What a cute story! I loved the entire cast, especially Ollie and all of his supportive friends.

Only Mostly Devastated is a super feel good story that you can't help but love. It's a light-read, perfect for times like these. Something that really stood out to me was the diversity, not only in characters, but in the important topics being talked about, such as sexuality (not only Ollie's but another character, whom I enjoyed meeting so much), a woman of color dreaming of becoming a plus-sized model, and fat-shaming. All of these were handled with grace, poise, and eloquence.

I'm definitely looking forward to reading more by this author!

This was a Grease retelling but instead of Danny and Sandy it was Will and Oliver and I LOVED it! It was cute but also incredibly heartfelt! I loved the development of the characters and not just the main characters but the side characters as well. Ollie’s voice was perfect for me! His internal monologues were relatable, charming, and funny but sometimes it felt a little too rambling. The moments with his Aunt Linda were not what I expected, and I loved that the author didn’t just focus on what Ollie was feeling but what each member of the family felt, including Linda! Those moments were heartbreaking. The way prejudices were tackled, the coming out process, and the inclusiveness in this book was stellar. I would give it 4.5 stars and I will definitely be recommending it often!

I really enjoyed this book! It was a super fun and cute read, and I loved the relationship between Ollie and and Will and how they, slowly but surely, overcame the issues of living in a small town and being part of the LGBTQ+ community can have. I found that Ollie's group of friends was awesome. Specially the character development of Lara's character.
Apart from the romance aspect of the book, but I also loved the fact that it dealt with some heavier topics such as terminal illness and grief. The relationship between Ollie and his aunt was really sweet. I can't wait to read what Sophie Gonzales writes next.

3.5 Potential mild spoilers in this review.

I had extremely high expectations from this after all of the hype. I ended up liking it just fine. I really like the rep in here: gay MC, fat rep, bi boy and bi girl. The one thing that irked me was the fat rep, though. The character was dieting through out half of the book so she could be a professional model. She discovered she was diagnosed with PCOS and that is why she isn't losing weight so then she decides to eat healthy and work out for her health in general and not just to lose weight to be deemed "beautiful." The rep was great but I hate that part in the beginning, regardless of it being realistic or not.

When it came to Ollie and Will's relationship, it was all talk. There wasn't much to actually see from their relationship, just he said/she said. I liked the character development and how their relationship wrapped up at the end but I wish we could have seen more of the growing relationship.

I liked this book just fine and will recommend it to anyone who is looking for LGBT rep. I liked the spin on Grease and I do agree on the comparisons to Simon vs. If you want a quick read with a little bit of heartfelt moments, this is the one for you.

School fun read! A warm book that including friends and relationships. Cute, funny characters with cry worthy family. A perfect all-rounder book you are looking for

Ollie meets Will over summer vacation at a lake in North Carolina and they have a summer romance. When Ollie’s parents tell him they’ll be moving to NC for his senior year to help take care of his sick Aunt, he’s excited to be living close to Will. But when Ollie texts Will to let him know, he gets no response and realizes he’s been ghosted. When Ollie starts his first day at his new school he makes friends with three girls, and tells them about his summer fling. Little does he know Will goes to the same school, and he is not out of the closet. Did Ollie accidentally out Will and where will their relationship go if one of them is out and the other isn’t? Will Ollie and Will end up together or will Ollie end up only mostly devastated?

Let me start by saying that I had serious Grease vibes reading this book especially at the beginning. In this case, it’s boy meets boy over summer vacation. Boy moves to other boy’s town and doesn’t realize they go to the same school until their friends reunite them at a party. Totally sounds like Grease, right? Surprisingly though there is so much more to this story.

There’s the touching relationship with Ollie and his family and the way he takes care of his young cousins to help out his aunt who is battling cancer. I loved the kids, Crista and Dylan, and I thought Ollie’s relationship with his Aunt Linda was very sweet. Then there’s his friendship with Juliette, Lara, and Niamh. I especially loved how Ollie and Lara’s friendship progressed throughout the book. Finally, there’s Ollie and Will. I think the author did a great job of telling a realistic story of a couple where one is out and the other isn’t. They obviously go through a lot of ups and downs especially with Will’s being a jock and his friends on the basketball team making fun of Ollie.

It’s a heartfelt story that had me both laughing and crying. Ollie’s awkwardness is endearing throughout the story, and I love how the author showed growth in all of the characters. This is definitely a YA story, but I think adults will enjoy it as well.

Thank you NetGalley and St Martin’s Press for an advanced copy in exchange for my honest review.

As a thank you to Netgalley and the publisher (Wednesday Books) for a review copy of the Sophie Gonzales novel “Only Mostly Devastated.” In reading this novel I was able to follow along with the audiobook released two weeks after the book was published.In comparing the completed novel to the advanced reader's copy was I able to appreciate work the author put into flushing out her characters' stories. This added an emotional quality to the story only hinted early on and by its end earned in a lovely way. This story has been described as Grease for the 21st century. I certainly would agree with the analogy as Grease would best describe the context of how our lead characters meet. It is unabashedly queer and places identity at the forefront of this YA coming of age story. Overall, I appreciated the novel and give it four out of five stars on GoodReads. I recommend it to those who loved “Simon vs. the Homo Sapiens Agenda.”

A very sweet story of love and friendship that is pleasantly reminiscent of Grease, luckily without the questionable ending. I was excited to see that Ollie, the main character in the book, is already out and proud at the beginning of the story. Although he does briefly grapple with the issue every LGBT+ person will face for their entire life, the awkward process of telling new people even if you've been "out" for a long time to those closest to you. There are two characters in the story who do struggle with coming out as bisexual. As a bisexual teen, it meant a lot to me to see two questioning characters coming to terms with their bisexual identities and be accepted by the people around them. This book is laugh-out-loud funny with lots of heart, and it still managed to make me cry a time or two.

Only Mostly Devastated was a quick contemporary that I was easily able to fly through. While the story is simple and fast paced, it still managed to hold some hard blows. I think the balance between the family storyline was very nicely intertwined with Ollie's school drama. Ollie's friendships were highly captivating as well and I enjoyed how he came to fit into the ragtag group of girls. The romance was very easy to like, but I wish the story had tried to build up more angst. I felt the connection from the love interests, but something fell short. I loved the flashbacks and that helped to understand why they liked each other, but even those felt too little. I was never angry that the characters couldn't be together when I felt I should have been if that makes sense. Other than that, I think Only Mostly Devastated is a delightful story that portrayed the wonders and horrors of moving from California to a small town in the deep south spectacularly.

Only Mostly Devastated is a fun but surprisingly heavy queer retelling of Grease that I simply adored. Sophie Gonzales manages to balance these two facets of the book perfectly: one moment you’ll be laughing and the next on the verge of tears.

Ollie has an amazing summer romance while holidaying with her family in North Carolina, but when it comes time to go back home, his parents decide to move there to take care of Ollie’s mother’s sister who has cancer. So Ollie moves to a new town for his senior year and, unbeknownst to him, begins going to the school his summer boyfriend attends … a boyfriend who is not out. And who now begins to ignore Ollie, but can’t stay away from him either.

I was surprised to learn that this book covers an array of heavy topics from cancer, to fatphobia to homophobia, as the book was more marketed as a romcom. That being said, I feel Gonzales discussed each theme with nuance and delicacy, especially the scenes that involve terminal illness and grief. I think this book really captures the true teen experience: falling for your first love, dealing with the death of a family member, struggling with weight and learning to love your body, and exploring your sexuality. Teen’s lives can be messy and difficult and confusing, and we need more books like Only Mostly Devastated that show this.

One of the most important topics in this novel is the love interest Will still being deep in the closest. As he comes from a Venezuelan family, Will believes his family will disown him if he comes out and that his friends will abandon him. As such, he makes bad decisions trying to prove he’s not queer and as a result, treats Ollie like crap. But Ollie still has feelings for him and doesn’t know how to let Will go. A lot of people will be able to resonate with Will; I myself did, coming from a religious Italian household and struggling to figure out how to come out to my family.

You may be asking, “but didn’t you say this was a fun book? How?” I did, because I truly feel like it is! This book definitely tackles heavier subjects with nuance, but at it’s core, Only mostly Devastated is a romance and a sweet one at that. Will’s internal narration is funny and so like a modern 2020 teen — very relatable.

Only Mostly Devastated is a fantastic contemporary novel that I highly recommend. It’s fun, light, heavy at times and discusses some tough topics, but is ultimately a lovely romance. Do your selves a favour and read this book!

(review on blog going up 28/3)

Big thank you to Wednesday books and NetGalley for an early copy of this book in exchange for my honest review. This was such a sweet and wonderful love story! I loved the inclusivity of all the characters. There were so many different types of people represented and I’m here for it! I loved how this book tackled so many issues that all of us face in life. Ollie is such a lovable character who has flaws and is so relatable. I really loved this book.

"SIMON VS. THE HOMO SAPIENS AGENDA meets CLUELESS in this boy-meets-boy spin on Grease."

Right from this description alone, I was hooked. Simon, Clueless and Grease??? Three things I love? I knew that this book was going to be a good one.

I was so invested in the beginning that I could not stop reading. Every word was being permanently written into my brain because the description that I read was spot on. It was so diverse, so interesting and so entertaining that I didn't want to put it down.

When I hit the halfway mark, I had no idea what happened. I was sitting there thinking..am I going to have to put this book down? It slowed down to the point of confusion. I was so hoping that the book was going to pick back up to the speed it was when I first picked it up.

After I hit that little patch of slow, it did (thank god) pick up and I was able to fly to the end with enjoyment. After finishing and reflecting, this book was a solid four star read for me. I was so thankful to give it a higher rating because it did pick back up after starting so strong.

I just loved the characters. Ollie and Will were such good characters that I wanted to really dive deep into their lives. This story is told in first person through Ollie and at some points, I wish that we had a duel narration in Will's head as well. Maybe for another time or book!

I loved the romance in this book as well. For a young adult novel, sometimes it's either too sweet or not sweet enough, but this one was really good in that sense. The angst and the romance were a perfect ratio throughout the novel, especially towards the end.

“It'll get easier. That's the beautiful thing about the universe. It puts you through trials, but it never gives you anything you can't handle. We grow from these things.”

Sophie Gonzales did a wonderful job with this book and I'm excited to see her books in the future. If they're anything like Only Mostly Devastated, which is EXACTLY how this book will leave you, then I'm very ready to drop every other book I'm reading in this moment to read hers.

This was such a nice surprise I didn't expect to like it so much!It was funny and adorable.I did like how diverse this book was, exploring sexuality .I think the author did a great job!I loved how complex all the characters were. I felt the chemistry between Oliver and Will so much.The secondary characters were amazing as well. This was an amazing story .

I enjoyed this book.

I loved the connections with Grease, as that was the initial thing that drew me to the book. Grease is one of my favorite movies! I thought the connections between the two were well done.

I felt a disconnect while trying to get connected to the characters. Things would happen that would've been a big deal if I cared about the characters but I just didn't. I also didn't love the constant insertion of modern-day references such as Hamilton, Coco, Post Malone etc. I think things like that in books makes me wonder what someone will think picking this up in 5-10 years and if they'll get it or enjoy those aspects of it.

I thought the plot was well done and I enjoyed the representation, though as I am not a member of the community I cannot speak to the validity of it.

Overall I thought this book was good but I won't read it again in the foreseeable future.

I loved this book so much. I found myself constantly comparing the characters to those in Grease and could completely see how Sophie Gonzales had kept the spirit of the film alive through her modern re-telling. I loved the romance story and how characters developed throughout the book. The group of friends were brilliant and played an important role which was nice to see. A generally feel-good book with some upsetting moments and tough realities that were overcome in the end.

3.5 stars
Prior to reading this novel, I heard this book being described as an "LGBTQ version of the movie Grease". I can see the comparison and similarities that they share but both of these stories are vastly different.

This book took me a little while to warm up to but once I did, I became invested. It was a heartwarming and emotional story but for many different reasons. It also featured some difficult topics surrounding: illness, death, grief, the struggles with coming out, body dysmorphia, bullying, and homophobia. It was truly a very diverse book and a good representation of teenagers in high school.

Oh Ollie. How I felt for Ollie. Then again, I also felt for Will and Lara who were somewhat villainized (understandably so). Not everything is simple or 'cut and dry' which can be seen in this story, especially in the setting of high school with the insecurities and peer pressure.

This was a very emotional novel and like I said before, it was for many reasons. I think this novel could be empowering for some but also upsetting for others who did not share a similar experience (I'm avoiding spoilers here). I wish the ending and the family/friend response was the experience for everyone but I know that's not always the case.

***Thank you to the publisher for supplying me with an ARC of this book via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review***

This is a very fun book, largely due to Ollie (the protagonist) who’s simply, in the very wise words of Will, ridiculous. I want to make some things clear, though, before we proceed: this is also a messy book. It’s messy in a way that none of the characters are perfect, and they keep making mistakes, and no one is really 100% in the right. It’s messy in a way that life (especially life of a teenager) is messy and totally not black-and-white. I just know not everyone enjoys stories like that.

It’s definitely a kind of story I personally love & it’s that messiness that appealed to me the most. Only Mostly Devastated is very much characters-focused and with Ollie as the narrator, for the most part it shows everything through his eyes, making him seem like the person who has the moral high ground. He’s not exactly an unreliable narrator, not in the sense we’re used to - it’s more accurate to say that he’s an eighteen years old boy. Sometimes what he assumes people did and what their intentions were completely misses the point those people tried to make. And Only Mostly Devastated addresses that!

Obviously, it’s mostly visible in regard to Will (his love interest). See, the boys were a summer fling and then it turned out they go to the same school this year. And that fact didn’t make things easier for them, exactly. What it boils down to is that Ollie is out and Will isn’t, and Ollie tries to deal with that but not always in the best ways.

Now, the messy part mentioned before turns everything interesting. Because sure, on one hand it’s not great for Ollie to date someone who’s in closet when he’s been out for years and doesn’t want to stop being open about that part of himself. On the other, Will grew up in a totally different environment, with a totally different family & group of friends, and as we all know, coming out just isn’t easy. Him being scared is totally understandable, just like Ollie being impatient and hurt is totally understandable.

Will’s actions, as he tried to preserve his sense of status quo, weren’t always amazing. In fact, there were times where he downright acted like a dick. (Especially one scene pops to mind, where he treated a girl more like a means to the end than a human being; it’s possible to excuse it somewhat with fear but still.) But there are two sides to every story and from Will’s perspective he was simply doing his best to protect himself. There comes a point when the books makes that abundantly clear to everyone (to Ollie) and the fact that we got to have that discussion was really great and necessary. And honestly, as much as I adore Ollie, he was a dick just as often as Will was.

No one is only ever right or wrong. No easy answers here.

Gonzales shows that particular sentiment in more ways than just with Ollie and Will. There’s the way different people react to horrible things happening to the ones they love. While Ollie himself might not agree with coping mechanisms of others, it’s still made clear enough that none of them are invalid. And that really, all we can do with tragedies thrown our way is try to live through them.

I summed this book up as “funny, warm & heartbreaking” and I still think that description pretty much nails it. It’s definitely a kind of novel I want to read when I’m feeling a little bit down, when I want to laugh (honestly, Ollie is hilarious!), when I want to remember that no one is perfect. And when I want to cry just a little bit. No one is perfect but Only Mostly Devastated offers a pretty perfect mix of emotions.

(PS Prior to reading & reviewing I didn’t understand why this book was being compared to Grease, because I have never seen that movie in my life, I only knew that one song, you know the one. So it’s safe to say the book holds up on its own. I watched it now, though, and yeah, Only Mostly Devastated is a great retelling that keeps the important components of the original story but makes it modern, diverse and not ridiculous.)

On the surface, this could be your run-of-the-mill YA contemporary, But at the core, it touches on so much more. Great LGBT rep and the terminal illness bit was done well and not all hokey like it sometimes can be in YA. I once again am happy to see a good family dynamic and a present family in a YA novel. Ollie is precious and I adore him and I easily connected with him. I may have missed where this is pitched for fans of Grease but I love that it is gay Grease set in modern times - fantastic. Seriously. I laughed. I cried. It was a good time.

I really enjoyed this book and it represented the mess of being a teenager and those first relationships quite well. My only issue was the homophobia / lack of awareness of others (although this is p realistic) and lack of consequences for their behaviour.

Thank you to NetGalley, Sophie Gonzales and St Martin’s Press for the free e-book in exchange for an honest review.

This is exactly what I needed to break up the monotony of my reading life! I adored how different this book was from what I usually read and I love reading more novels from the male perspective. I found this novel was a quick read because I was so curious what was going to happen to the relationships in this novel! I loved that it was told from a gay male teenagers point of view because let’s be honest, we don’t hear much from them and it is a tough time to be gay or a teenagers. I really enjoyed seeing the struggles of coming out to friends and family and I hope this book helps someone realize that most people will love you no matter what. In such a scary time, this book was such fun read!

Out now!