will grayson, will grayson

will grayson, will grayson
john green & david levithan
fiction/ya
dutton books
published 2010

When John Green & David Levithan decided to collaborate on a book together they decided to split up the work as evenly as possible.  Green wrote the odd numbered chapters, Levithan the even.  Levithan chose the first names of the characters and Green chose the surnames.  It seemed to work out quite well.

What I loved about this book was despite how over-the-top things started to get there was an air of reality to the whole thing.  Neither author writes their parents to be annoying, controlling or hated parents the way a lot of ya books do.  Despite Will Grayson #2's depression and overall hatred towards everything his mother is the one person he truly loves and she is a fully fleshed out character.  She is compassionate and wise and normal.  Will Grayson #1's parents are the same way.  Normal.  And I liked that.

The writing is spectacular, of course.  The story jumps back and forth between each Will Grayson and you are able to see the evolution of both characters as the story progresses.

Where WG#1 is insecure and teenaged angsty in an almost stereotypical way WG#2 is medicated and gothy with a sharp, witty mind.  He is sarcastic and self-deprecating, but probably the one character who seems to struggle less with his emotions than others.

This was a good read.  Not as good as Paper Towns.  While the characters are similar, Paper Towns just really had me devouring that book.