The Lover's Dictionary by David Levithan

I read Will Grayson, Will Grayson a while back, and while I had read all of John Green's books, I had read none of David Levithan's. (They co-wrote Will Grayson, Will Grayson)

So I picked up The Lover's Dictionary.

It's written in letter format (The narrator addresses another character as 'you' throughout the novel) and there are several words for each letter. For example, ethereal, celibacy, ineffable, catharsis, you get the idea. Each word is accompanied with a couple of sentences (sometimes one, sometimes twenty) that relate to the word. And the alphabet is rewritten in terms of love.

Here's a thing about me: I hate ambiguous anything in books. Especially endings. I like to be told exactly what happens, with nothing left open ended. (That's the only flaw in John Green books. Terribly, terribly vague endings.)

So, while The Lover's Dictionary was beautifully written and smart and witty, I couldn't stop thinking "When the hell are we going to get more information about these characters??" You don't find out names, appearances, ages. Is the relationship between 15 year olds or 35 year olds? Is the non-narrator attractive or not? What about the narrator? You don't even know if it's a gay relationship or a straight one. (You do know that the narrator is a boy)

I understand that that is supposed to be the point of the book, that you can mold it to fit any of the relationships you've had. And I'm sure it was difficult to write it in a way that would keep the reader's interest (which it did) with out giving away anything, and David Levithan did it skillfully. There is something beautiful in the simplicity of it all. Kind of like a perfectly clear, shiny, empty wineglass (oooh artsy metaphor). But there's that little voice in my head saying "Names! Ages! Genders!".