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antiqueyouth's review against another edition
emotional
funny
hopeful
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
trin's review
2.0
John Green is one of my favorite YA authors; David Levithan is...not. I still had high hopes for this collaborative effort of theirs. Sadly, it didn’t really work for me, and naturally—and unfairly—I want to blame Levithan. It’s true that it’s his half of the narrative that bugged me most at the beginning: his Will Grayson (the story follows two boys with identical names, neither of whom, I had to frequently remind myself, would eventually become Nightwing) is a singularly unpleasant person. Much of his initial angst is caused by a female friend of his “betraying” him; she’s pretty shitty to him, it’s true, but only after his is so unrelentingly and unrepentantly awful to her that my sympathy for him pretty much went out the window. Grow up, douchebag. And learn to use capital letters.
Green’s Will Grayson is more likable, in a typical dorky John Green hero kind of way. The Will Graysons end up coming together through the influence of Green’s Grayson’s best friend Tiny, a huge, gay, football-playing, musical-writing attention-suck, who starts dating Levithan’s Grayson. (Got that?) Much like William Carlos Williams’ red wheelbarrow, much depends upon the character of Tiny. He’s the glue that holds this whole story together. And, sadly—perhaps because we never get to see things from Tiny’s own perspective, perhaps not—I never really believed in him as a character, and thus I never really believed in the book. It would be nice to imagine that the populace of an American high school, circa 2010, would support and encourage a person such as Tiny, going so far as to allow and to even help him produce a gigantic musical extravaganza about his own life. It would even be nice to accept that there could be a character who would want to do such a thing, and yet still be funny and charming and someone you’d want to know. But neither reality nor this book’s depiction of it convinced me of the plausibility of these things.
Tiny, as portrayed by both Levithan and Green, struck me mostly as annoying and self-centered, and this is not something I can pin on the former, as these are exactly the qualities that irked many people about Green’s heroine from [b:Paper Towns|2914097|Paper Towns|John Green|http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1255655510s/2914097.jpg|3364505], one Margo Roth Spiegelman. Margo didn’t bother me, and Tiny many not bother others, but the noted tendency toward larger-than-life-and-largely-annoying characters remains notable in Green’s work. This, combined with Levithan’s unpleasant protagonist, further combined with the book’s wholesale detachment from reality, really sunk the whole endeavor for me. Parts are still charming and funny, but...I don’t know. Maybe throwing Dick Grayson in there as somebody’s cousin would have helped.
Green’s Will Grayson is more likable, in a typical dorky John Green hero kind of way. The Will Graysons end up coming together through the influence of Green’s Grayson’s best friend Tiny, a huge, gay, football-playing, musical-writing attention-suck, who starts dating Levithan’s Grayson. (Got that?) Much like William Carlos Williams’ red wheelbarrow, much depends upon the character of Tiny. He’s the glue that holds this whole story together. And, sadly—perhaps because we never get to see things from Tiny’s own perspective, perhaps not—I never really believed in him as a character, and thus I never really believed in the book. It would be nice to imagine that the populace of an American high school, circa 2010, would support and encourage a person such as Tiny, going so far as to allow and to even help him produce a gigantic musical extravaganza about his own life. It would even be nice to accept that there could be a character who would want to do such a thing, and yet still be funny and charming and someone you’d want to know. But neither reality nor this book’s depiction of it convinced me of the plausibility of these things.
Tiny, as portrayed by both Levithan and Green, struck me mostly as annoying and self-centered, and this is not something I can pin on the former, as these are exactly the qualities that irked many people about Green’s heroine from [b:Paper Towns|2914097|Paper Towns|John Green|http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1255655510s/2914097.jpg|3364505], one Margo Roth Spiegelman. Margo didn’t bother me, and Tiny many not bother others, but the noted tendency toward larger-than-life-and-largely-annoying characters remains notable in Green’s work. This, combined with Levithan’s unpleasant protagonist, further combined with the book’s wholesale detachment from reality, really sunk the whole endeavor for me. Parts are still charming and funny, but...I don’t know. Maybe throwing Dick Grayson in there as somebody’s cousin would have helped.
salgalruns's review against another edition
4.0
Can I just state that I love Tiny Cooper? He is, by far, the best character in this entire story! The authors did an amazing job of describing his sense of fashion, his unbelievable size, and his love of...well, everything. You WANT to have him as a friend, want to be a part of the fabulousness that is Tiny, and honestly, just want to be loved by him.
As for the Will Graysons, I loved them to a certain extent as well. The first one is Tiny's best friend, and spends most of the book trying to let go of an exterior that is protecting him from feeling anything. He is insecure, but better to hold off from life than actually put himself out there in any way. The other Will Grayson is more intriguing to me - very dark, depressed, and vulnerable in his own right. He is coming to grips with who he is and once he realizes it, he's actually gaining some confidence in his life. I kept wanting to know more about him.
I loved MOST of the storyline, except the ending. It just sounded a little too much like a mushy episode of GLEE. I either felt like it needed more or less, but ended up feeling a little bit disappointed.
What I did love was the theme of the overall book. It was all about friendship, love, and forgiveness and serves as a message to all of us to truly let those in our lives know how much we care about them.
As for the Will Graysons, I loved them to a certain extent as well. The first one is Tiny's best friend, and spends most of the book trying to let go of an exterior that is protecting him from feeling anything. He is insecure, but better to hold off from life than actually put himself out there in any way. The other Will Grayson is more intriguing to me - very dark, depressed, and vulnerable in his own right. He is coming to grips with who he is and once he realizes it, he's actually gaining some confidence in his life. I kept wanting to know more about him.
I loved MOST of the storyline, except the ending. It just sounded a little too much like a mushy episode of GLEE. I either felt like it needed more or less, but ended up feeling a little bit disappointed.
What I did love was the theme of the overall book. It was all about friendship, love, and forgiveness and serves as a message to all of us to truly let those in our lives know how much we care about them.
raeslow's review
emotional
inspiring
lighthearted
reflective
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
styxis's review
2.0
DNF at 45%
Yeah….no. I have never read a book with characters this unlikeable. I still continued reading tho because I hoped it would somehow get interesting / better but literally nothing happened. And what‘s with the body shaming in this?
Yeah….no. I have never read a book with characters this unlikeable. I still continued reading tho because I hoped it would somehow get interesting / better but literally nothing happened. And what‘s with the body shaming in this?
asaph95's review
3.0
Check out my mini-review. I haven't finish it yet, but when I do I will be posting a full in-depth review on my blog!
http://originalbooker.blogspot.co.uk/2014/06/sorry.html
http://originalbooker.blogspot.co.uk/2014/06/sorry.html
rumay's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
funny
hopeful
inspiring
lighthearted
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
jacquelineshea's review
5.0
this book is so incredibly unique. first, i love how it was written by two different people. that helped separate the two will graysons. second, i just loved the overall themes and plot of the book. extremely well written.
heathercottledillon's review
4.0
In the middle of the night, two teenage boys named Will Grayson meet in a Chicago porn shop. How's that for a one-sentence summary? If I were going to expand upon that, I would say that these two Wills don't have much in common besides their name. The first Will Grayson (let's call him Will A) lives in Evanston with his workaholic doctor parents who care about him but don't have a lot of time for him. He's always felt like he's in the shadow of his larger-than-life (both literally and figuratively) best friend, Tiny Cooper. To paraphrase Will: Tiny might not be the largest, gayest person in the world, but he is definitely the largest person who is really, really gay and the gayest person who is really, really large. Meanwhile, the other Will Grayson (Will B), who lives in Naperville, is dealing with some tougher stuff. His dad left him alone with his mom years ago, and they've struggled to make ends meet ever since. He's got pretty severe clinical depression and, as if all that wasn't enough, he doesn't know how to tell his mom that he's gay. The only thing keeping him going is his online relationship with Isaac. When they finally decide to meet in person, Will B is shocked to arrive in Chicago and discover that the address Isaac gave him is a porn shop. Meanwhile, the Will A is in the city for a concert. When his fake ID is spotted by the bouncer and his friends ditch him, he finds himself killing time in the porn store. Here the two Will Graysons run into each other, not knowing that their unlikely meeting will change both of their lives.
This is young adult literature--actually, literature, period--at its best. It's laugh-out-loud funny but it also gives you a lot to think about--mainly about what it means to be a friend. My favorite part of this story, as you might guess, is the characters. The Will Graysons are complex people with problems that readers can relate to. It's Tiny, however, who really steals the show. He's kind of self-centered, but he has a huge heart and he totally cracks me up. Green and Levithan work incredibly well together. They write alternating chapters (John Green writes Will A's perspective while Levithan writes from Will B's point of view), and this method gives each character a very unique voice. It doesn't throw off the pace, though, because the stories weave together so well. Also, it's nice to see a young adult novel with gay characters that isn't completely wrapped up in sexual orientation. Sometimes when a character being gay is all that propels a story, it makes it seem like that's all there is to their character. There's a lot more going on in Will Grayson, Will Grayson and it's a book I would recommend to almost anyone, gay or straight, teen or adult.
This is young adult literature--actually, literature, period--at its best. It's laugh-out-loud funny but it also gives you a lot to think about--mainly about what it means to be a friend. My favorite part of this story, as you might guess, is the characters. The Will Graysons are complex people with problems that readers can relate to. It's Tiny, however, who really steals the show. He's kind of self-centered, but he has a huge heart and he totally cracks me up. Green and Levithan work incredibly well together. They write alternating chapters (John Green writes Will A's perspective while Levithan writes from Will B's point of view), and this method gives each character a very unique voice. It doesn't throw off the pace, though, because the stories weave together so well. Also, it's nice to see a young adult novel with gay characters that isn't completely wrapped up in sexual orientation. Sometimes when a character being gay is all that propels a story, it makes it seem like that's all there is to their character. There's a lot more going on in Will Grayson, Will Grayson and it's a book I would recommend to almost anyone, gay or straight, teen or adult.