Rainbow List of Must-Reads: Purple - Will Grayson, Will Grayson

This is the Rainbow List of Must-Reads: Where I review a different one of my favourite books each week! Sixth on our list we have a purple book with a purple cover:

Will Grayson, Will Grayson by John Green and David Levithan

            As I lifted ‘Will Grayson, Will Grayson’ from the shelves of my local Waterstones, a strange sadness washed over me. Having just finished ‘An Abundance of Katherines’ (My favourite of his works) I had rushed to the shops to complete my Green collection – Now, I wished I had waited just a little bit longer. This was the last one of John Green’s books that I hadn’t read. This book would be the last time for a while that I would get the excited rush of reading something of his for the first time.          

For those of you who don’t know, ‘Will Grayson, Will Grayson ‘ is shared by two authors; with John Green writing the odd numbered chapters and David Levithan the even. It follows the story of two teenage boys; both named Will Grayson, living in different parts of Illinois. The issues that the two boys are faced with in their day-to-day lives cause their stories to intertwine one faithful night in Chicago outside a dirty looking sex shop.

    

        I slipped into the story of ‘Will Grayson, Will Grayson’ in the same way one would slip into a hot bath. I sighed with a mixture of bliss and relief as I sailed through the first chapter. I had gone to the bookshop in search of some sweet John Green familiarity and I was not disappointed.

Though in ‘Will Grayson, Will Grayson’ Green’s characters are somewhat different to what we have seen before (The book features the exuberant, extravagant and fantastically gay character of Tiny Cooper) the writing style is still easy, warm, satisfying and distinctly John Green.  It was exactly what  I came for, I was not disappointed. However, when I bought the book there was one rather large aspect of it that I had forgotten – co-writer, David Levithan.

After John Green’s smooth opening chapter, the switch in writers was a bit of a shock. Not only because Levithan has refused to any capital letters in his chapters whatsoever (something which took quite a bit of getting used to), but also because the two writer’s main characters have a strong and obvious contrast. While Green’s Will Grayson seems your typical awkward, ordinary teenage boy, hopelessly trying to fly under the radar of high school life, Levithan’s Will Grayson is an angry, angsty teenager with a severe case of depression, desperately clinging to his online relationship with another boy.

Levithan’s Will Grayson definitely wasn’t what I was expecting from a book with John Green’s name on it. But as I worked my way through the book I found myself savouring Levithan’s chapters a little more than Green’s. As much as I enjoyed Green’s Grayson’s side of the story, Levithan’s came as a refreshing change of pace, giving the book whole new dimensions.

The character development in ‘Will Grayson, Will Grayson’ is simply beautiful. Though initially I found both Will Graysons annoying and horrifically self-involved, as the book progressed I began to understand them and relate to them in ways I don’t usually with other books.

One of the reasons ‘Will Grayson, Will Grayson’ made such an impact on me was because the characters were imperfect - and that was okay. Often, teen fiction can undermine the emotions of young characters as instances of teenage angst rather than issues that should actually be recognised and dealt with. In ‘Will Grayson, Will Grayson’ the problems of the two main characters were indulged by the writers in a most satisfying way. The reader is taught that the dilemmas you are faced with as a teenager are equally as important as the ones you will face in your adulthood and can in fact affect you for the rest of your life.

          

   I loved ‘Will Grayson, Will Grayson’ because it is a book written by adults that finally manages to acknowledge that being a teenager is difficult, without seeming condescending in any way. And that it why I believe it deserves the purple spot on this list. 

You can find out more about John Green here!

You can find out more about David Levithan here!

You can read the other reviews in the Rainbow List of Must-Reads here: Red, Orange, Yellow, Green, Blue

Rainbow List of Must-Reads: Blue - We Were Liars

This is the Rainbow List of Must-Reads: Where I review a different one of my favourite books each week! Fifth on our list we have a blue book with a blue cover:

We Were Liars by E. Lockhart

      Right. You have to promise me right now that if you happened to have read this wonderful, wonderful book that you won’t tell anyone how it ends? Okay? Right, let’s begin.

 ‘We Were Liars’ has the most magnificent and astonishing ending to a book that I have ever read. It blew my mind. After I’d finished it I closed the book, put it down in front of me and just stared at it for about ten minutes, quietly weeping. It’s that good.

            ‘We Were Liars’ is a book that everyone seems to be raving about. There are countless videos and reviews out there that will tell you almost the same thing about it and it’s ending that I just have. I was worried when I picked it up a few weeks ago from Waterstones that the hype may have ruined it, as it sometimes can. I read the blurb – it gave away nothing – and bought it anyway.

   

         Out of the set of books I bought that day, I read ‘We Were Liars’ first. I was excited to finally get in on this secret that the whole world seemed to be keeping. I sunk into that book like you sink your teeth into a large sandwich after a long day’s work and was soon eating it up at an alarming rate.

   

         I loved the characters. Particularly Gat – he had me at ‘strong coffee’. The book contains some absolutely gorgeous descriptions and personable details making you feel like you could have known these people all of your life.

           E. Lockhart successfully manages to tell a satisfying and captivating story whilst still hiding the mystery from the reader for the duration of the book. She ensnares you into her world of Beechwood Island and teases you with miniscule hints and details until you are absolutely gasping to know what’s going on. When the puzzle finally slides into place, you wonder how you never managed to work it out before.

  

          The only complaint I have heard about ‘We Were Liars’ is it’s interesting choice of writing style. I completely disagree. One of the reasons I fell in love with this book is because it sounds so effortlessly beautiful in my head. It is a graceful combination of prose and poetry that allows Lockhart to display her character’s thoughts and feeling and explore the themes of friendship, love and privilege in the clearest, most elegant way possible. Every sentence was a feast.

  

          Usually in these reviews I like to give you a basic idea of the book’s plotline. I’m not going to do that today. A large part of ‘We Were Liars’’ charm is in its mystery. I feel that if I ruined any part of that then I might accidentally tarnish the experience as a whole. I want you to experience ‘We Were Liars’ in the same way that I did – completely in the dark, without even a clue as to what to expect.

           It’s the kind of book that once you’ve finished reading (and once you’ve finished crying) you feel like you need to make someone else read it too. I realise now that I needn’t have worried about the book’s hype, ‘We Were Liars’ is a book that is immune to exaggerations. The only way it could ever be torn down from its pedestal is if its audience decided to revolt against it, spilling its secret everywhere they could. But where’s the fun in that?

  

          There were some very strong competitors for the blue spot on this list. ‘We Were Liars’ beat them all by a landslide. I have no more words for it today - only a stunned, astounded silence. Just read the damn book, okay?

You can find out more about E. Lockhart here!

You can read the other reviews in the Rainbow List of Must-Reads here: Red, Orange, Yellow, Green! 

Rainbow List of Must-Reads: Orange - Selected Poems

 This is the Rainbow List of Must-Reads: Where I review a different one of my favourite books each week! Second on our list we have an orange book with an orange cover:

Selected Poems by Simon Armitage  

  At the beginning of last year I did not really understand poetry. Having only ever been exposed to the poems I was forced to study in English class – the colder, harder works of Carol Ann Duffy – I saw poetry as the indulgence of the thoughts of the more miserable, bitter beings among us. I just couldn’t connect with it. The fact that I was made to write critical essays on such texts probably didn’t help open my mind to the world of poetry. 

   

         On National Poetry Day last year my English teacher decided that before we would continue work on our prose essays that she would read us some poetry from a few of her favourite books. There was a low groan across the class as she opened a dull-looking book with the word ‘Duffy’ distinctly printed across the front. Just as expected, the poem my teacher proceeded to read was as cold and inappropriately self-righteous as all the ones before. I sank a little in my seat.

            When the poem was done my teacher put the book down and pulled a second out of her handbag. This book was bright and inviting and we all sat up a little straighter as she opened it on the middle page and began to read.

           What she read next was the most deliciously beautiful combination of words I have ever had the pleasure of listening to. It didn’t rhyme - I didn’t know poems could do that – and it wasn’t as self-aware as everything else I had heard. My teacher had a soft voice that was well-suited to reading aloud but I knew this poem would have sounded graceful on anyone’s tongue.

    

        That night, when I got home, I was unable to remember the title of the poem. I typed a few of the more distinctive lines into google and after a few quick clicks I had found it. ‘You’re Beautiful’ By Simon Armitage. I wrote it down in my notebook and read it again before I fell asleep.

That poem is what kindled my passionate love affair with poetry. For my birthday that year I asked my mum for anything she could find in Waterstones by Simon Armitage. ‘Selected Poems’ is what she bought me. With a bright orange cover, it is a hand-picked collection of a few poems from each of his books. I was elated to find that almost every poem in that book was a gorgeous as ‘You’re Beautiful’ – if not more. ‘To His Lost Lover’ is my favourite.

            Since then I have treated ‘Selected Poems’ as my comfort food of books. When I’m feeling particularly teenage and emotional I open it up and read them quietly to myself. I feel very deep when I do that.

     

       But now, Simon Armitage is not the only poet to take place on my bookshelves. Maya Angelou and Tanya Shirley now sit warmly on either side of him. I love ‘Selected Poems’ not only because it was the most beautiful book I had ever read, but also because it sent me venturing into a thick new jungle of similes and metaphors.

            I still hate to study poetry in class, but only because I think that’s not how poetry should be enjoyed. It was never really meant to be torn apart and scoured for symbolism, but instead read and (please forgive the cliché) felt. I will never like Carol Ann Duffy because I never got to read her on my own – I was forced to.

           Without ‘Selected Poems’ I never would have known all of this. And that is why it deserves the orange spot on my rainbow list of must-reads.

You can find out more about Simon Armitage here!
And you can read the other parts to this series here: Red! Orange! Yellow!