I didn’t expect the description of “Simon vs the Homo Sapiens Agenda” meets Grease to be almost literal. As I listened I could draw the parallels to Grease, almost too perfectly. It was a decent book, but the biggest thing I took from this book was a desire to re-read “Simon . . .” to remember how much I loved it.

A little cliche, but enjoyable with realistic characters. It reminded me a little of Grease, with the summer fling with cool kid who unexpectedly goes to your new school.

This was such a good book! It was deeply heartfelt and it made me want to read more. I didn’t want to leave the world of this book.

This was adorable. I loved the Grease feel to it and might or might not have been sining the soundtrack in my head as I read.🤣 I recommend this story if you want something emotional and feel good.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for my ARC in exchange for an honest review.

4.0 stars
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TW; Death, Cancer, Homophobia, Grief
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There's just something different about YA, it just brings so much joy to my soul. This is a modern take on Grease, and let me tell you, I was hooked from the start.

This m/m love story follows Will and Ollie who share a brief summer love. At the end of summer Ollie and Will promise to keep in touch, but when Will stops replying to texts Ollie feels his heart being crushed - he knew it all seemed too good to be true. When Will shows up the following school year Ollie has so many questions, it was fun seeing how their relationship unfolds once the two of them are reunited.

This book pulled at my heart, I was rooting for our power couple from the start. I loved how we got flashbacks to their summer romance so we could see how close the two of them had gotten. While reading this book I was just full of emotions, some points of the book had me laughing out loud, while others had me sobbing because my heart couldn't take it.
I would like to thank NetGalley and the publisher for a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review

OMGosh!!! That was adorable!! I want more!
The synopsis tells us that the story is an LGBTQ twist on Grease and Clueless. I was hoping for greatness, and it delivered!
Oliver meets a boy, has the best summer of his life, and essentially falls for him. The problem is that the boy lives in the state where Oliver is vacationing, where we Oliver lives on the other side of the country. Twist of fate has Oli staying! Senior year in a new High School, which has its own hurdles to jump, but when it turns out the new friends he’s made KNOW THE SUMMER BOY, let the cuteness, hilarity, and awkwardness begin!
I laughed out loud on multiple occasions. I had a ton of “awe that’s the cutest thing ever!” moments. I CRIED MY FACE OFF MORE THAN ONCE! All of these roll into a fabulous story that I will be sure to reread and recommend to anyone who will listen. This story was an absolute pleasure to read.
Thank you Netgalley for a copy of this book in exchange for my honest review. All opinions are my own.

Only Mostly Devastated was the queer Grease retelling I didn't know I needed!

For one, the characters were all EXCELLENT. Ollie especially was such a joy to read! I know this is going to sound like a weird comparison, but Ollie would often remind me of Percy Jackson in the sarcastic-yet-still-funny way he looked at life. His relationship with Will was absolutely adorable, and truly gave me all the feels!

I truly couldn't recommend this book more! Five stars to my latest auto-buy author! (side note: if you have yet to check out her next queer novel, Perfect on Paper, I would HIGHLY recommend that you do - it was somehow even better than OMD!!)

Brilliant teen romance. Absolutely heartwarming, funny, sweet, and just downright perfect romcom. Extremely relevant for this day and age. The characters were wonderful and totally gave that Grease vibe. I enjoyed this one immensely. Highly recommend.

This was absolutely adorable??? I had missed that the description says it's a Grease retelling, but that was so well done in the text, it was delightful!

I loved Ollie, and it felt like such a genuine story. While he was of course the focus, the story managed to cover so many complex topics and show how different people experience emotions and respond to situations. There was so much growth and depth, I loved it! I've been in a reading slump and I decided to change up genres and read this one, and I'm so glad I did! It was like a breath of fresh air and it was perfect reading at the end of the summer/start of a new school year. One of the best YA's I've read in a long while!

I received an arc of this title from NetGalley for an honest review. I had heard a lot of great things about this book and was thrilled to get the physical copy once it came in. I found it difficult to connect to the story and the characters, though I will try maybe the audio version.

This is a marvel of a debut- I loved the clear inspiration, and it was a wild (fun) ride! I'm excited to read more from this author.

I loved this and it's great vast of characters, the pacing was pretty well done as well. I really hope Sophie Gonzales releases work just as good in the future.

ONLY MOSTLY DEVASTATED is a charming YA contemporary romance that follows Ollie. Ollie had lived in California, until this year when his parents and he went to North Carolina for the summer to help out his aunt, who has terminal cancer. When she is not getting better, they end up deciding to stay for his senior year in North Carolina. Although Ollie is concerned, he is more worried about his aunt, and he wants to be able to help.

As an added perk, the boy he fell in love with over the summer, Will, lives in North Carolina. However, since their last night together- which Ollie thought was completely unforgettable- Will has been ghosting him. Ollie can take the hint, but he's still pretty hurt about it. When he sees Will at his new school, he is once again hurt by Will's dismissal.

What follows is a journey of familial and romantic love that is challenged by circumstance. Will is very much in the closet and worried about what his parents and friends will think. Compared to Grease, it is easy to see the parallels, but this book reaches far deeper than the movie did and gives a much better couple and romance.

What I loved: The book moves quickly, and my favorite parts were about Ollie and how his family comes together to deal with cancer. It was raw, moving, and beautiful, showing both the grief and love. There are also some great side themes about self-confidence, owning who you are (such as Niamh, who will be a gorgeous model- plus-sized), and finding the people who get you (in Ollie's case, musicians). While there are some tough moments about Will and his cold-and-hot reactions, this also felt really believable to me for a teen who is not ready to come out, and I think this will speak to some really well.

While I was reading the book, the Grease parallels were not overwhelming or hitting you over the head- they were subtle, and it made for an even better story.

Final verdict: Heartfelt and charming, ONLY MOSTLY DEVASTATED is a touching and delightful YA contemporary romance. Highly recommend for fans of Nicola Yoon, SIMON VS. THE HOMO SAPIENS AGENDA, and SICK KIDS IN LOVE.

"Only Mostly Devastated" by Sophie Gonazlez
Release Date: 3.3.2020

Will cannot wait to have a summer fling, and he is especially happy to have that fling with Ollie. Ollie thinks its forever and is surprised when Will stops texting Ollie back once the summer is over.

To stress Ollie out even more, a family emergency causes Ollie to move across the country from North Carolina and start a new school in California. He feels excited once he realizes it is the school that Will attends!

Will is not the boy Ollie met in the summer. Will is a jerk, the class clown, and in the closet. Ollie decides Will is not worth the effort. Despite this, Ollie starts to notice Will everywhere he goes, from class, lunch, and everywhere in between.

Will already hurt Ollie once. Ollie does not want to fall for him again, only to have his heart broken.

What a sweet read! Great contemporary romance with humor and heartbreak! Reminded me a modern day retelling of "Grease," my favorite musical! Ms. Gonzalez is one of my new favorite authors! She shared how each character was feeling, and even though Will was acting like an ass, from his perspective, he was protecting himself.

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Thank you to Wednesday Books for the ARC!

I love this book so much! It was very sweet, but also managed to handle some pretty intense topics, like homophobia, biphobia, death, and grief. I thought Ollie was a cute protagonist who was very in his head for most of the book, but did also have some growth throughout the book: he realized that while he was being hurt by Will, he had also failed to take into account Will's feelings, which I thought was very mature for a teen character.

I always love Sophie Gonzales' side characters as well, and this was no different. I really liked both Ollie and Will's friend groups and how they meshed together. Overall, a super fun and quick read and I really enjoyed it!

This is a little bit of a gay twist on Grease, with some fun callbacks to the popular musical, but really it is its own unique self, a cute story about finding love only after being able to love yourself.

really cute Grease retelling. I liked the way Gonzales updated the plot to fit the modern day setting. The chemistry between the love interests felt really real and I really liked all the supporting characters as well.

Cute YA novel. I really liked the character development of Ollie, who doesn't want a broken heart. I wasn't sold on Will, just because it seemed like he was doing Ollie dirty when Ollie deserved better! All in all, cute and quick read.

This was a very cute book I have to say. I've read it as being described as a modern day LGBTQ+ version of Grease and I could sort of see that but what I know for certain is that I spent a majority of the book either sympathizing with Ollie or being mad at him for being so boneheaded. And Will, I alternatively liked him and wanted to throw a book at him. But overall I really liked this book!

*I voluntarily read and reviewed an ARC of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.*

Adorably sweet and fantastic to read. This is one I didn't want to put down because of how much I ended up liking the characters. While I'm not a fan of second-chance romances, I'm more lenient with teenagers, especially for the reasons given here. My heart was torn and so invested.

Ollie is such a cutie that you can't help but want the best for. Will took a while to grow on me, but once I understood his motivations, my heart cried out for him. I wanted nothing more than to make life easier and softer for these characters. Even the side characters grew on me and had me caring.

The writing really brought the emotions to the front. This will not be the last book I read by this author and I look forward to seeing what else they come out with.