Will Grayson, Will Grayson by John Green and David Levithan

✨Let's talk about Will Grayson, Will Grayson✨

The collaborative novel of John Green and David Levithan, Will Grayson, Will Grayson is a book about two boys named Will Grayson... And well... Will Grayson. One Will Grayson is David Levithan’s brainchild and the other Will Grayson is John Green’s- the book alternates between the perspective of Will Graysons’: one chapter is narrated by will grayson and another is narrated by Will Grayson.

It starts with them not knowing each other until their paths inevitably converge the night will grayson is to meet Isaac, a guy he meets online and virtually dates, for the first time – and ends up meeting the Will Grayson and his gay, fat, best friend Tiny Cooper. The two boys meet at a porn shop and their lives intertwine. Isaac turns out to be completely made up by one of will grayson’s female friends from school, Maura. Maura has always had a thing for will grayson, but he obviously never liked her in the same way- Cat-fishing as Isaac allowed her to get will to fall for "her".

The idea of the two guys with the same name with stories running in parallel, to converge briefly only to diverge again, is a great setup for a comical story. The two writers have different writing styles which are evident by the different voices making the characters sound like they are the opposite ends of a spectrum- Green’s Will is a typical teenager who wants to get with this girl and has a scene-stealing best friend, whereas Levithan’s will is an angsty, gay teen who is very goth; his first line in the novel represents him, he says, “i am constantly torn between killing myself and killing everyone around me”

Based on the title one would expect the book to be exclusively about them but Tiny Cooper becomes a huge part of the story. Throughout the novel, he is writing and trying to stage an autobiographical musical about his past boyfriends and relationships. After both Graysons meet, will grayson gets in a relationship with Tiny. However, he ends it quite quickly, attributing it to his depression and not being able to trust others.

Tiny is a force of nature but a stereotypically gay characters- yes he loves musicals and is very flamboyant and the only thing that makes him stand out is that he’s a football player. Although Tiny Cooper is interesting, his story isn’t told from his perspective. His issues and struggles– such as weight, homosexuality, acceptance, relationships- are dismissed.

It seemed as if this story had no point. Or no story at all. The characters are extremely dull, the narration is not captivating, the writing is lacklustre and overall the book is just a disappointment. Green and Levithan started out the book with a great concept- two boys having the same names and their lives converging.

🌈The reason I included this book for my pride month selection is to highlight how not to craft a homosexual character- Tiny’s character, although fascinating, is highly stereotypical. His entire narrative is just brushed under a carpet, never to be visited. But, the character does get his own standalone novel, titled “Hold me Closer” but I don’t think I will pick it up because the way the character of Tiny Cooper is sketched in this novel, does not leave a good impression. 🌈