mentioning Tiny Cooper, who is both a best friend and love interest in the novel. He was a fabulous character and, of all the characters, I'd have to say that he shines the brightest. I'd love to read a novel from his point of view!

Overall, WILL GRAYSON, WILL GRAYSON is a hilarious novel written by two phenomenal authors. It reminded me just how amazing John Green's writing is and has encouraged me to seek out more by David Levithan.

Grade: A

*Edit: I said above that I didn't know what changed to allow my connection with Levithan's Will, but thanks to the wonderful comment below, I realized the reason! Will meets Tiny!! Now that I've realized this, I feel slightly silly, as it is actually quite obvious.

Review: Paper Towns by John Green

Title: Paper Towns
Author: John Green
Publisher: Dutton Books
Date Published: 2008
Genre: YA
Main Themes: Friendship, Runaways, Mystery/Clues, Love
Pages: 305
Plot (from book jacket): "Quentin Jacobson has spent a lifetime loving the magnificently adventurous Margo Roth Speigelman from afar. So when she cracks open a window and climbs into his life - dressed like a ninja and summons him for an ingenious campaign of revenge - he follows.

After their all-nighter ends and a new day breaks, Q arrives at school to discover that Margo, always an enigma, has now become a mystery, but Q soon learns that there are clues - and they're for him. Urged down a disconnected path, the closer he gets, the less Q sees the girl he thought he knew."

Paper Towns was my first John Green novel, but it definitely won't be my last. It was so seriously amazing... there aren't words to describe my reading experience.

I'm usually not into reading books from the male perspective, but I recently read Black Rabbit Summer by Kevin Brooks (which is narrated by a male protagonist) and loved it - and am now working on not being so narrow-minded about my main characters. Q was one of my favorite main characters, so I'm glad I gave Paper Towns a chance.

I think the aspect of this book that really made it amazing was the author, John Green. I'd heard that he was a really amazing, funny guy... something about Nerd Fighters?... but he has some serious writing talent. All the little details, the plot, the dialogue - it was so great... I could not put this book down.

I loved the clues. Margo leaves clues for Quentin to find her and I was trying right along with him to figure them out. I couldn't stop reading until I found out what happened.

This book was also so freaking funny. I was laughing out loud at 1 am, especially at the end of the book. There is some seriously hilarious dialogue during a road trip... the road trip alone is reason to read this book! :)

Ratings (out of 10):
Plot: 10
Characters: 10
Writing Style: 10
Romance: 10
Originality: 10
Total: 50/50 (A!)

There are so many reasons to read this book! Its just one of those books that you have to read...