Friday, June 18, 2010

book review - will grayson will grayson by john green and david levithan



my two cent(ence)s - well-paced, engaging story with some very memorable characters. definitely lived up to the hype!



i decided to read will grayson will grayson for two reasons:
1) i assumed it was a novel written in alternating first person pov, and
2) EVERYONE was gushing about how great a novel it is

well, my assumption was correct. like nick and norah's infinite playlist and grand & humble, this novel has alternating first person pov chapters. i was really interested to see how well it worked in this book since my wip is also an alternating first person narrative.
let me tell you that will grayson will grayson did not disappoint!

the book is written from the point of view of will grayson - both of them. i like how the authors not only gave each will grayson a distinct voice, but chose different text styles so you knew exactly which will grayson you were following at any given time.

i have to say, as a character i liked the first will grayson better, but as far as storylines go i was hooked with the second will grayson's chapters. i'm not going to reveal much about the plot because i would hate to ruin the book for anyone who's interested in reading it, but i have to say that at the halfway point of the novel i was totally sold!

each will grayson arcs beautifully, and although i thought some elements of the ending were "too convenient" and a bit contrived, it did not take away from my overall enjoyment of the book. i highly recommend it, and am quite pleased to say that it really did live up to all the hype it's generated.

4 comments:

Random Thinker said...

So cryptic. Must be good if you can give absolutely nothing away.

Dawn Ius said...

Great review. And now I am absolutely excited to read your work :-) I have read one friend's book with two first-person POVs and honestly, when it's well done it's awe-inspiring.

Christine Fletcher said...

This one's been on my list for a while...I read David Levithan's Love is the Higher Law and really liked it. It also has alternating 1st person POV, which is great when done well.

With your review, my interest is definitely piqued!

mi said...

random thinker - yes, haha! i realize know i said nothing about the plot!

dawn - i'm hoping to do the alternating first person POV justice! and thanks again for your notes!

christine - i'd never read any of his work before, so i'm very interested to check out his other novel. especially since it's another alternating first person POV!