It's rather short, I decided to have mercy on you all.
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 toward romantic turns-of-heart and the epic production of history’s most fabulous high school musical. (From Goodreads.com. What a surprise.)
Earlier, I was contemplating where I should set this review. Although I am ashamed to admit it, my immediate thought was Frenchies. But then I realised what I saw saying and started to shake my head against the idea, hoping that it would ward off any horrors hidden in small black bags. Will Grayson, Will Grayson, however, could not be contained within one of these crude black bags, for it is bigger than them. It is bigger than those bags, it is bigger than the shop wherein the perverts of the neighbourhood obtain those bags, it is bigger than those perverts, and it is bigger than you and me. It is bigger, if possible, than Tiny Cooper. And it is slightly more awesome.
Will Grayson, Will Grayson is all the fun of a John Green novel with all the fun of a David Leviathan novel blended together, condensed into about 300 pages and sprinkled with the shavings of sparkly awesome and Broadway musicals. Yes, I think it is becoming quite evident that I rather like this book. What’s not to like? It was a well-written novel based around an interesting concept, filled with wit and awesomeness. The humour was random, vulgar, stupid, snarky, but it was always funny. And while not all that emotionally involving, the novel definitely brought up some really interesting and genuine issues. Like why Tiny’s musical has not adapted for real life stage. This is a genuine concern of mine, because I MUST SEE THAT MUSICAL, as if my life depended on it. Which it does, so someone with some kind of musical talent better get off up their arses and make my dream/Tiny’s play into a reality!
Since the books plot is powered by the whims of people who want to write musicals, or want to seduce their friends over the internet, or people who randomly wander into shops like Frenchies in order to test out their faulty fake ID, it is not the main focus. No, that would be the narrative, and the characters behind it. Both sides of the narrative, Uppercase Will (authored, a fancy word that I’ve been longing to use, by John Green) and lowercase will (authored, such a nice word, by David Leviathan), were incredibly strong, and unique. I love split narratives, and both flowed into each other fabulously; although, I must admit that lowercase will’s lowercaseness is slightly jarring at first. The emotions rang true, even if I don’t happen to be a teenage boy, nor do I wish to be, but the emotions were so universal that almost anyone could relate to the characters. Both narratives pertained to be outlandish, comedic and screwball-y, but underneath the upbeat tone lied a miserably, sleeping dragon, a very angsty dragon. Despite its seemingly heavy undertones, it never felt heavy, nor depressing. Well, with the exception of lowercase will’s early chapters, wherein he was a massive buzz kill (a job which he seemed to take very seriously; indeed, by the time I finished his chapter, I found that all of the joy in my surroundings was lying in the corner, harvesting mushrooms on its head, or had dropped dead trying to make an escape.). But he got better as time went on, thankfully, because otherwise we’d be living on a dead planet, devoid of happiness and sunshine.
Speaking of the characters, they were a colourful bunch; Uppercase Will was the classic John Green protagonist, snarky, misunderstood, annoyed, but ever so endearing. Well developed, realistic, but awfully familiar; indeed, it astonishes and impresses me how JG can write about the exact same archetype every time, yet make the characters so unique in their own way. It is amazing. It is nerdfightastic. Uppercase Will provided his own form of snark and humour, whereas lowercase will, he brings an equally unique amount of snark, and a rather large of conditions that can only be treated by large amounts of anti-depressants or hugs. Akin to the other Will, his development was incredibly endearing. He was dealing with so many problems, most of which he created in his own mind. He was incredibly layered, so pitiable. He needs a hug. The rest of the male cast should feel obligated to hug him. No, it’s not for my fangirly enjoyment, this time, I promise. It’s for will’s good! His poor heart might shrivel up and crawl out of his chest if he doesn’t get some love soon. Tiny is kind of polarising, for me, at least; I’m having a little trouble deciding on whether he was awesome, because he was so amusing and very, very gay and totally fine with that (for I find reading about people angsting over their sexualities very, very dull, and if someone can accept something with good grace, then they are obviously the better person.), or rather irritating; because sometimes, he could be very selfish and slightly irritation. I suppose his flaws make him a character more true to life. Jane was interesting as characters go, plain but fine personality wise. Not a manic-pixie-dream-girl, like Green’s other girl characters, but it was a nice break. Maura, well, not much needs to be said about Maura. She was a bitch. That is all.
You might be wondering if I have anything negative to say about this book. And for that, you receive a blow to the head and a pre-marked gravestone. How dare you suggest that there is something wrong with this book?! There is nothing wrong with this book; only things wrong with the world. For example, WHY HASN’T TINY’S PLAY BEEN MADE REAL? AND THEN PUT ON BROADWAY? AND WHY HAVEN’T I BEEN SENT TICKETS? On that note, I bid you to buy the book. The cover is excessively shiny, like this review. You might enjoy it. No, you likely will enjoy it. It’s a humorous, surreal, journey across the barren wasteland of Chicago, land of excitement and American-ness. You will enjoy it.
★★★★.5
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 toward romantic turns-of-heart and the epic production of history’s most fabulous high school musical. (From Goodreads.com. What a surprise.)
Earlier, I was contemplating where I should set this review. Although I am ashamed to admit it, my immediate thought was Frenchies. But then I realised what I saw saying and started to shake my head against the idea, hoping that it would ward off any horrors hidden in small black bags. Will Grayson, Will Grayson, however, could not be contained within one of these crude black bags, for it is bigger than them. It is bigger than those bags, it is bigger than the shop wherein the perverts of the neighbourhood obtain those bags, it is bigger than those perverts, and it is bigger than you and me. It is bigger, if possible, than Tiny Cooper. And it is slightly more awesome.
Will Grayson, Will Grayson is all the fun of a John Green novel with all the fun of a David Leviathan novel blended together, condensed into about 300 pages and sprinkled with the shavings of sparkly awesome and Broadway musicals. Yes, I think it is becoming quite evident that I rather like this book. What’s not to like? It was a well-written novel based around an interesting concept, filled with wit and awesomeness. The humour was random, vulgar, stupid, snarky, but it was always funny. And while not all that emotionally involving, the novel definitely brought up some really interesting and genuine issues. Like why Tiny’s musical has not adapted for real life stage. This is a genuine concern of mine, because I MUST SEE THAT MUSICAL, as if my life depended on it. Which it does, so someone with some kind of musical talent better get off up their arses and make my dream/Tiny’s play into a reality!
Since the books plot is powered by the whims of people who want to write musicals, or want to seduce their friends over the internet, or people who randomly wander into shops like Frenchies in order to test out their faulty fake ID, it is not the main focus. No, that would be the narrative, and the characters behind it. Both sides of the narrative, Uppercase Will (authored, a fancy word that I’ve been longing to use, by John Green) and lowercase will (authored, such a nice word, by David Leviathan), were incredibly strong, and unique. I love split narratives, and both flowed into each other fabulously; although, I must admit that lowercase will’s lowercaseness is slightly jarring at first. The emotions rang true, even if I don’t happen to be a teenage boy, nor do I wish to be, but the emotions were so universal that almost anyone could relate to the characters. Both narratives pertained to be outlandish, comedic and screwball-y, but underneath the upbeat tone lied a miserably, sleeping dragon, a very angsty dragon. Despite its seemingly heavy undertones, it never felt heavy, nor depressing. Well, with the exception of lowercase will’s early chapters, wherein he was a massive buzz kill (a job which he seemed to take very seriously; indeed, by the time I finished his chapter, I found that all of the joy in my surroundings was lying in the corner, harvesting mushrooms on its head, or had dropped dead trying to make an escape.). But he got better as time went on, thankfully, because otherwise we’d be living on a dead planet, devoid of happiness and sunshine.
Speaking of the characters, they were a colourful bunch; Uppercase Will was the classic John Green protagonist, snarky, misunderstood, annoyed, but ever so endearing. Well developed, realistic, but awfully familiar; indeed, it astonishes and impresses me how JG can write about the exact same archetype every time, yet make the characters so unique in their own way. It is amazing. It is nerdfightastic. Uppercase Will provided his own form of snark and humour, whereas lowercase will, he brings an equally unique amount of snark, and a rather large of conditions that can only be treated by large amounts of anti-depressants or hugs. Akin to the other Will, his development was incredibly endearing. He was dealing with so many problems, most of which he created in his own mind. He was incredibly layered, so pitiable. He needs a hug. The rest of the male cast should feel obligated to hug him. No, it’s not for my fangirly enjoyment, this time, I promise. It’s for will’s good! His poor heart might shrivel up and crawl out of his chest if he doesn’t get some love soon. Tiny is kind of polarising, for me, at least; I’m having a little trouble deciding on whether he was awesome, because he was so amusing and very, very gay and totally fine with that (for I find reading about people angsting over their sexualities very, very dull, and if someone can accept something with good grace, then they are obviously the better person.), or rather irritating; because sometimes, he could be very selfish and slightly irritation. I suppose his flaws make him a character more true to life. Jane was interesting as characters go, plain but fine personality wise. Not a manic-pixie-dream-girl, like Green’s other girl characters, but it was a nice break. Maura, well, not much needs to be said about Maura. She was a bitch. That is all.
You might be wondering if I have anything negative to say about this book. And for that, you receive a blow to the head and a pre-marked gravestone. How dare you suggest that there is something wrong with this book?! There is nothing wrong with this book; only things wrong with the world. For example, WHY HASN’T TINY’S PLAY BEEN MADE REAL? AND THEN PUT ON BROADWAY? AND WHY HAVEN’T I BEEN SENT TICKETS? On that note, I bid you to buy the book. The cover is excessively shiny, like this review. You might enjoy it. No, you likely will enjoy it. It’s a humorous, surreal, journey across the barren wasteland of Chicago, land of excitement and American-ness. You will enjoy it.
★★★★.5
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