“You know what’s important?
Who would you die for? Who do you wake up at five forty-five in the morning for, even though you don’t even know why he needs you? Whose drunken nose would you pick?!” ~Will Grayson, from Will Grayson, Will Grayson
Two kids. One name.
A THOUSAND FEELS.
Full of jokes and sad happenings, truths and lies, lessons, insights, and, “epiphanies,” Will Grayson, Will Grayson is an incredible book…but anyone about to pick it up and read it should be warned: I wouldn’t recommend this to everybody. There. I said it.
I absolutely adore this book. I passed it on to one of my best friends to read the day after I finished it. However, she is someone who can relate to the story, and knows what she’s getting into.
Total honesty here: I wasn’t sure I would be able to finish. Maybe it’s because I started it while also studying for my college finals last semester, but, in the beginning, I thought the characters were SO obnoxious. Both Will Graysons’ stories seemed overly dramatic and whiny. I had to put the book down for a while and try again later (sadly, the gap between tries was a couple of months). When I picked it up the second time, suddenly I had a heart for the characters; things got really interesting.
It was almost like a fairy tale. Wait for the ‘norm’ to be introduced and then the real adventure will start.
I don’t know about other David Levithan works yet, but I can say other John Green novels confidently follow this familiar ‘norm-->adventure-->new-norm’ format. In my opinion, it just takes less time in John Green’s other books. I attribute this frustrating drag to having 2 norms by 2 authors the reader must become familiar with. Once you get past both (which happened for me around chapters 6 and 7), you can fall in love.
To give you a proper idea of the book past page 100-ish, I will inform you that I FINISHED THE BOOK IN ONE NIGHT. When I picked it up to continue, Will Grayson, Will Grayson told me a story I didn’t want to put down. It was done before I went to bed…and it wasn’t even an early-morning-went-to-bed-readers’-finish. It was from afternoon to a completely reasonable bed time.
I hope you’re starting to see why I gave it to my friend the very next day.
Before you stop reading this post and immediately go get yourself a copy, though, let me point out something else. Will Grayson, Will Grayson has very specific subject matter. This subject matter is something that I know not everyone would enjoy reading about. Multiple controversial and/or difficult topics – such as homosexuality, the rollercoaster that is dating, the whirlwinds that are friendships, cyber relationships, depression, fake IDs, single parents, rich meeting poor, uncommon interests (like who really wants to write their own musical? Pfft…me? No! Never! I… okay let’s face facts it’s 100% my dream), etc. – come up in the novel. In my opinion, this is why we read: to come face to face with ways of thinking, feeling, and living different from our own, yet stories that we can relate to. It’s magic, and it’s why these authors are so praised for their work.
I’ll leave you with this little thought:
I recommend this book. It is a piece of art.
You, and you alone as the Reader, can decide if you can handle it.
If you try to follow my advice and pick up Will Grayson, Will Grayson,
“It’s gonna hurt. It’s gonna hurt because it matters.” ~Tiny Cooper, from Will Grayson, Will Grayson
