John Green

David Levithan

Will Grayson, Will Grayson

One cold night, in a most unlikely corner of Chicago, Will Grayson crosses paths with... Will Grayson. Two guys with the same name, running in two very different circles, suddenly find their lives going in new and unexpected directions, and culminating in epic turns-of-heart and the most fabulous musical ever to grace the high-school stage.


Zoë

you'd think that silence would be peaceful. but really, it's painful.

 pick you. I want you to come over to my house in twenty years with your dude and your adopted kids and I want our fucking kids to hang out and I want to, like, drink wine and talk about the Middle East or whatever the fuck we're gonna want to do when we're old. We've been friends too long to pick, but if we could pick, I'd pick you."

"No, I'm on Red Bull." He hands me the Red Bull, and I sniff at it, trying to figure out whether it's laced with something. "Also coffee," he adds. 

"And I get texts from him like every forty-two seconds and he's a brilliant texter, which is nice because it's just a little pleasant leg vibration, just a reminder-in-the-thigh that he's - see, there's one." 

me: you have no idea how wrong you are about me.

tiny: you have no idea how wrong you are about yourself.

the sick thing is, i have to admit there's something a little bit attractive about him. i don't get it. it's like, you know how sometimes you see a really sexy baby? wait, that sounds fucked up. that's not what i mean.

"Don't you think it's kind of awesome to be, like, the costar of Tiny's life?"

"I don't really want to be the costar of 

 i am the fucking civil rights movement of moods. 

But: The part I enjoy most is not the doing, but the noticing. 

I just want the pleasure of noticing these things at a safe distance - I don't want to have to acknowledge that I am noticing. I don't want to 

I say, "Of all the miserable things you've ever done, you cocksucker." 

Tiny laughs, which only makes me madder, and he says, "You can't call me a cocksucker, Grayson, because A. Its not an insult, and B. You know I'm not one. Yet. Tragically."

I let go of his shirt. There's no physically intimidating Tiny. "Well, whatever" I say. "Shitbag. Dumbass. Vagina lover." 

later that night i get an email from him. 

i feel like my life is so scattered right now. like it's all these small pieces of paper and someone's turned on the fan. but talking to you makes me feel like the fan's been turned off for a little bit. like things could actually make sense. you completely unscatter me, and i appreciate that so much.

i am constantly torn between killing myself and killing everyone around me. 

those seem to be the two choices. everything else is just killing time.

One cold night, in a most unlikely corner of Chicago, Will Grayson crosses paths with . . . Will Grayson. Two teens with the same name, running in two very different circles, suddenly find their lives going in new and unexpected directions, and culminating in epic turns-of-heart and the most fabulous musical ever to grace the high school stage. Told in alternating voices from two YA superstars, this collaborative novel features a double helping of the heart and humor that have won them both legions of fans.


Elizabeth Alfiero

The New York Times bestselling novel from John Green, the author of multi-million bestseller The Fault in Our Stars, and David Levithan. One cold night, in a most unlikely corner of Chicago, Will Grayson crosses paths with . . . Will Grayson. Two guys with the same name, running in two very different circles, suddenly find their lives going in new and unexpected directions, and culminating in epic turns-of-heart and the most fabulous musical ever to grace the high-school stage. Told in alternating voices from two award-winning authors - John Green (author of The Fault in Our Stars) and David Levithan (author of Boy Meets Boy) - this unique collaborative novel features a double helping of the heart and humour that has won both authors legions of fans. 'Funny, rude and original' - New York Times Book Review 'Will have readers simultaneously laughing, crying and singing at the top of their lungs' - Kirkus Reviews 'This novel has serious buzz' - Entertainment Weekly

Kirsty Dyer

Corrine Sing

Bria

Itzel

I adored Tiny Cooper.

I agree, he would be so horrible to have as a friend, most of the time not being able to look past his own self, but as a character he is wonderful. Flamboyant and dramatic, he was really fun to read.

Relating more with Will 1, I especially enjoyed his and Tiny's relationship, as I could see me in the same situation regarding friendship feelings. The way he did not want to open himself to Jane was pretty good, too.

As for Will 2, his vision of life was, well, certainly interesting, and even more with the complete lack of capitalization. Cynical indeed. He made me sad with Isaac and the way Maura acted and the way he certainly didn't open up to Tiny. However, it did make me really happy how at the end he found his pace.

The best, and most heartwarming part was the ending, for sure. It's adorable.

Daniel Spruill

Not the best John Green, but still amazing.

Maui Santos

I love how this was written. Two perspectives in one book. Love is love and we should all appreciate it.

Annika Arguemore

quite the good read.

Will Grayson, Will Grayson is one of those rare books. I guess you could say that Will Grayson's just a typical person from tumblr. well, some people from there anyway. not all people from tumblr are the same. 

Will Grayson, in slang terms, is a h8lyfe and does not GAF and has given up all hope for humanity but with a full amount of appreciation and the right people gains the capability to care about everything again, and also the capability to feel emotion. this book honestly gives me so much hope. I can sort of relate to his situation. I mean, I kind of hate the world as well, with a fervent passion. it just sucks that I don't have people like that in my life... the kind that'll help me see that it's all worth it. why aren't the people surrounding me teaching me how to appreciate life's beauty? instead of them helping me appreciate everything, they just make me want to hate everything even more. I'm just really glad and jealous of Will Grayson. he has such a fabulous life.

I love how this book's also LGBT POSITIVE! props to gays everywhere!

Eden

I didn't not expect what was in Will Grayson, Will Grayon to be in the book. Green and Levithan did such an amazing job. This is one of the few books that actually made me laugh out loud. This has definitely been moved to one of my favorite books

Lara Engle

Yeah, it has the typical John Green characters, but it also has relationships that feel real and people who experience realistic honest growth. Both Will Graysons are definitely annoying in the beginning. It took me a while to get into the story, but it definitely picked up. Now I totally want to see Hold Me Closer: The Tiny Cooper Story. Who could resist a heartfelt musical that makes people connect that way?

Adriana Gómez 

Originally reviewed Jan 05, 2015 | Imported from my Goodreads account

Alberto

Lacy W

tw: use of word f*ggot, homophobic reactions, disparaging comments about fat people

This book. I am so irritated! I haven't been this annoyed since I read The Last Star. This book was not good and I am so sorry for anybody that likes this book but I just can't. The only reason I kept reading it was because I own it and wanted to finish it to make sure my one dollar did not go to waste. Spoiler alert: it did. There were just so many things that pissed me off so much, I could hardly stand it! 

Alright. I will try and control my rage and discuss this like a calm individual. *breathes in* Kay, let's talk about the first Will Grayson, the one who is friends with Tiny. His narrative was alright. He said some pretty cringey comments in regards to Tiny's weight and size, Jane's looks (he said his type wasn't curly hair. Like okay bro. Insert eye roll emoji here) and he seemed to be borderline obsessed with Tiny being gay. I literally only gave an extra star because Will's narrative was better to read than the other Will. I put in my notes that he was a bit of an ass but at least toward the end, he had some sort of character growth and realized he was kind of an ass. Doesn't mean I liked him but I always appreciate a good character growth, especially since this book is pretty character centric. 

Now onto the second Will Grayson and probably one of the most problematic characters I have ever read about. I am absolutely down right disgusted with this character. I could barely stomach his narrative. And I'm mad about it too because his narrative had a really cool stylistic approach, where everything was lower case and his conversations were in text style. 

Okay. So Will Grayson has depression. It's unclear how severe it is but he seems to be at a functioning level, which is good. But what isn't good is his behavior. Depression is one of the worst mental illnesses. No question. But Will was a horrible person and blamed his behavior on his depression. He led a girl, Maura, on. He didn't want to be friends with her and used her. When she tried to get him to open up because she generally thought they were friends, Will would call her selfish and all sorts of crap. He treated his mom like dirt. He belittled Tiny when he said he feels depressed some days because there is no way Tiny could ever understand what he is going through and that his depression is far worse than anything ever. Okay, fine, that could be true. But don't EVER belittle someone's mental state just because you think yours is worse. I could go on and on but I'm not because this is already going to be a monster of a review. But I want to end this section on this note: Having a mental illness doesn't excuse how you treat people!

In all honesty, none of the characters were really that great. Everybody just treated each other horribly. Maybe I have gotten old and forgotten what high school is like but does everybody really treat each other like this in high school? 

I can't go on. Talking about this book is just making me angry and if I keep going, I might really upset someone. So I guess read this book if you want but honestly I wouldn't recommend it. 

Buddy read with one of favorite humans, Destiny!

May Yeo

Jamieson

one day I'm gonna review this book aye

it's actually my fave John Green though tbh (shocker. everyone hates this book)

and YEAH MAN I find the concept of meeting someone with my own exact name wildly cool

Beatriz Aguiar

I absolutely loved this book! The characters were super relatable. It had that John Green feel that I like. It discussed important issues without being on the nose about them. And above all it was really really funny. One of my favorite John Green books. And now I need to find other David Levithan books so I can check them out.

Jeannette Ordas

It's a fantastic feeling to put down a book and smile and maybe even let out a little yawp. When I first started reading this, I found the 2 authors/alternating chapters thing a bit annoying and I wasn't sold - until some clever plot twists and I was smitten. Sure the dialogue is a little too wise and worldly, but I'll bet this book could have teenagers smiling and giving some solid fist pumps. I hope so. 4.5 stars because of the shaky 1st half.

aisha

This book is amazing. 

I am quite sure that not many people will be able to relate to this book personally. But I thought that every single character in this book is so real. It's almost like these characters are people that are walking around on the street and I just don't happen to know them. I am glad I read this book. I was optimistic because it's a John Green book and one of my all time favorites, Paper Towns is written by him. But then again I almost did not continue reading it because I just did not see what I would like so much about this book, I thought it would be a "eh" sort of book. 

Let's talk about the Will Graysons in this book. 

Will Grayson, the Will Grayson that was introduced as Tiny Cooper's best friend. I love him. I love how he didn't care and how he realized things that others want to avoid realizing for their own sake. He might not be an ideal friend but his loyalty at the end so real. 

Will Grayson, the lowercase Will Grayson. I can't explain him. He is the type of person you notice but the next day you don't notice him anymore. He got tricked by a person he didn't ever consider as an actual friend but talked to anyways. I feel sorry for him. And he is so real. 

None of the characters would be representation of someone's dream husband/wife, which is exactly why I love them. They are originals and no one could possibly come up with them other than John Green and David Levithan.

Stef

finished this book, well it's good book and I really like all the character from first Will Grayson,another Will Grayson till Tiny cooper and Jane.A good young-adult book to read in summer time. 
this my favorite Quotes from this book, " You like someone who can’t like you back because unrequited love can be survived in a way that once-requited love cannot".

Jude Moon

Sinceramente, me esperaba un pelín más de este libro. A parte de la sorpresa que me llevé por el (para mí) inesperado giro en las relaciones entre los personajes, el Will Grayson de John Green me decepcionó un poco. Cuando quiere, John Green puede hacer personajes muy buenos, pero en este sigue esa línea de personaje plano y aburrido que puedes encontrar en varias de sus novelas. El de David Levithan tenía su toque, por lo que me gustó más, pero tampoco para tirar cohetes. En general, la historia es interesante, y engancha, así que fue una lectura entretenida. 7,5/10

Thais Souza Passos

Not the best book in the world, but still I really liked it <3 The final scene, all of the Will Graysons together and cheering Tiny up, perfect <3

riven

i read it a while ago but i remember loving it quite a lot so it must’ve been good. i definitely want to read it again for a memory jog.

Annie

Another great novel by John Green. I loved the contrast between the two writers and the two main characters, but I loved how even though they were so vastly different they were the same. However, I thought the ending was a bit corny, but to each their own I guess.

Nicole Dykeman

I read and liked this back in middle school as a fan of John Green. I read and loved this as a queer adult, appreciating what the book has done as the first LGBTQ YA novel to appear on the NYT best-seller list. There are so many good moments in here, so many passages I found myself underlining because they were just so beautiful, so many moments I put a star next to because they made me laugh out loud. If you read this early in life, I highly recommend a reread, because I would go so far as to say I enjoyed it more now than I did back then.

Dee B. 

Not my favorite John Green, but still, somehow enjoyable. The story was enjoyable even if the characters were all self-centered, annoying brats. Because, in the end, they redeemed themselves as best as teenagers could. They are all flawed but at least they are learning.

Now I'm thinking I need to try some David Levithan...

Will Grayson, Will Grayson

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