"Will Grayson Will Grayson" by John Green and David Levithan

[Tenley Nadine]

I'm pleased to announce that this will be the Blurbing Book Club book from April 6th - May 6th. 

Here's what you should do during that time: 

1. Read the book (obviously). 

2. Come back to this forum and leave your thoughts about the book. You can write a sentence, you can write an essay, it doesn't matter, whatever you want. 

3. Blurb the book. 

Some of you may not know what a blurb is so allow me to explain: A blurb is a sentence of 10 words or less, that sums up the book in question. If you want an example, look on the back (occasionally the front) of some books lying around your house. Those are blurbs. 

Keep in mind that you can also compose lol-cat blurbs if you'd like (the same thing but with internet slang). 

[sugartits]

Awesome. Hopefully it comes in time... I think I'm 2nd or 3rd on the waiting list at the library :)

[sugartits]

Okay. Finished. Let's go.

First off -- I loved it. Awesomeness start to finish.

And yes, I was a little unsure of David Levithan's chapters at first (mostly just because they were a little gloom-and-doom for my taste) but I must admit, he grew on me. Two different authors made for two different main characters, and very authentic at that. John's chapters were, of course, full of the brilliance and depth that made his previous books so awesome as well...

The writing was pretty awesome in general. The present-tense first-person narration helps to really bring into each Will's life and kind of keeps you in the story as it happens, if that makes any sense at all. Like it's not like a story that someone recounts to you after the fact; it's more like you're following them around and seeing things as they happen. The dialogue was also very authentic -- one of the things I really appreciate about John's writing. It was, at times, a little too clever to be realistic, but not unacceptable so. I also thought the text- and chat-speak passages were surprisingly well-done -- these can so easily become lame and cliche if the writer doesn't really know what they're talking about.

I also thought the story was really cool. The different storylines and alternating chapters kept me reading for hours, because I kept reaching the end of a chapter and wanting to get back to that storyline as quickly as possible...

Okay this is waaaaay too long, and I don't mean to gush, but I really do love it. And I really don't read this kind of book at all apart from John's novels (note: If I had to, I would probably say WG,WG is my favourite of John's books, tied with LFA).

Blurb: Two flawed teenagers learn to be more awesome. And fabulous.

And another awesome quote from the acknowledgements page: "Being the person God made you cannot separate you from God's love."

[Natalie]

and fabulous.

[SingularityStar]

I received an advanced reader's copy of this a few days ago, so I've finished already. It was fantastic. My new favorite John Green book. I'm not very good with blurbs, but I'll give it a shot...

"If your life is a play, who are your co-stars?"

"u iz will grayson? i iz will grayson 2. lolz."

I want to say more, but I'm trying to avoid spoilers, so I'll end for now and wait for others to finish.

[Caleb]

Alright...I was most definitely without a doubt overtly critical of David Levithan's writing initially.
Yes chapter two starts off like a root canal but in the last few pages of the chapter you finally get to see some of what drives Levithan's Will Grayson.
Here's hoping for a great read.

[Bailey Stewart]

My thoughts exactly.

[Olivia]

I agree.

[robbiestraw]

Same here!
I couldn't stand it - the writing style was hard for me to adjust to... but I also didn't click with the even-numbered Will Grayson.

Not to make light of clinical depression, I understand it's a serious issue, but he seemed so self centered to me. And his unwillingness to accept that Maura had good motivation for creating Issac also bugged me.

But I definitely agree, at the end of the book I was completely turned around. I think the major turning point for me was when Tiny and Will met... that was when I realized that deep down, he did have the capacity to care about someone else. I also loved how he started talking to his mom ;-), that was so sweet.

[Gwin]

I have little sympathy for Maura; my best friend's ex did the exact same thing to him. Not pretty to watch.

[Susan]

Amazon is not shipping until the 12th and it was ordered pre-order months ago.

[Kaylin]

Amazon shipped mine early and I got it on the ninth so you might get yours early :)

[Mitch Mannering]

When I first started reading the book, the shift between chapters made me feel uncomfortable. Reading anything from David's perspective felt like I was talking to a guy from my high school I used to know who was a jackass, but in the end i didn't mind as much.
I have read some reviews in other places on the intrawebs that says that the "Change of their lives" when both Will Graysons meet John mentioned isn't exactly a big change. But I think that it is the little things that make a difference in life. John's Will said something along the lines of(I don't have book on hand) "You're are right about the love and truth thing, you can't have one without the other". 1) It gave John's will something to think about and 2) It gave David's Will an eye-opener that he was listened to and he is important.
If I go really nerdy about this, it is like in physics when saying a small force over a long distance does the same work as a large force over a short distance.