Review: Will Grayson, Will Grayson by John Green and David Levithan

Name: Will Grayson, Will Grayson
Authors: John Green and David Levithan
Publisher: Penguin
Date published: 2013
Rating: 4/5 (actually more like a 4.5 out of 5, but Goodreads doesn't do ratings by halves, so I suppose that I won't either).

One cold night, in a most unlikely corner of Chicago, two strangers cross paths. Two teens with the same name, running in two very different circles, suddenly find their lives going in new and unexpected directions, culminating in heroic turns-of-heart and the most epic musical ever to grace the high-school stage.

- From Goodreads.

In Will Grayson, Will Grayson, I thought that there was a really interesting dynamic between the two Will Graysons (Grayson's?). They were two very different people who still managed to understand each other despite their differences. I liked the symmetry of the fact that they only met twice; the first time towards the beginning, on the night that sort of put everything into motion (I don't want to say the night when everything changed, or the night that started it all, or anything else like that, because it doesn't start everything, because some things have already started and you can never really say exactly when something starts, and it wasn't when everything changed because some things were already changing and some things didn't change - but I digress), and for the second time on the night of the play, where the book ends. I don't really know why, but that kind of symmetry is really quite satisfying (and now that I've spent half of the review blathering on about symmetry and other nonsensical things, let's move on to the next point).
Despite the fact that, I suppose, this book could be called a romantic comedy (or a comedic romance?) (although calling it that would very much simplify everything and would actually really not be a great summary), it wasn't an easy read, in that it challenged you a little, mostly with the cat thing (I'm not a great philosopher), but also with other stuff, for example, in dealing with issues of sexuality, body image, and depression (which it dealt with in a good manner, I thought).
Finally, I would also like to note that I would have thought that David Levithan's Will Grayson's complete lack of correct capitalisation anywhere at all in his sentences would have really annoyed and frustrated me, and maybe it did at first, but eventually I got used to it, and actually ended up sort of forgetting it by the time the book had finished, so I think that must be a plus point.

Add the book on Goodreads | John Green's website | David Levithan's website

Review: Paper Towns by John Green

Name: Paper Towns
Author: John Green
Publisher: Bloomsbury
Date published: 2010
Rating: 5/5

Quentin has always loved Margo Roth Spiegelman, for Margo (and her adventures) are the stuff of legend at their high school. So when she one day climbs through his window and summons him on an all-night road trip of revenge he cannot help but follow.

But the next day Margo doesn’t come to school and a week later she is still missing. Q soon learns that there are clues in her disappearance . . . and they are for him. But as he gets deeper into the mystery – culminating in another awesome road trip across America – he becomes less sure of who and what he is looking for.

- From Goodreads.

Paper Towns was a book full of insightful metaphors, beautiful descriptions, fantastic symbolism and all that other kind of stuff that John Green is just so good at. 
I thought that the book had a really interesting perspective on the way that we look at people and whether  what we see when we look at people is actually them or just one idea of them - maybe even just one idea of many. For that reason, I found it quite thought-provoking; I was continuously thinking about the ideas the book presented throughout the story.
I think it can also make you think because of the twists in the plot and the different directions it kept taking, in the search for Margo and with the different theories of what happened to her that everyone had. 
I liked the inclusion of Walt Whitman's Leaves of Grass, because I read it this past year at university, and I really liked the way Q couldn't quite understand it at first, and then came to understand it through coming to understand Margo. I think I might have to go and read the poem again now that I've read this book, because I think I've definitely been given a different perspective on it!

P.S. I went to see the movie this week, and it was amazing! The acting was brilliant and I really loved the music that was used in the film. I'd definitely recommend going to see it (and reading the book, of course)!

Add the book on Goodreads | Author's website

Review: The Fault in Our Stars by John Green

Name: The Fault in Our Stars
Author: John Green
Author's Website: http://johngreenbooks.com/
Publisher: Penguin Books
Date published: 2012
Number of pages: 313
Rating: 4/5
When is it available?: Now

I think I might as well start with the title, I love the name of this book. 'The Fault in Our Stars' really sounds poetic and gives an idea of how well-written the story is going to be. And it's not just good writing, it's funny too, which is not something you would expect from a book that deals with a topic so sensitive but it works well. It keeps the characters real and relatable. 

I thought I was going to cry while reading this book. I really did. I am the type of person who cries at books (I cried quite a few times reading the last couple of Harry Potter books). But I didn't cry at this book. I don't know what it was, perhaps I read it too quickly to become properly attached to the story, perhaps I didn't really pay attention, but I didn't cry (and I feel like I am one of the only people who didn't, I promise I'm not unemotional and insensitive! Well, I hope I'm not). Of course I found it unbelievably sad at parts, and it was quite upsetting. But no tears from me (apparently I am just a cold-hearted individual). So I just felt like there was something missing from it because of that and therefore I can't give it the five out of five stars. But it was a good book, with great writing, interesting thoughts and wonderful characters, so it definitely deserves four stars.

Now I just need to decide if I want to watch the movie or not. I'm worried it might not be quite how I pictured it and sometimes that doesn't matter with movies based on books but sometimes it really does and I think that might be the case with this one. Well, we'll see I suppose.

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