Review for Will Grayson, Will Grayson by John Green & David Levithan!

Quick View Review

Characters: **** (4/5)

Plot: ** (2/5)

Writing Quality: ***** (5/5)

Amazon Rating: ***** (5/5)

Full Review:

One night, on a random street in Chicago, two Will Graysons are going to unexpectedly meet. As their lives inevitably become increasingly connected, the two teens find their worlds changing in unexpected ways. Sprinkle this fate with some romance and some humor, and you’ve got quite the unique novel by two incredible authors.

I have to be honest: I expected this book to be absolutely amazing (I mean, what else can you expect from John Green and David Levithan?) but I was really disappointed. I thought it was going to be about some kind of relationship between the two Will Graysons, but they only met a few times and I didn’t think it was really their story.

I did like the characters. They were beautifully written and their personalities were incredibly realistic and perfectly complex. The character development was truly extraordinary, and I admire Green and Levithan for their ability to take a character under their wing and make them so much more. I thought Tiny was absolutely hilarious, and I loved the romance between him and Levithan’s Will Grayson, which really proved that opposites attract, even though they had more in common than I first thought. I also thought that his friendship with the other Will Grayson was portrayed very realistically: they weren’t always best friends, and sometimes got into arguments over stupid things, as friends always do in real life. What I thought was the problem, though, was that Tiny was really close with both Will Graysons. This caused the book to be Tiny’s book told in the perspective of the two boys Tiny was closest with, not a book that was about the Will Graysons. Yes, Green and Levithan did a tremendous job developing the relationships between Tiny and the Will Graysons, but I just feel like this shouldn’t have been Tiny’s book. And maybe Green and Levithan’s goal was to make us realize that two people who are seemingly drastically different may have more in common than we think, that people aren’t always what you might originally perceive, and to give everyone a chance, but without really witnessing any kind of connection between the two Will Graysons, I feel like the message was kind of lost. Yes, we did see them come together at the end for the play, but again, it was to help Tiny and to make amends with Tiny, not because they realized that they could learn something from the other.

The plot was just meh. Again, I felt like the idea was there, but without a relationship between Will Grayson and Will Grayson, it was kind of boring. Nothing really happened. I felt like the most exciting part of the book (excluding the play) happened in the first 50 pages. Even when either of them fought with Tiny, the arguments were pretty anticlimactic, and their feelings and reactions afterwards were exactly what you would expect. The plot overall was pretty predictable (which isn’t necessarily a bad thing), but I just feel like this book needed some kind of big event that would throw the characters off, that would necessitate some kind of adjustment from the characters. Maybe even one that would force the Will Graysons to come together? ;)

Despite the possible improvements in the plot department, the writing quality was breathtaking. Levithan and Green’s writing styles meshed seamlessly and beautifully, and I loved every bit of it. It was by far my favorite part of the book, and definitely was what made me keep going and get through this novel.

Overall, this book was disappointing. The characters and writing quality were amazing, but the plot and lack of a relationship between the Will Graysons really brought the overall quality of the book down in my opinion. I recommend it if you want a book with incredible writing and that will make you laugh.

Happy reading!

XOXO,

Jordan

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