Book Review: Will Grayson, Will Grayson; John Green & David Levithan.

I really did want to like this book. It seemed like such a good read, especially considering the fact that it's LGBT month! I'd seen mixed reviews, but I thought that considering the fact I had read and enjoyed John Green books before, and my sister had recommended I read David Levithan in the past, I would like it! Unfortunately, I didn't get into this one like I wanted to and I ended up giving it a low rating.

SOURCE: Netgalley
TYPE: E-Read

TITLE: Will Grayson, Will Grayson
AUTHOR: John Green & David Levithan
SERIES: --
PUBLISHER: Penguin
PAGES: 321
GENRE: Young Adult, Romance, LGBT, Contemporary

RATING: 2/5 Stars

Blurb:
One cold night, in a most unlikely corner of Chicago, teenager Will Grayson crosses paths with...Will Grayson! Two teens with the same name who run in two very different circles suddenly find their lives going in new and unexpected directions. Culminating in epic turns-of-heart on both of their parts, they team up to produce the most fabulous musical ever to grace the high-school stage.




What I Liked:

• I guess the one thing I did like about this plot was the fact that it was coherent, despite their being two authors. When more than one person is writing a book, sometimes the plot-line can drift off in a strange direction. Green and Levithan managed to keep the plot going on a focused path that made sense, while giving each character their own story. There were some nice plot moments and good twists too. 
• The writing itself was pretty good too. I have already read two of John Green's books and like his writing style. It was evident which were his chapters in the story and I liked them for the most part. Levithan's writing was okay too, though significantly darker and quite a bit more serious. It was a nice mix to see such different writing styles.

What I Disliked:

• The main thing that disappointed me about this book were the characters. I liked John Green's Will Grayson and found him the most relateable, but the rest of them just fell flat for me. Levithan's Will Grayson came across as way too dark and dreary, constantly thinking philosophically about everything and I couldn't get on with him at all. None of the side characters really appealed to me either: Tiny Cooper was extremely egotistical, selfish and annoying, Jane not overly likeable, Maura's actions were totally unforgivable and in my opinion, the rest were not particularly memorable. My lack of empathy and compassion for the characters meant that I didn't really care about what happened to them.
• The ending was ridiculously cheesy! It felt so High School Musical/Glee like and although that translates well (most of the time) into visual media, it didn't quite work on the pages of this book. I couldn't understand at what point in the book the whole thing became about making Tiny Cooper feel appreciated either. It just felt a bit cringey to read, and meant the book had no real conclusion either.

Overall Conclusion:

Two critically acclaimed authors such as Levithan and Green should be able to produce a really good book. Or so I thought. Yes, I liked the writing styles a lot. I liked the fact that the chapters alternated between Will's and the individual stories really meshed together well. The plot was well focused too. Unfortunately the characters really annoyed me in the end and I just couldn't empathise with them at all. The ending irritated me too because it felt just a little too cheesy and dramatic and totally shifted the focus of the plot right at the last minute. I'm afraid I didn't enjoy this book a lot, I just thought it was okay. Sorry!

Book Review: Paper Towns; John Green.

These last few days have been a bit of a reading whirlwind for me! I finished 'Paper Towns' last night and here is the promised review before I head to work. I will be entering this one into a challenge as well, it comes under June's Monthly Motif, which is 'A Long Journey'.

SOURCE: Borrowed
TYPE: Paperback

TITLE: Paper Towns
AUTHOR: John Green
SERIES: --
PUBLISHER: Bloomsbury
PAGES: 305
GENRE: Young Adult, Contemporary, Mystery, Romance

RATING: 3.5/5 Stars

Blurb:
'The thing about Margo Roth Spiegelman is that all I could ever do was let her talk, and then when she stopped talking encourage her to go on, due to the facts that 1. I was incontestably in love with her, and 2. she was absolutely unprecedented in every way, and 3. she never really asked me any questions...'

Quentin Jacobson has always loved Margo from afar. So when she climbs through his window to summon him on an all-night road trip of revenge he cannot help but follow. But the next morning Q turns up at school and Margo doesn't. She's left clues to her disappearance, like a trail of breadcrumbs for Q to follow.

And everything leads to one unavoidable question:

Who is the real Margo?

What I Liked:

• There is just something magical about John Green's style of writing. I can't quite put my finger on it, only that it manages to be witty, deep and utterly charming at the same time. I feel like no one would ever say the things he says the characters are saying, and yet, his writing still feels true. After I read 'The Fault In Our Stars', I really felt like I'd read a book written by a very talented author and this read reaffirmed that completely.
• The characters were a nice mix. There were a lot more of them than in my previous John Green read, and I think that John Green handled that pretty well! He gave all of them a good amount of time, I don't think anyone got left out. I liked the chemistry between all of them, the changeable nature of them all. I had a bit of a soft spot for Radar, I thought he was great! 
• The plot-line was so good. I have always had a bit of an on-off relationship with Mystery stories, depending on how they are written. I loved this one! It had clues, it had a detective style layout (I loved the way the book was broken up into parts) and watching Quentin piece everything together in his head with a bit of help from his friends was a lot of fun!

What I Disliked:

• Okay so firstly the end. I had a tiny bit of a problem with the abrupt ending of 'The Fault In Our Stars' but that was nothing compared to this one. I felt rather disappointed when I realised that all that build-up resulted in such a disappointing finish. I felt like the characters had gone on this huge journey, done a lot of things that endangered their friendships, lives and bank balances, only to find that when they got to the end they were happy to not receive too many answers for their troubles.
• Although I thought John Green had a good mix of characters, and I did like a few of them, a lot of them did annoy me too. Was I meant to like Margo? Because I don't think I did. Quentin's obsession with finding her grated on me at times too. Why did Ben insist on calling every female a honeybunny for most of the book? As for Quentin's parents, don't even get me started. I felt like Green might have done this on purpose, but I still got so annoyed when they could not stop going on about how great they were as parents. And as they were both therapists, their psychology-related arguments became frustrating. Not cute.

Overall Conclusion:

There were some really awesome points to this book and as soon as I picked it up and read the first few chapters, I smiled at the obvious John Green stamp and knew I would enjoy it. A great, original plot-line that was at times very tense and I loved the mystery-solving elements. The characters were, as I say, a bit of a mix (some I loved, some I despised) but they were well-written and consistent. The most annoying part for me was the disappointing end.

Book Review (and Extra Questions): The Fault In Our Stars; John Green

Wow, so this took me a while to get up! Sorry guys, I've been quite busy and trying to figure out with Myra what to do, as I've mentioned many times that we planned a joint review. We have come up with five questions together, which we both will answer in our own reviews of this book. Check out Myra's blog here, she is planning to post her review this weekend as far as I'm aware! I am entering this book into a challenge, the 2014 'Key Words' Challenge, as one of this month's words is 'Star'. You'll find the button for that at the bottom of this review!

SOURCE: Borrowed
TYPE: Paperback

TITLE: The Fault In Our Stars
AUTHOR: John Green
SERIES: --
PUBLISHER: Penguin Books
PAGES: 316
GENRE: Romance, Young Adult, Contemporary

RATING: 5/5 Stars

Blurb:
Despite the tumor-shrinking medical miracle that has bought her a few years, Hazel has never been anything but terminal, her final chapter inscribed upon diagnosis. But when a gorgeous plot twist named Augustus Waters suddenly appears at Cancer Kid Support Group, Hazel's story is about to be completely rewritten.




What I Liked:

• John Green writes beautifully. One of the things that grabbed me most about the book was the fact that Green's grasp on language and story-telling was mind-blowing. His prose was so eloquent and flowed in such a way that I was hooked on every word he wrote. I think most people who have read this book would agree that there are some gorgeous quotes in there that are guaranteed to stay with a person for a long time. The humour, when included, made me laugh out loud but I certainly cried on many occasions while reading this book. I think that says enough about Green's masterful handling of such a sensitive and heart-breaking topic.
• I felt like Green really had a good insight into how his characters felt, and their thoughts and feelings on every situation they were confronted with. Their response to their vulnerable position, a terminal illness, seemed very human. It was never too dramatic, yet still hard-hitting and very thought provoking. 
• The characters all had personality too, which is nice to read in any book. Let's start with the two Main Characters, Hazel and Gus. I loved their relationship! The attraction between them, despite being quite quick, felt very right. Also, Isaac was a fantastic character and I had a real soft spot for him. Some great characterisation from Green in this book! He even made room for a small amount of empathy for those that seemed to do some pretty harsh things (that's right Monica, I'm looking at you). Green had an unwavering ability to make you understand the actions of every character in this story, even if you didn't agree with them and I admire that in a writer.
• The story-line was really well written. In a story that covers illness like this, there is normally an inevitability about the ending and with that comes a pretty good guess at the middle of the book too. Now we get that same 'this is going to be sad' feeling here, but as to what would happen before that? Green kept me guessing again and again! And to an extent, I wasn't entirely sure what the sad ending itself would be. I really liked that!

What I Disliked:

• The ending. Now not just for the obvious reason, that it was very emotional and sad and made me cry. Obviously I knew that it was coming, I think anyone that reads this book knows within the first few pages that they should have some tissues at the ready. But I really felt that the ending here was just too abrupt. I would have liked a little more time to grieve maybe? I can see why it ended there. I mean, when would be good time to end the story? I just felt a little like I'd been slapped around the face and was missing something. What can I say? I like to be eased out of my misery gently.

Overall Conclusion:

So you can probably get a pretty clear idea from this review that I really liked this book. The writing style had me hooked through every page and I really thought he did well at making me care a lot about the characters. The conclusion here really is that I need to get my hands on another John Green book and read it because if his other work is as good as this then I want it on my Read list ASAP.

Question Time!
1) What was your favourite part of the book?

Oh goodness, so many parts to choose from! There might be some spoilers here, I really liked the moment that Gus and Hazel first met. The instant connection and friendly banter really set their personalities in stone, and the cigarette metaphor was brilliant! Also, some parts of the Amsterdam trip were pretty cool, it was nice to see the two of them finally make the decision to be together.

2) Did you have a favourite character? If so, who?

Now I mentioned in my review that I had a soft spot for Isaac, and I meant it! He was most certainly my favourite character and I always looked forward to the next moment his name would appear on my page. To me, his story is equally as tragic, if not more so, than Gus' or Hazel's. Why? Not just because of his loss of sight and loss of girlfriend. But because of the inevitability of the fate of those around him, while he survives. It felt very bittersweet.

3) Was there anything that you didn't enjoy or would change about The Fault In Our Stars?

I mentioned that I wasn't a fan of the abrupt ending and I think that is what I would change. Well actually ideally I would like a cure for cancer to be invented at some point in the book, because I grew very attached to those characters. But knowing that it would make the story very different I'll go with my original answer, though it breaks my heart to say it.

4) How did you feel when the book was finished?

A bit lost if I'm honest. I wanted more, I wanted to know what happened afterwards. But then there was a certain sense of not wanting to know too. Because I didn't want to keep reading about something that already had me a blubbering wreck. All I wanted to do was go back to the good bits of the book and read them over and over, which I guess in a sense is how we would cope with such a situation in real life. Revisit our memories and remember the good times before the sadness started.

5) If you could say anything to John Green right now, what would you say?

Oh wow. I'd be struck dumb I think! But once I remembered how to form words and communicate like a human, I might say that I really enjoyed his book, am glad that it got the success it deserved and I can't wait to read more of his work.