Okay, so this was my second time reading Will Grayson, Will Grayson. The first time I read it was about a month ago when I bought it. It's written by John Green and David Levithan; each wrote one character and the chapters switch back and forth between those characters' points of view. I've read books by both authors before and liked them, particularly Green's An Abundance of Katherines and Levithan's How They Met and Wide Awake. To be perfectly honest, I like Levithan's writing more. I liked Green's books, but Levithan's are the ones that I return to again and again. There's just something there that I feel Green's books lack, although I don't really know what that is.
Anyway. Will Grayson, Will Grayson. As the title suggests, the book is about two boys named Will Grayson. At first, their lives seem totally separate. Will Grayson (Levithan's character) is best friends with Tiny Cooper, who is "the world's largest person who is really, really gay." Then, you've got will grayson (written by Green)*. One night, Will Grayson goes into Chicago with Tiny to use his fake ID for the first time. That same night, will grayson goes to Chicago to finally meet a boy he's been talking to online for months. Their paths collide and will ends up spending the night wandering around Chicago with Tiny. Throughout the book, Tiny is writing and staging a musical about his life and how he grew up gay. The musical, entitled Tiny Dancer, is a source of contention between Tiny and Will, who is uncomfortable with how he is portrayed in the musical. In the end, Will Grayson comes to terms with the fact that he is a crucial part of Tiny's life and therefore must be in the musical; in addition, Tiny realizes that the musical will not be successful if it's solely about him and, as a result, he does some rewrites to make it about love. In the end, the musical is put on. Tiny and Will get into a fight, and so does Tiny and will. In the end, though, the relationships are healed and will grayson has a friend help him show Tiny just how much he is loved.
This book is about relationships. It's about Tiny Cooper falling in love with will grayson and about Will Grayson coming to terms with his friendship with Tiny. But the relationship I found most poignant was that of will grayson and his mother. Early on in the book, it seems like will is the typical teenage character who dislikes his parents - as the book continues, I slowly began to realize how much will and his mother care for each other, as messed up as both of their emotions are. The scene where will comes out to his mother is touching, but I think there was a more touching scene - toward the end of the book, will desperately needs to talk to someone. He calls his mom and there's just this sense of desperation. I don't really know how to explain it. It was just a touching scene.
Other aspects of the book that I enjoyed were the lyrics for Tiny's songs. The ones provided were very funny and I found myself wishing that it was a real musical. Just like in Dessen's Along for the Ride, I also enjoyed the multitude of quotable quotes. And finally I just have to say this: I. Freaking love. Tiny Cooper. What a fabulous character. He's just so confident and fabulous and caring and yet... he has flaws. He knows that he has flaws. At the end, he finally pours out his fears to will grayson. I love Tiny as a character.
I thoroughly enjoyed this book. It's a fun read and easy, although its simplicity is deceiving. On the surface, it's just about two boys with the same name. But underneath, it's about so much more. Both authors are very very good at writing for teens and their voices show through in this book.
* As Green says, will is a "lowercase person." As such, all chapters told from will's point of view are totally lowercased.
