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

Title: Will Grayson, Will Grayson
Author: John Green and David Levithan
Genre: YA/Contemporary
Rating: ★★★★★

One cold night, in a most unlikely corner of Chicago, two teens—both named Will Grayson—are about to cross paths. As their worlds collide and intertwine, the Will Graysons find their lives going in new and unexpected directions, building toward romantic turns-of-heart and the epic production of history’s most fabulous high school musical.

Hilarious, poignant, and deeply insightful, John Green and David Levithan’s collaborative novel is brimming with a double helping of the heart and humor that have won both of them legions of faithful fans.

 I would like to initially say that Will Grayson, Will Grayson is more than what I have expected. Favorite John Green book as of now (Maybe because David Levithan co-wrote it), actually. So as you may have noticed by the repetitive title, there are two Will Grayson's in the story. Different people, different attitudes, different lifestyles.

In each chapter, the point of views switch from Will Grayson, who is a perfectly socially-anxious boy (created by John Green) who doesn't like any of the people's attention and a member of the Gay-Straight Alliance, to will grayson (purposely written in lowercase; created by David Levithan), a boy who we would describe as emotional (or emo), deep, dark, secretive, and quiet.

One night in Chicago, in the midst of the most unexpected events, the two Will Grayson's meet. This is where their lives start to intersect. The two learn how to forgive, forget, be strong, appreciate, and be their own person. Through these wondrous series of events, you'll see what people regard as their problem and how they address them. I think it's such a nice idea how shallow the problems in the book are, but they actually are the problems of most people in real life.

I loved how Levithan and Green made you be in the story. Like how you would love all the protagonists (the two Will Grayson's, Tiny, Jane, etc.) and hate all the antagonists (Maura, Maura, Maura -- and no, Maura is not a repetitive character in the story). There's a wide variety of remarkably impossible-yet-could-be-true encounters and aspects in this amazing book. That's what I found entertaining -- it's so impossible, that you actually visualize the scenes and can see it happening in real life, in the most unexpected circumstances. It's a humorous, invigorating, and close to what's happening and could be happening in our society.

I highly recommend this to fans of previous John Green/David Levithan books and see for yourself how you'd react to this. Maybe it's not for everyone, but I certainly found it entertaining enough that it could receive 5 stars.

Book Review: Thirteen Reasons Why by Jay Asher

Title: Thirteen Reasons Why
Author: Jay Asher
Genre: YA/Contemporary
Rating: ★★★★★

Clay Jensen returns home from school to find a mysterious box with his name on it lying on his porch. Inside he discovers thirteen cassette tapes recorded by Hannah Baker, his classmate and crush who committed suicide two weeks earlier.

On tape, Hannah explains that there are thirteen reasons why she decided to end her life. Clay is one of them. If he listens, he'll find out how he made the list.

Through Hannah and Clay's dual narratives, debut author Jay Asher weaves an intricate and heartrending story of confusion and desperation that will deeply affect teen readers.

I absolutely loved this book. First off, it's about Hannah Baker, a teenage girl who we'd see as normal by first look, but actually has (or had) some issues that she couldn't handle on her own. Hannah here, committed suicide and no one really knew why. But little do people know that before she ended her life, she created 13 cassette tapes that has her reasons.

The book is from the point of view of Clay. He receives these 13 video tapes from an unknown sender, and puts it on to listen to it. I was moved by how he couldn't take hearing it at first. It gave me the sense that Clay must have really cared for Hannah, but didn't show it enough.

After listening, Clay sends them out anonymously to the next person. He grew, as well. Because of listening to Hannah's story, Clay learns to stop being quiet. Quiet in terms of being afraid, that is.

Today, sadly, many people are victims of depression, bullying, hurt, and countless people have already committed suicide because for them, it's the only choice; and I loved how Jay Asher wrote a story about how the little things that we do could affect people differently. I could say it changed me. I learned to simply just respect people and being just someone to talk to, in general. I make it a point that everyone who talks to me will have clearer thoughts by the end of our conversation. It could go a long way, you know.

It's really something. It's mostly about what teenagers, or anyone could be or have been experiencing and how blind the world is. And sometimes all they really need is someone to talk to, but sometimes we don't see how they need our help. And sometimes, it takes them just enough to realize that maybe they're not worth it. I think this book is reaching out to us as well, similarly to how Hannah tried to reach out but didn't succeed.

This is a wonderful book, and even better if you listen to Hannah's audiotapes on youtube. It's a huge eye-opener, sometimes we think we already know, but we have much more to learn about. It could really change your perspective on things and I think that it's worth your time reading it.
 

Book Review: Looking for Alaska by John Green

Title: Looking for Alaska
Author: John Green
Genre: YA/Contemporary
Rating: ★★ (2.5 Stars)

Before. Miles "Pudge" Halter's whole existence has been one big nonevent, and his obsession with famous last words has only made him crave the "Great Perhaps" (François Rabelais, poet) even more. Then he heads off to the sometimes crazy, possibly unstable, and anything-but-boring world of Culver Creek Boarding School, and his life becomes the opposite of safe. Because down the hall is Alaska Young. The gorgeous, clever, funny, sexy, self-destructive, screwed-up, and utterly fascinating Alaska Young, who is an event unto herself. She pulls Pudge into her world, launches him into the Great Perhaps, and steals his heart.


After. Nothing is ever the same.

What I didn't like...
 Honestly, I didn't really enjoy this book. At first, I thought this was a book about going to Alaska or something. But it's actually a story that revolves around Miles/Pudge and his shallow perspective.  I felt that it was just too plain and too much. You'd see the plot in teen-sitcoms, like Ned's De-classified School Survival Guide or something from MTV. You'd have the occasional douchebags, the super-strict teacher that will kick you out from the school if you do something wrong (and acts all dumb about it too), yet all the students continue to do everything against the rules, and you have the theme of fitting-in.

Whole book in 5 sentences: *spoiler, of course*
Miles, a boy who supposedly remembers famous people's last words (as usual, a hidden genius in every John Green protagonist) and is in search of this "great perhaps",  enters a boarding school and gets welcomed by a group of rebellious and supposedly cool friends, thus garnering him his nickname, Pudge. Their circle of friends and this rich, snotty, douche-baggy, jerky group from their school unbelievably have this immature prank fest, because one of the snotty group's friends got kicked out, and they try to outdo each other with these pranks that the Eagle never gets a hold of. 

Alaska, the girl from the group tries to set Pudge off with another girl, but then it doesn't go so well. He falls head over heels for Alaska Young, a wild, rebellious, thrill-seeking, 'hot' girl, yet Alaska has a boyfriend, but they still make out. One night, Alaska just leaves without a reason and then they just announce it that she's dead. That of course, leaves Pudge hanging, and then he still loves her and tries to make up for it leaving a line like, "I'll always love you, present tense." 

And another, I don't get the point of this book showing its readers that teenagers like to do drugs, smoke joints, have sex, make out with 8 other people in a week, drink, do illegal things, etc. That's shallow, to be categorizing every teenager out there has those things on their to-do lists.

What I liked...
I still believe that to every unpleasant side there is a better side. I think that Miles found his own great perhaps in the whole experience. The great perhaps is not a place, though. I believe it's a point in life or maybe even a state or condition. Maybe he found bliss in Alaska, or in analyzing Alaska herself. I also think that he didn't foresee this great perhaps, that even though many see Alaska bizarrely, he found himself to love her for who she really is. Maybe that's that.

The writing is great, I'll tell you that. I love John Green's choice of words, as always. But the plot just seemed uninteresting for me. Or maybe, this book isn't just for me. I'm not saying that it's not worth a read, this is just how I perceive the book. I might still re-read it and absorb a couple of new perspectives myself.

Book Review: An Abundance of Katherines by John Green

Title: An Abundance of Katherines

Author: John Green

Genre: Contemporary/Young Adult

Rating: ★★★★

When it comes to relationships, Colin Singleton's type is girls named Katherine. And when it comes to girls named Katherine, Colin is always getting dumped. Nineteen times, to be exact. On a road trip miles from home, this anagram-happy, washedup child prodigy has ten thousand dollars in his pocket, a bloodthirsty feral hog on his trail, and an overweight, Judge Judy-loving best friend riding shotgun–but no Katherines. Colin is on a mission to prove The Theorem of Underlying Katherine Predictability, which he hopes will predict the future of any relationship, avenge Dumpees everywhere, and finally win him the girl.

To be honest, upon reading the first few chapters of this book, I was determined to stop reading it and move on with another book in my shelf. It took me a year and three months to actually finish it. But there were a few things at least, that made me go through it. 

What I liked about this book was John Green's descriptions. He wrote about things very vividly, and you could always visualize them in your head. For example, a Pepto-Bismolly pink house; Another were the endless footnotes that were factual and interesting for me, contradicting to how Hassan sees them uninteresting; the plot points that you'd least expect; Those were, in my opinion, the aspects of this book that entertained me and kept me from hiding it at the back of my shelf.

One last thing, I like how John Green emphasized that Colin is a smartypants, as Lindsey calls him, a boy with no talent other than anagramming, typing, coming up with theories; a boy who has a lazy, overweight best and only friend; a boy who has this huge, constant obsession with dating girls named Katherine, to transform into someone who had discovered his own eureka moment in a series of events during a roadtrip. 

John Green made his readers realize that Colin's as normal as anyone. Insecure, maybe. Sensitive, maybe. That everyone has a problem. May it be someone who's a child prodigy, someone who's popular or not, someone who's obsessed with dating girls, and maybe someone who makes theorems to calculate the future relationships that he might have. Colin not only showed that, but the rest of the characters as well. I loved how at first Colin was just seeking for time to finish his theorem and leaving a unique mark for the next generations to see, to becoming someone who became connected to people, finding things in common, and that he finally felt part of a whole. And I love how Lindsey, Hassan, the whole place of Gutshot, the road trip, were just the things Colin needed to fill the hole in his gut created by the 19 Katherines he has dated.

I'd recommend this book who's in need of a good "spiritual awakening" as Hassan puts it, or a good laugh. This is another well done book by John Green.

Book Review: Before I Fall by Lauren Oliver

Title: Before I Fall
Author: Lauren Oliver
Rating:  ★★★★★
Genre: Young Adult/Contemporary

What if you only had one day to live? What would you do? Who would you kiss? And how far would you go to save your own life?

Samantha Kingston has it all: looks, popularity, the perfect boyfriend. Friday, February 12, should be just another day in her charmed life. Instead, it turns out to be her last.The catch: Samantha still wakes up the next morning. Living the last day of her life seven times during one miraculous week, she will untangle the mystery surrounding her death—and discover the true value of everything she is in danger of losing.

First of all, I've bought, already read and finished this book in 2012. I bought this because it had an interesting cover. But I must say, it still leaves a wonderful impression in my mind.
Moving on, we have our protagonist, who might not possess the protagonist "aura", Samantha Kingston. As the preview states, she has it all. She's the queen bee living by the blinding mist of popularity.

The story begins with Sam and her friends driving home from a party. All of a sudden, the car crashes, and we realize that Sam dies. She eventually wakes up in her room, and experiences the same day all over again. 

In reading the first few chapters, Lauren Oliver would really make you hate/dislike Sam. I mean, who would even like mean girls? She's this shallow, self-conceited, materialistic girl you'd see at most high schools. But throughout the story, you'll really see who Sam is, under all that fame and glamor. Because of that one week, she had developed into this warm, understanding, mature girl that we'd never expect from an it-girl. This is the quality that I've enjoyed most from the book. You'd think it's just a story to solve the mystery surrounding her sudden death, but it's actually a story to resolve herself. 

The characters were all supplementary to Sam's growth. In those seven repetitive days, she has strengthened and mended her bonds towards the people surrounding her. And of course, this book wouldn't be complete without having another fictional boyfriend - Kent, who also plays a huge role in the story. (You'll have to read the book! Haha)

All in all, it was a very lovely book. Lauren Oliver did an amazing job with this, and it's one of the reasons why I'm looking forward to reading the Delirium trilogy. 

I highly recommend this book to anyone who would enjoy a YA/Contemporary novel. 

Yours,