Will Grayson, Will Grayson by John Green and David Levithan

I've been waiting for this book for so long, so I was totally thrilled when I picked up my signed copy at Malaprop's Tuesday.  I love the cover; I love John Green; and I love David Levithan.  I'd read great reviews and been terribly jealous of all the book bloggers and tweeple who got to read this one in advance.

I just finished and IT WAS FABULOUS!!  I absolutely loved it!

So it's two narrators...the Will Graysons alternate chapters throughout the entire book.  Will Grayson one is a sort of normal high school kid who had a sort of Group of Friends but doesn't really anymore since he stood up to everyone and wrote a letter to the school paper about how it was ok that his friend Tiny Cooper (who is anything but tiny, by the way) was gay and the best thing that happened to their school's crappy football team.  Oh yeah, and he signed his name to that letter.  So the Group of Friends kind of stopped being the Group of Friends after that.  Will has been friends with Tiny forever, which is hard sometimes because Tiny is a bit loud and dramatic...ok, well, extremely loud and dramatic and fabulous and he falls in love really easily....you get the picture. 

While Tiny is always in love with someone, Will isn't.  He just avoids relationships and really tries not to even say that much at all....that way he'll be good and won't have to deal with any drama.

Tiny's trying to get his original musical Tiny Dancer staged at school.  Tiny is huge and fabulous and on a mission when it comes to this play.

A few towns over, Will Grayson two wants to murder himself and everyone around him...well not really, but that's how he feels.  He's not so happy, this Will Grayson #2, that is unless he's online talking to Isaac, his new friend.  He makes it through school, allowing himself a little happiness toward the end of each day when he looks forward to the final bell. 

These two Will Graysons continue on their ways until one night (at a porn shop of all places) they run into each other...from that point - their worlds are connected.

As you read this book you'll see how the world's intertwine and you'll have just craploads of fun along the way.

Tiny Cooper is, as many other bloggers and reviewers have pointed out, the absolute most fabulous thing about this book.  I have no idea how Green and Levithan did the writing on this book...but Tiny is the beautiful, giant thread that holds it all together...and he's perfect in all the chapters.  As his BFF Will Grayson #1 says:

Tiny Cooper is not the world's gayest person, and he is not the world's largest person, but I believe he may be the world's largest person who is really, really gay, and also the world's gayest person who is really, really large.  Tiny has been my best friend since fifth grade...

and...

Tiny waltzes in wearing his jersey tucked into his chinos, even though football season is long over.  Every day, Tiny miraculously manages to wedge himself into the chair-desk beside mine in precalc, and every day, I am amazed he can do it...So Tiny squeezes into his chair, I am duly amazed, and then he turns to me and he whispers really loudly because he secretly wants other people to hear, "I'm in love." 

I've loved all of John Green's books (Alaska's my favorite).  I also really liked Love is the Higher Law by David Levithan, and I plan to read Boy Meets Boy soon.  These guys have really done something special here, and you absolutely must check out this book.  One, it's good, and Two, it's all about the love, and who doesn't love that!?!

Weetzie Bat by Fancesca Lia Block

I've never read any of Francesca Lia Block's books, so I thought I'd start right at the beginning with Weetzie Bat.  It's been on my list forever.

Weetzie Bat is a hip young lady who finds her soul mate/best friend in Dirk, the cutest guy in school.  They do movies and hang out and are bffs forever.  Dirk and Weetzie both want to find someone to love them so they go "duck hunting" together - each hoping to find that one special man who will make them happy.

One day Weetzie actually gets the chance to make sure this happens for both her and Dirk.  She makes three wishes and sets their life on an adventure-filled path that they love.  They live, love, and go through life's down times, too, but they always stay together and do their best.

I liked this quick, fun little read because it took me away to LA and let me hang out with some fabulous new friends.  It's got movies, beauty, palm trees, dancing, music, babies, loving, everything.  I liked the style and enjoyed how short and simple it was.  Yet, there were still things under the surface to think about.  A simple story about love with a colorful cast of characters.  I loved this description of what you are to me...this was about Weetzie,

You are my lake full of fishes, you are my sky set, my 'Hollywood in Minature,' my pink Cadillac, my highway, my martini, the stage for my heart to rock and roll on, the screen where my movies light up.  

Who doesn't love that?  Weetzie Bat was fun and full of love. 

Ash by Malinda Lo

Ash is a wonderful and beloved daughter.  Sadly, she loses her mother when she is young.  When her father comes home from the city with plans to remarry, Ash's life will change forever.  People in Ash's world believe in the real world and no longer feel that the fairy tales of the past are real.  Ash loves the stories though and knows that the land is still enchanted by the fairies because she feels it and catches glimpses of them indirectly every now and then.

When Ash's father dies, her stepmother and stepsisters make her move her childhood home.  When her stepmother runs out of money, Ash is forced to be a servant.  Her only friend is a fairy, Sidhean, to whom she is mysteriously drawn to.  She wanders into the woods to see if she can encounter him or any other magical folk and meets the king's huntress, Kaisa.  She immediately feels herself attracted to the huntress, and they spend lots of time together.

All of this is complicated when Ash realizes that she can't be in two worlds at once.  Will she be able to be a part of the world she wants to be a part of?  Can she even have love at all when her stepmother monitors her every move?

Ash is a unique Cinderella retelling with a twist.  The setting is magical and the love is very real.  Read this for a new twist on a classic fairy tale.