Note: This review is part of the 2016 Summer Reading Diversity Spotlight.
Will Grayson, Will Grayson by John Green & David Levithan
Release Date: April 6, 2010
Publisher: Dutton Books for Young Readers
Genre: Young Adult Contemporary, LGBT
ISBN: 978-0525421580
Source: Library
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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.
***
Will Grayson, Will Grayson was everything I hoped it would be and more from these two authors whose work I adore. The story is told from both Will Grayson POVs and the POV that was lighter in tone is first while the darker one is second and soon the two converge as they meet. I was taken aback by the darker tone (which I related to more re: depression) because I simply wasn’t expecting that but I like how these two distinct tones and stories even each other out and blend in the end.
If you’ve read these guys’ work before, you know how much you’ll fall in love with their characters, their stories I don’t even have to tell you. They get teen love stories. They just do. They knock it out of the park and this here is no exception.
I loved the complexities of both Wills, how rich their worlds were and how well everything merged once these two worlds collided. I will also add that I loved how raw the relationships were and how honest it was in showing that not every relationship is healthy. For instance, Maura, a friend of one of the Will’s is way too aggressive and invasive and the world’s worst friend ever. That was refreshing to see since I’m more used to seeing the sidekick best friend.
One of my favorite characters outside of the Wills has to be their friend, Tiny Cooper, who is gay and huge and loud and lovely and writes a musical about himself that gets funded and produced. Now that’s a character I want to follow. Who else as a teenager can write a musical about themselves and get it made? Tiny is amazing.
Now there were a few bits here and there that I wished had been explored more so that I could have appreciated and enjoyed the very romantic ending even more but overall, this was a solid and very satisfying story. Very entertaining. Heartwarming. The perfect book about love and friendship and self love to devour on an easy summer day. And I can’t wait to read Hold Me Closer: The Tiny Cooper Story now. If this book is on your radar and you haven’t read it yet, get to it!
Will Grayson, Will Grayson by John Green & David Levithan is available today.