Book Review: Will Grayson, Will Grayson

Author: John Green and David Levithan

Publisher: Penguin Books

Genre: Young-adult fiction

Date of publication: 2010

Pages: 308 (excluding 7 pages of “A Conversation Between John Green and David Levithan”)

To start off my review, I would like to give you a small synopsis (spoiler-free). So you might be wondering why the authors gave the book such peculiar title. Well, there are two Will Graysons in this book, hence, Will Grayson, Will Grayson. The story is about two different Wills, each created by either one of the authors. There are a lot of characters; some of them are well-developed whereas some are not. Taking into consideration that this is a young-adult book, it does have a lot of teenager-ish thoughts and feelings to it: relationships and depressions included among a couple more. It is almost like a coming-of-age with friendships, life, and love, all bundled up together to give you a mystery (if that makes sense).

Therefore, if you are a teenager who is figuratively lost in translation from your exterior and interior self, you may wonder what the book in store for you (obviously). The two Will Graysons live in their own different worlds but they somehow meet and thus, they start figuring themselves out and learning a lot via their coincidental encounter. It is safe to say that the story is pretty simple and enjoyable for those of you who are looking for a light read and a simple one, considering the fact that the book has a lot of relatable day-to-day wordings (let’s be honest here) and also IM conversations that we are familiar with almost every day.

My personal comments:

(Spoilers, I warn you, SPOILERS!)

Let’s begin with what I did not like about the book. One of them includes how a character who goes by the name Maura, was concluded so vaguely. It seems as if she plays a huge part in the first half as she is so focused and well-thought of but then she is left ignored and unevaluated while nearing the end. We do not really understand why she creates a fake account and it disappointed me with the unfinished finish to her character. I was also disappointed with the ending because I honestly, was expecting bigger and more articulated conclusions to this book. The first half is so good until you reach the near ending where you kind of get annoyed that the story is not leading us anywhere anymore besides confused teens, therefore, the ending was disappointing :3

Now on to the good stuff. The moment I read the first few lines, I knew that this was one of those intelligent and sensible John Green novels with a lot of meaningful quotes. And I was right. I was so right to the point where I was thinking of highlighting the quotes. Not to get very deep here but the moment I was introduced one of the Will Graysons, it was like reading a book/diary about myself. And this is not one of those vague terms of “myself” that sounds corny but I was actually amazed to know that people like me existed in the world. Maybe not in reality but at least they existed inside the authors. Another great thing about the book was that I personally enjoyed how the protagonists go through so much self-doubts and confusion but ends up doing what he/she really wants. And I really like how the characters’ thoughts are so raw and realistic. I really did not like Jane in the beginning but I ended up liking her towards the end. Since I’ve read LFA and TFIOS, overall, I was slightly disappointed because this book begins with a relatable storyline but towards the ending, it started becoming difficult for me to comprehend why the story was going towards such a vague conclusion. I felt connected to the story in the beginning and midway through the book but then lost track of the connection, so it was difficult to fully enjoy the ending. And the fact that I read it over the weekend when our country was struck by a massive earthquake, may have some impact on my evaluation of the novel, and most of the read included me sitting alone inside a tent outside my house. However, I do acknowledge that this book was like a reassurance to myself on some level of being a teenager, including facets like failing, growing and learning simultaneously.ஐ

Ratings: ★★★☆☆

DISCLAIMER: ALL OPINIONS EXPRESSED AND WRITINGS INCLUDED ON “SUJANA’S JARGONS AND STORIES” ARE MY OWN UNLESS OTHERWISE STATED.

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