Reviews

Hold Me Closer: The Tiny Cooper Story by David Levithan

Only show reviews with written explanations

heyjudy's review against another edition

4.0

~4/5

“'You think you’re an actor, Tiny. We all think we are actors, given our scripts. But really? You’re the playwright. You’re the composer.'” (Hardback, pg. 151)

I didn’t even know this was coming out until it was released, and it shouldn’t have taken me so long to read.

This is the play from Will Grayson, Will Grayson, with some possible changes, in its entirety. There is commentary mixed throughout from Tiny Cooper, and every single act has a song in it. And it’s really quite brilliant.

It’s a super-fast read, and it’s already a small book. It’s clear you’re in Tiny’s head the entire time, and that this is the vision he has for it. The humor is really great, and the characters are a lot of fun to meet and/or see again.

It was a lot of fun, and I’m happy with how it wrapped up and the lesson Tiny learned about himself. I hope to pick up more of Levithan’s books at some point.

Also, wouldn’t it be cool if they made a movie about Will Grayson, Will Grayson and this book mixed together? This book could be fantastic on film. I think it could work really well.

[Read more at my blog, Geeky Reading!]

_reedmylife_'s review against another edition

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4.0

As a kind of companion book to Will Grayson, Will Grayson by John Green and David Levithan, I would say that I am pleasantly pleased by it. Usually companion novels can be a bore but this was anything but that. After all, Tiny Cooper was the star of the show. This novel touched on many topics from coming out to learning to love who you are. This book is truly a great small continuation of the masterpiece that is Will Grayson, Will Grayson.

ttayfel1997's review against another edition

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4.0

At first, I wasn't quite sure what to think of the book. I think it had to do with the way it was written, but eventually I got into the book. It's been awhile since I've read Will Grayson, Will Grayson so I had to stop reading a couple of times to try and remember what had happened in that book. The only thing I didn't like about this book/play was that it was a musical. It was hard for me to imagine the songs being sung and I wish the book would've come with music I could listen to while reading. Overall, it was a very well written book and I ended up liking it a lot.

jeffmauch's review against another edition

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2.0

I guess I'm not sure what I expected with this one. I enjoyed the previous book and thought this would be a sequel of sorts, not an actual play/musical. It was a tough read, especially considering you hear about 60% of it in the original book. Frankly it wasn't that interesting and with so much of it being in verse, a headache to read. The saving grace here is that it's short.

mj_j's review against another edition

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2.0

I loved ‘Will Grayson, Will Grayson’ but this fell pretty flat for me.

mslauraolivia's review against another edition

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I wanted to like Hold Me Closer, the Tiny Cooper Story. Tiny was my favorite character in Will Grayson, Will Grayson. I think it was the fact that it was written in play/script format kinda threw me off and couldn't keep me interested. I got about 50% through before I sighed and thought, "Do I really wanna finish this? I'm so bored!" DNF at page 102.