Will Grayson, Will Grayson:

Book and Audiobook Review

Summary

Will Grayson is a teen in Evanston, IL whose non-confrontational personality is often challenged by his larger than life friend, Tiny Cooper. Will Grayson is a teen in Naperville, IL who has no friends. Happenstance cause these two to meet one night in Chicago and their colliding paths cause them to share more than just their names.

Overview (No spoilers)

What I really liked about this book was that it was a marked departure from John Green's usual romantic themes. It deals in romance, but more importantly, it's a treatise on friendship: what it is, what it means, and what a true friend will do for another. It's not that I haven't loved the romances Green has written, but this was a refreshing change not just to him but also for YA books in general which, much as I adore them, I will confess often rank romantic love far above friendship. As for Levithal's character, I've never read anything else by him, so I can't compare, but I did like his character in the end. Though I'll note that I hated him in the beginning. It wasn't that I couldn't relate, since though it constantly shames me to admit it, it really wasn't that long ago that I was a teen. But the anger and angst of the age are not things I miss. However, the character's need to use his anger to distance people because of his own fear that he wasn't worthy of affection struck a more universal cord with me.

Audiobook (Mild spoilers)

Only after listening to the audio did I glance at the text and realize that Naperville Will's sections were written in textspeak grammar which, no doubt, would have driven me nuts to read since I can't even abide textspeak when someone is texting me. That combined with his angst-ridden character might have made me give up earlier if I hadn't been listening. I also was impressed that they sang the songs and the ex-boyfriend song cracked me up when the guy sang "I don't have to you you why." Something about the tone mixed with the words was what made it funny. And it was a good choice for them to alternate readers, of course. I'm guessing Evanston Will's reader sang the songs but honestly I don't know for certain. Overall, they were both excellent voice actors that were able to emphasize feelings I may not have felt from a straight reading of the text.