Hello my lovely readers, today I’m sharing my review of Only Mostly Devastated by Sophie Gonzales.
‘Tell me more, tell me more how good is this book?”
I’m sorry I couldn’t resist starting my review in a sing song of Grease. After all it is a queer imagining of Grease, so I couldn’t not. It might not be the last either. I also happened to have watched Grease fairly recently so I was so up for this.
Only Mostly Devastated by Sophie Gonzales Published by Hodder Children's Books on March 3, 2020
Genres: Contemporary
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When Ollie meets his dream guy, Will, over summer break, he thinks he’s found his Happily Ever After. But once summer’s ended, Will stops texting him back, and Ollie finds himself one prince short of a fairytale ending. To complicate the fairytale further, a family emergency sees Ollie uprooted and enrolled at a new school across the country—Will’s school—where Ollie finds that the sweet, affectionate and comfortably queer guy he knew from summer isn’t the same one attending Collinswood High. This Will is a class clown, closeted—and, to be honest, a bit of a jerk.
Ollie has no intention of pining after a guy who clearly isn’t ready for a relationship. But as Will starts ‘coincidentally’ popping up in every area of Ollie’s life, from music class to the lunch table, Ollie finds his resolve weakening.
The last time he gave Will his heart, Will handed it back to him trampled and battered. Ollie would have to be an idiot to trust him with it again.
Right?
Right.
My Review
‘I met a guy crazy for me and he met a boy as cute as can be.’ Ollie’s family changes their mind and they stay longer in North Carolina, after the summer break. His aunt is ill and they want to spend time and help as much as they can. What Ollie didn’t realise is the boy he fell in love with at the beach, goes to the school he is about to join. Ollie instantly becomes friends with the ‘Rose Gold Ladies’ I’m going to call them, as they all have rose gold rose chain, Juliette, Niamh and Lara. They know he’s out, he’s gay and doesn’t hide it, but when he stumbles upon Will at a party, it’s very clear he isn’t.
Will had better shape up, cause Ollie needs a man, and his heart is set on him.
This book is full of surprises and I think I surprised myself with how much I enjoyed this book. I adored the very ‘Grease’ nature to the book. You will be utterly swept in the cute romance of Ollie and Will. I loved how their relationship developed over the school year. But I appreciated the emotions that each of shared. With Ollie’s aunt and Will’s difficulty of coming out and not being the cocky basketball jock, there is more to him that Ollie likes more. There was a lot of goofy smiles my end and some blushing too, that does make you want to sing and dance. It was super cute.
Whilst Ollie and Will are centre stage, I felt what really shined in this book, was the representation of identity and body confidence which really opened up with Ollie’s friendships and relationships. Within the ‘Rose Gold Ladies’ Ollie grew rather attached to Lara, she has a hard skin, and a mouth to match it, but she is troubled by her identity as much as Will is. But unlike Will, Lara isn’t afraid of it, she doesn’t know how embrace it. Then there’s Niamh, I loved her shyness within the group, but like Juliette she has ambition to be a model in New York, but she feels her body is stopping her. She can’t help the way she is, and it’s her personality that matters more, which a certain basketball player adores about her. Then there is Juliette that brings them together, she has a kindness that is so innocent, I almost felt her character is what glues everyone together, so her relentlessness is inspiring. I really loved the family of characters within the book as well, every character had a part to play, especially in the final scene.
‘Summer loving had me a blast‘ in this book. Only Mostly Devastated is a boy-meet-boy Grease with so much more. This book will sure to put a smile on your face as it did mine. I wanted something bright, cheerful and cute. You know what, that’s exactly what I got. 🙂
Thank you to Team Bkmrk for sending me a copy in exchange for an honest review.
