Book Review | Will Grayson, Will Grayson

Will Grayson, Will Grayson is a contemporary book written by both John Green and David Levithan. The whole idea is that there is Will Grayson numero uno (written by John Green), who has a humdrum life but carries about with a fair amount of friends, mainly Tiny Cooper and Jane. Then we have David Levithan's Will Grayson who had a total of one non-friend and a partial real friend. Two completely opposite characters with the same name who are unknowingly about to cross paths.

Okay, as some of you may know, I am not big on the contemporary boat. Right around the time I said this, I picked up those ever so gushed about John Green books. My previous John Green reads were very well liked. When I read that Will Grayson, Will Grayson was co-written, I thought the dynamic would be interesting so I picked it up. Worth a shot, right?

Throughout the novel, the point of view changes melodiously. However, that tactic is far over used and abused by most writers whose names aren't John Green or David Levithan, therefore I was quite impressed with the changing of perspectives. But that's expected when a collaboration is done the right way, carefully and concisely.

John Green's Will was awkward, unsure of himself, and funny with a lighthearted vibe. It felt very true to Green's writing aesthetic. His relationship with both Tiny and Jane was similar to how I feel many high school friendships are: slow to the start with a sudden realization of likeness for one another. He doesn't realize how much of himself is infused within his and Tiny's friendship, who by the way, began to bug the hell out of me after about fifty pages. I wanted to like his character but he was extremely reminiscent of Damian from Mean Girls, in both his stature and speech, just more exaggerated.

Now, Mr. Levithan is an author new to my life. His Will, whom I loved and refer to as Grayson, was outspoken, sarcastic, and bathed in dark humor. Lower case letters fit his personality and it was a nice stylistic choice on behalf of his creator. But when he got consumed by his love of Isaac, it came across as love sick-y which didn't seem in character for Grayson. What I loved were the brutally honest emotions emitting from him, but when he vocalized these feelings to others, his character fell short.

Aside from the basic individual concerns, the romantic relationships were lacking. I won't spoil them, but they weren't too fun to follow. The whole Schrödinger's Cat conversation was gripping for about one or two pages while any further discussion of it became dull. I am happy that this book touched upon all relationships whether they be straight/gay/lesbian/bisexual, but they weren't made out to be a huge deal. So, that was nice.

I think Will Grayon x2 is why I fell into my reading slump. I had relatively high expectations going in and was disappointed big time. The lack of life altering events after both Will's met was not what I had pictured to go down and the end was okay but by no means was it brilliant. I recommend this if you're a fan of John Green, David Levithan, or like contemporary.

3 out of 5 stars