I was technically forced to read Will Grayson, Will Grayson by some avid John Green fans in my class. Well, all of my class. Amidst the global hype amongst teenagers around John Green books, I seem to be alone in that I am not all that enthusiastic. So far, the only book of his which I have enjoyed was Looking for Alaska, on my second attempt.
Will Grayson, Will Grayson follows the stories of two boys, both named Will Grayson (surprise, surprise). One is amusing and grapples with some friendship issues involving "the world's largest person who is really, really gay", Tiny Cooper. The second Will is chiefly angry (although there are some faintly amusing parts). He is struggling with depression, and is also gay, which is a predominant theme throughout the book. The second Will also does not use capital letters when writing. My favourite of the two was the first Will Grayson, simply because I cannot stand reading without proper grammar and capitalization.
I thought that the characters were vivid and various, and the themes of LGBT and depression running throughout the book were handled with the utmost care, informing me a lot, and I have to credit the authors for that. However, I simply thought that the plot was dull and uneventful, and I was, honestly, bored and downtrodden throughout the whole story. The storyline seemingly had no structure, little eventfulness and the only large happenings are the meeting of the two Will's in a shady porn shop (unintentionally, of course), and a school musical. I was not hooked at all.
Overall, I thought that Will Grayson, Will Grayson had outstandingly vivid and different characters; however, I just didn't think it was a gripping read. It felt a little like the two authors were having a tennis rally, bouncing words between them without anything really happening. The story is an informative and eye-opening read on the subjects of LGBT and depression, however it wasn't really spectacular at all.
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