Review: Only Mostly Devastated by Sophie Gonzales
SYNOPSIS:
SIMON VS. THE HOMO SAPIENS AGENDA meets CLUELESS in this boy-meets-boy spin on Grease
Summer love…gone so fast.
Will Tavares is the dream summer fling―he’s fun, affectionate, kind―but just when Ollie thinks he’s found his Happily Ever After, summer vacation ends and Will stops texting Ollie back. Now Ollie is one prince short of his fairy tale ending, and to complicate the fairy tale further, a family emergency sees Ollie uprooted and enrolled at a new school across the country. Which he minds a little less when he realizes it’s the same school Will goes to…except Ollie finds that the sweet, 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, especially since this new, bro-y jock version of Will seems to go from hot to cold every other week. But then Will starts “coincidentally” popping up in every area of Ollie’s life, from music class to the lunch table, and 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.
REVIEW:
This was an adorably endearing young adult book. The story had a playfully charming high school romance balanced with tough topics. It left me with a smile on my face and hope in my heart.
Throughout the story you catch glimpses of Grease, from a summer romance to Ollie showing up at Will’s school. These traits had me smiling but the story is so much more than that. Ollie’s Aunt is battling cancer and you get to watch both her fight with cancer and how his family is coping with it. Will is closeted and you see his battle with his feeling for Ollie versus his fear of coming out. In addition, Sophie Gonzales grazes other topics light PCOS, stigmas, stereotypes and so much more. But the story never felt like too much or like the narrative was drowning because at the core of it all was Ollie and Will.
I really enjoyed the give and take dynamic to Ollie and Will’s relationship. While the summer romance is definitely behind them, the school year offers an interesting play between the two. They both want each other, that much is clear, but is Will ready to come out of closet? Is Ollie ready to have a secret relationship? At times, both characters left me frustrated but they each have an epiphany over the course of the story and when it all plays out, it left me with a giant, cheesy grin on my face.
Sophie Gonzales absolutely captures the never-ending fluctuations of teenage emotions. The angst, drama, tension, and love are all tangible emotions on this roller-coaster. Aunt Linda’s cancer battle brings a heavy and serious side to an otherwise playful book. This brought both balance to the story but a touch of reality too. The novel was just a heartfelt read that I adored.
LINKS:
Goodreads | Amazon | Barnes & Noble
