Will Grayson, Will Grayson by John Green & David Levithan

Synopsis:
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. Hilarious, poignant, and deeply insightful, John Green and David Levithan’s collaborative novel is brimming with a double helping of the heart and humor that have won both them legions of faithful fans.

My Review:
John Green co-wrote this with David Levithan where Green wrote the odd numbered chapters and Levithan wrote the even numbered chapters which is a very interesting concept. It was written from the point of view of two different guys who both had the name Will Grayson and one night their worlds intersect in Chicago leading them down the path that will change them forever.

Ok so this was not my favorite John Green book ever but in truth it was not just written by John Green. I thought Green did a great job and as always he completely understands his characters inside and out and his characters express themselves in a very honest way. I tolerated Levithan’s part because I understood it was integral to the story but in all honestly his part could have been left out and I would still understand what was going on in the story. To be fair Levithan did not have the most charismatic character to work with because he was suppose to be clinically depressed and could care less about the world. I get that and he did a very good job creating a character that was so self deprecating and pessimistic that it was making me depressed. His character also cussed up a storm using the F-bomb every other sentence. I am not opposed to or averse to using the occasional curse word here and there myself but I draw the line at the F-bomb because I do not like to say it or hear it. With literature I let that slide because for some reason reading it is not as bad so I don’t mind having an F-bomb or two worked in there. But seriously reading the F-bomb used four times or more a page is quite enough and it starts to take away from the story when used too much which is unfair to both the reader and the character. I started to get so annoyed with the character when I was suppose to empathizing with him and trying to understand the dark place he was coming from.

I also think the subject matter, meaning homosexual relationships, was not what I was expecting even though I am not sure what I thought the story would be about. But I applaud the authors for tackling what is considered to be a controversial topic not just among teenagers but people everywhere. I always try to be very open to many different types of books, issues, and characters because I always want to expand my thinking and ultimately my world. But I am not going to lie, some of it was strange for me to read just because I have not had an extensive amount of exposure to homosexuality in literature and it is going to take me some getting used to. I hope everyone can see this story for what it is: a story about friendships, relationships, and characters that are deal with real issues that are present everyday and can not and should not be ignored.