Though this book may not be in my lesson plans, I would love to have it on my classroom bookshelf for students, or recommend it to the high school book club I run. This book reminded me of Simon and the Homo Sapien Agenda, but I found the characters more enjoyable and endearing than Simon.

Ollie has a summer romance with Will while visiting his aunt, but then returns home across the country. When his family unexpectedly moves at the beginning of the school year to help his dying aunt and her family, Ollie is shocked to find out that WIll attends his new school...and he isn't out. Will and Ollie start up a quiet relationship, with Will literally shoving Ollie into closets when his friends come around. 

Here is what I like about this novel: the characters are very real and relatable. And though the love story is the center of the novel, there are a lot of other issues: dealing with a terminally ill family member,  making new friendships, standing up for oneself. There is even a character who is diagnosed with PCOS, and I was pretty excited to have that issue mentioned, even briefly. 

YA literature of the last few years has done a really nice job telling diverse stories, and this novel is no exception,

Ollie was such a fun, sweet and awkward protagonist. He’s a humorous, witty and adorable stud, very loving and caring towards the people around him. The inner turmoils Ollie has while figuring out how to deal with the whole Will situation was very well portrayed. Not only did one get to see how our protagonist feels, but also the reasonings for his love interest’s behavior. The way their relationship developed was packed with angst but also so many sweet and genuine moments. 

Besides Ollie’s romance, the focus also shifted to his family’s issues and the things his friends dealt with. His aunt is ill and those parts really hit you right in the gut. They were so heartbreakingly beautiful, and I loved how he took care of his cousins. The characters were drawn in depth. Ollie and the other teenagers are like what young adults are. They had miscommunications, made mistakes, felt regret but they made up. They emphasized and were always so supportive of one another.

I liked the pace of this book. Lots of things happened, but neither in a rushed or dragged way. I think it was a well balanced story with fluff, angst, friendship and love. Young confused people trying to figure out where they fit in. It gave me many laugh out moments while also tugging right at my heart. I loved the representation of the queer characters and the diversity of people in color and shapes. The book doesn’t stand out from anything else in this genre, but I still really enjoyed this story. It’s a smooth read and will leave you all smiley.

I really enjoyed this. It started out feeling very much like Queer Grease, but I'm glad it didn't follow the exact storyline. I really liked how the characters were developed and the resolution.

I'm seriously over the moon. This book is so good! Honestly, my hopes were really high because it looked so good. It WAY exceeded my expectations. Sophie Gonzales should be extremely proud of producing this masterpiece of a story. 

Plot-wise, absolutely perfect. It had just the right amount of everything; romance, friendship, family drama. 

Writing-wise, it was amazing. The whole time I was reading, it really felt like I was talking to Ollie (the protagonist). Amazing job!

Simon vs. the Homo Sapiens Agenda meets Clueless, inspired by Grease.

With all of the many, many dramatics of the straight friends in the book, I definitely got a "Simon vs. the Homo Sapiens Agenda" vibe from the story, no doubt.

But "Clueless" was extremely funny, which this book had its moments, but I didn't personally feel that humor played much of a role here. At least not constantly, like in "Clueless".

And "Grease"? Ummm, I didn't really feel that many Grease-like moments, but I'm not completely obsessed with that movie in the same adoring way that my hubby is. The boy has a problem, I'm telling you. heh

As the story began, it was Ollie's first day at a new school in North Carolina, then over the course of the story, we got flashbacks of a summer fling that he'd had with a local, closeted basketball player, Will, which seemed to end fine, only to be followed by a bout of extreme ghosting.

Will had expected the end of summer to also signal the end of their short relationship, but when Ollie enrolled at his new school, Will freaked out pretty badly, exactly as I'd figured he would. Talk about your chickens coming home to roost.

I liked both Will and Ollie, understanding all too well the predicament that they were in, but just like with "Simon vs. the Homo Sapiens Agenda", I had the same feeling that their friends' problems at least partially overshadows the *main* story in this M/M YA romance.

The one side plot that I was happy to include pages for was Ollie's aunt's cancer, and how Ollie stepped up to help with her kids. Every single page of that sub-plot felt genuine and packed with tons of emotion.

However, I could've honestly done without a few of the other side-plots with Ollie's new gal pals. Those parts felt long and drawn-out, making me want to skip pages until we got back to the romance.

The story had no steam, but finished with a very strong HFN, with the boys thankfully going (view spoiler), something that a lot of YA stories fail to end with, which never fails to piss me off.

Overall, the book made me smile and left me in a hopeful, upbeat mood, the main reason that I read YA to begin with, so I'd rate this one at around 3.5 stars and recommend it to YA readers looking for a manageable level of angst.

After a summer romance comes to an end, Oliver is ready to go home and lessen his heartache of WIll not calling him back. But when his aunt's health takes. a turn, he has to trade California for North Carolina and find his place a new school where WIll is totally avoiding him. 

I was expecting a sweet summer romance dealing with the realities of the school year. What Gonzales also wrote was an intense ride-or-die friendship in Oliver's new friend group, Grease-inspired pining, and the most realistic portrayal of watching someone die before your eyes from cancer. Her emphasis on the relationships Oliver has outside of WIll are given equal screentime and importance. This keeps Oliver well-rounded despite the rom-com situations he finds himself in and adds emotional depth to the story where everyone wants to be happy. Falling in love and applying for college can be tough, but it's relationships like these that will last forever. 

While it takes a while for Gonzales to find her footing, the emotional payoff with be worth it for fans of summer romance movies and Simon vs. The Homo Sapiens Agenda.

A digital copy has been provided by NetGalley. All opinions are my own.

5 swooning stars
For those who like: Becky Albertalli, John Green and LGBT+ YA in general.

WHAT A CLEVER BOOK. This isn't usually my first thought when I finish a YA book, but this has just too much great dialogues and monologues for me not to say it: very clever.

The characters were awesome, ever single one of them has depth, from the toddlers cousins to his parents. But my favorites were the teenagers, they were confused, adorable, made mistakes and had regrets just like every teenager irl usually is. Even if the final is a little rushed, I loved it so much that it didn't even matter.

I didn't skip the monologues at all, actually I was excited waiting for the next one, they were the greatest, the right measure of funny, smart, sassy and confused.

ARC provided by the publisher via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

*Spoiler free*

This book was pitched as queer Grease. I've never seen Grease and I barely even know what it's about. Yet, I was overwhelmed with the want to read this book. Queer inspired anything is something I'll jump on. Plus, it sounded adorable, with a good amount of angst thrown in there. I wanted to give it a shot! Trigger warnings: homophobia (called out), biphobia (called out), fatphobia (called out), cancer, grief

I adore this book with my entire heart. Seriously, I love it so, so much. It's packed full with fluff, but it also a good amount of angst, with lots of growth from complications that arises. It's real and it's painful at times, but it's really, really good.

Alright, I'm not quite sure where to start. Characters. I loved them. Ollie is freaking adorable. He's awkward and so sweet. He's just a really good guy. He loves music and he's always there to help out his family when they need him. I was surprised how much I loved Juliette, Lara, and Neihm. When they were introduced, I thought I was going to hate them. But, they really grew on me! Lara's snark and Juliette's lightness and Neihm in general was just awesome. Will was also such a great character. He's so different from Ollie, in his sexuality and the kind of person he is. I still loved him a lot, even if he was a jerk sometimes. He was figuring things out. I also loved Crista and Dylan, Ollie's little cousins! (His whole family was really great and I really enjoyed their characters even if they weren't a huge part of the book.) Though, I did have a hard time figuring out their ages, since their behavior was kind of all over the place. It was eventually mentioned though!

I sort of went into this book expecting a clear understand of the queer, dynamics I guess you could say? But I wasn't what I was expecting at all. Will is still firmly closeted, while Ollie is firmly out. It creates a lot of problems for them, especially since Will feels like he has to act a certain way to make sure he's not outed. For a bit, it kind of felt like Ollie was saying "what, are you ashamed of me?" but it wasn't that at all. Ollie didn't want to be treated like garbage. He wanted Will to be kind to him. Will wanted Ollie to understand that he felt like he had to act that way. It was all a grand miscommunication. And it was complicated. Both Ollie and Will had things they needed to work out. But, I really, really, really loved this complicatedness. Yes, give me queer characters figuring things out. Yes, give me stories like these. Plus, there was a side character trying to figure out where they fit in their bi-ness. It was just really queer and really great.

Ollie has a family member with cancer. I really enjoyed that plotline, as weird as that sounds. It showed more depth to his character and Crista and Dylan were adorable. I feel like this portrayed grief and family dynamics really well, even if it was painful to read.

I also really loved the growth for pretty much all the characters throughout the entire book. People made mistakes, they said things that were mean, but they learned from them. They wanted to do better and they wanted to be better friends.

Ollie and Will were adorable. There was a plus sized character and she wanted to be a model! There was amazing character development. There were so many absolutely hilarious jokes (seriously, this book is really funny). I just love this book a whole lot.

There is still a few months until Only Mostly Devasted is released but I really enjoyed it so I wanted to get my thoughts out right away! I read the whole thing in one sitting. I’ve seen people compare it to Grease but I’m probably one of the few people on earth that have never seen it before so I’m much sure about that. 

The premise didn't seemed super original… summer fling… closeted jock… but I really enjoyed Ollie and Will’s story.

Ollie spent the summer in North Carolina - and with Will - but when he ends up having to stay there for the upcoming school year, it doesn’t go as he hoped. Will is still in the closet and plans on staying that way. During all of that, Ollie’s aunt is very sick. It’s the reason that his family went to NC in the first place. So not only does he have to deal with Ollie avoiding him, making new friends, he is also dealing with family stuff. 

He does however, befriend a group of girls. Those girls happen to also be close with Will and his jock friends. He joins a band and things start looking up. 

I loved how all of their friends and family were supportive! I loved bi representation! Some POC characters! Ollie is white but Will is Venezuelan I believe, his friend Will is black. One of the girls is descibed as being plus sized. 

Yeah, it could be a little cliche at times, but it wasn’t a bad case here. Ollie and Will’s story was cute and funny.

Only Mostly Devastated by Sophie Gonzales is the story of boy meets boy over the summer at the lake in North Carolina. Ollie, our storyteller, is from California and thinks he’s going back to San Jose at the end of the summer. The intention is that they were just visiting his sick aunt and her family but when it’s time to go back, his family tells him they’re going to stay in North Carolina for his senior year of high school. Most people can relate to spending your senior year away from the people you grew up with. 

Gonzales started off giving me major Grease vibes with this one. After the summer, Ollie starts school and immediately meets the “Pink Ladies” or the rose necklace girls. It turns out, Will, Ollie’s love interest from the summer, goes to the same school even though he lives outside of town and is apart of the “T Birds” or basketball player group. As I kept reading, the Grease vibes went away but it was a fun start. We learn that while Ollie grew up in California and has been out of the closet for years, Will’s family and friends think he’s straight. This really is your typical “jock-doesn’t-want-to-come-out-of-the-close- and-thinks-his-family-will-judge” story. Don’t get me wrong though it was absolutely adorable. 

The story is told going back and forth between present-day Ollie and giving excerpts from his time over the summer with Will. I loved the relationship Ollie had with his cousins that he babysits since their mom is sick. Then we learn about how tender and kind Will is with the younger cousins and you can’t help but want to fall in love with Will too.

Look, was it a predictable teenage romance? Yes. But, did it hit all of my emotions? Yes. I smiled through most of this novel. I was reading it on a plane, and at one point I had to prevent myself from sobbing in public. Sophie Gonzales does an amazing job of telling a beautiful story of friendship, family, and love. I enjoyed it from start to finish. It honestly reminded me a lot of a YA Hallmark movie. I would recommend picking this one up when it comes out in March!

<b>I CANNOT EXPRESS HOW MUCH I LOVE THIS BOOK! 😍❤️💖</B>

I requested this book from Netgalley for one reason - it is branded as an LGBT version of Grease! Instantly I thought, 'How can that not be great?!'. I was lucky enough to get this on a wish (TU Netgalley gods!) and oh boy was I right! It was so great, so sweet, so nostalgic but still so fresh. I am all out fangirl-ing for this one!! I only have one thing to say - get your hands on this as soon as you can!! 😍😍

<blockquote><i><b>"All I'd needed was a Destiny's Child song playing as an overture and it would've been the greatest "screw you" since Rhett Butler in Gone With the Wind." 
- Ollie </b></i></blockquote>

<B>❤️ THE THINGS I LOVED ❤️</b>

<u>Grease</u>: One of my all time favourite movies is Grease, it always takes me back and makes me happy. I absolutely love how this book drew on the overall concept of Grease and how it was, in many ways, delightfully recognisable. You could identify the different characters in this book with the movie cast and certain scenes are reminiscent of the original. But is was still a story all on its own and that was amazing!

<u>LGBT</u>: There are too few LGBT books out there that truly represent what it's like to be LGBT (I am bi, myself). But I absolutely loved the different representations in this book, the closeted, the openly out and the confused. It felt like a very real representation and it really hit home for me over and over again ❤️

<u>Ollie!</u>: OMG if it wasn't because he was gay I would totally fall in love with Ollie! He was so amazingly sweet, adorable and awkward, he had my heart from the first moment! I was rooting for him right from the start!

<blockquote><i><b>"Note to self: carry bass around everywhere and break into impromptu solo whenever anyone tries to force you into conversation."
- Ollie</b></i></blockquote>

<u>LOL</u>: I am usually not the person who says - or writes - LOL but this book just embodies that phrase so well! There were so many passages that honestly had me laughing out loud, it was so amazing. I mean, I can get a good chuckle going usually, but actually laughing is rare for me.

Was this a bit cliché? 100%. Did I love it anyway? Absolutely. 

“Only Mostly Devastated” finds Ollie sticking around North Carolina just long enough to watch his summer romance turn sour as his first day of school finds him in class with Will who quickly shuts down any chance of continuing it further. With Ollie trying to navigate a new school, friends and his aunt’s deteriorating health he can’t help but wish that he can lean on his old flame but with prejudice, parental expectations and the fear that comes with acknowledging your true self that wish appears to belong to a fairy tale and not high school. 

This book is cute and there’s plenty of angst that all seems to hit your typical notes for a high school romance piece with the only reach connection to Grease being that of the summer lovin’ which was fine but I guess I expected a little bit more from that selling point. 

The best parts of the book came from Ollie, Will and Lara as they tried to deal with their own secrets and come to terms with their identities while acknowledging their faults and trying to make up for it as the story progressed which managed to ripple outside of that trio and into the core group.  

This book is sweet and I enjoyed it but it doesn’t offer up anything new to make it stand out from any other in the genre. 

**special thanks to the publishers and netgalley for providing an arc in exchange for a fair and honest review**

4.5
First of all, I love that cover. 
Second of all, I really enjoyed this. Like a lot. I laughed, I cried and most importantly I connected with Ollie. I went through two stages through out the book, the first one (around 80 pages in) was "I think this will be a good book but it will be plain and I will forget the characters as soon as I finish" and boy was I wrong. The second one was "Ollie, I'm with you through thick and thin."

TW Homophobia (called out), biphobia (called out), fatphobia (called out), family member with cancer.

What I liked:
- The "coming out" conflict through out the book. I think Gonzales touched a lot of gray areas that we don't usually think about or see. The having to come out every time you meet someone, pressure from your partner to come out, pressure from your partner to stay hidden, what coming out means for oneself, etc. Areas that are more evident in Will's and Ollie's fight. 
- The Grease elements. They were enough to remind me of the movie but it was never overwhelming.
- The character development. This goes for every single character in the girls/Ollie and boys group. From Ollie understanding Will and his needs better without demeaning himself to the girls accepting themselves (plus sized, bisexual, not accepted into uni) to the boys and their homophobic talk. 
- The diversity
-It felt real. Ollie arriving to a new school and being awkward and having to go months before he really felt part of the group, the girls' worries...

What I felt was missing: 
- The relationship with his parents, I don't think it was a bad one I just felt there was a confrontation missing. 
- His friends from Cali suddenly disappeared which I get it, there's distancing when you move out. I would just have liked a little bit more consistency through out the book on that and not just at the end. 

Overall, I recommend this 100% It's a book with important topics, heavy topics but it feels lighter. It has humor, it has love, self discovery and I have to say it again I loved all the characters but Gonzales made me connect with Ollie in a different level. I felt frustrated when he was frustrated, I felt the adults being adults with him and I understood his POV and just wanted him to be happy. I'm really grateful for the opportunity of reading and reviewing this.

Review copy provided by the publisher, via NetGalley.

4.5 stars! This was a fast, engaging read that left me with a huge smile and a happy sigh - something I look forward to in my romances. The Grease comparison was very apt but I don't think the Simon comparisons were myself as this character is out from the very beginning and never tries to hide that.

I don't want to overdo the Grease comparison because this is definitely its own story that uses the premise as a starting point. But...I always hated how Grease seems to imply that Sandy was wrong for being 'nice' and 'pure' and that she could only be happy by totally changing who she was. Yes, Danny tried to change for her but I the end it's his lifestyle that 'wins'. This book does a much better job of showing that relationships are about listening and respecting those differences and supporting each other in his times and bad. The journey to those realizations is realistic and very well done. 

There is also an emphasis on the importance of family that I really enjoyed. Ollie's family stays in NC (enabling the plot) because his aunt has cancer. The family dynamic is only a background element but the love and grieving and difficulty of their situation is definitely not ignored. Ollie mentioned a few times that the adults were not telling him everything and that he had to watch the kids. There was even a scene where Ollie had to the the kids away from the hospital instead of spending more time with his sick aunt and the rest of the family. I would have liked to see more explored about him feeling left out or even resentful about the time he was missing with her, but that never came up.

That's my only criticism though and it's a pretty minor one. I would highly recommend this!

<i>I received a digital advanced reader copy of this book from Netgalley. Thank you!</i>

High school romance novel with a different set of heros.  In the beginning, the story was quite reminiscent of Grease and was thinking it was going to be a fluff book.  As the book developed, the depth of characters was quite developed with none of the main characters feeling flat.  The characters exhibited personal growth and understanding that was well-thought out and developed.  What sets this story apart from most LGBT+ novels is that there is more to it than the "coming out" story.  There is love, loss, acceptance of self and others that all play important parts.  

I applaud Ms. Gonzales for writing a novel that lets readers know there is more to the LGBT+ literature spectrum than just characters figuring how to tell people they are gay or that gay characters must be fat and FABULOUS!

This book was A.D.O.R.A.B.L.E.! It was cute and funny and angsty and even sad in parts. I enjoyed it thoroughly from start to finish! 

This book had a lot of diversity without trying too hard. There were a lot of different characters that were all very well rounded without being overwhelming. And the story was so freaking cute! 

Summer romance by the lake turns into a one sided radio silence. When Ollie, who was supposed to go hole to California, stays, instead, in North Carolina, he enters his senior in a new school. There, he meets a cast of new faces: a trio of popular girls who befriend him pretty quickly, a group of letterman jacket wearing jocks, a new band to join... and Will, his summer romance. But Will, who ghosted him just weeks ago, pretty much ignores him. On top of all of this, his aunt has cancer and he is helping take care of his young cousins. 

He has to maneuver through new friendships, a boy he really cares about who isn’t “out” yet and family stuff... and being with him through the journey is so satisfying. His internal thoughts are hilarious! And the females in this book are seriously strong-minded. I cannot to see what Sophie comes out with next. She has a super-fan in me!

A queer ya novel reminiscent of Grease, Only Mostly Devastated follows Ollie as his fond memories of summer romance come to a startling end when he unexpectedly goes to the school of his fling - only to find out that Will is still closeted. What seems at first glance like a beach read is actually surprisingly thoughtful (dealing with issues such as grief, homophobia, misogyny, bi-phobia, anxiety, and fat shaming) and while the ending was slightly stereotypical, I still found myself cheering for that very same ending to happen. 

A special thank you to Netgalley for providing me with a free advanced copy of this book in exchange for my honest opinion.

Grease, but make it good

I was a little torn going into this because it has a weird combination of things I like and things I don't. Retellings? Love em. Grease the musical? Keep it away from me. High school contemporaries? Sometimes, maybe, if you do it well.

Suffice it to say, I was pleasantly surprised by Only Mostly Devastated.

The story follows Ollie as he spends the summer in North Carolina with his family to be there for a terminally ill Aunt, and ends up staying there for the year. After their summer fling, Will ghosts him as soon as the two separate, but the two soon reconnect as Ollie starts senior year at a new school.

This book was a charming, quick read that left me absolutely satisfied. Gonzales took all of the parts of Grease that I hated and, in modernizing the story, smoothed them over and allowed me to enjoy myself. Ollie and Will's relationship isn't necessarily ~cute~ in the way you might expect from a contemporary romance, but it feels real, and the development of that relationship (and consequently of the two as people) was engaging and, of course, heartwarming in the end.

So much of Grease is about, obviously, these two messy, entangled friend groups, which I think Gonzales did pretty well. In sticking only with Ollie's perspective we focus significantly more on his friends rather than Will's which I did not mind one bit since all of Will's friends were pretty obnoxious. By focusing on just one friend group, though, those relationships and characters were explored more deeply, and I really enjoyed them. Lana, in particular, was probably my favorite character (although that's definitely just because I related to her the most).

All in all, Only Mostly Devastated succeeded in everything it set out to do. I was never frustrated or bored while reading, and in fact, rushed through a few aspects of my day today in order to finish it sooner.

I stayed up until 1 am finishing this book because it was so good. Yes, it's a queer retelling of Grease, in a way, but this book also has the realest, most gut-wrenching depiction of grief that I've ever read. 

Ollie is a California transplant staying in North Carolina for the summer because his aunt is terminally ill. He meets and falls in love with Will, and when they say goodbye at the end of the summer, both of them think that's it. But Ollie has to stay in North Carolina, and when he enrolls in school, he's startled to discover to find Will in his grade, but not the Will he remembers from the summer. This Will is a closeted jock who is apparently over his summer fling. But then Will starts showing up everywhere where Ollie is, but who is the real Will? Ollie has to deal with the grief of losing a family member, fitting into a new school, and seeing if he and Will still have a chance at happiness. Ollie is so funny, and I found myself laughing at loud, and then crying a lot later on. Highly recommended!

**Thank you  Netgalley ‘**

I looked forward to reading this one as Grease was one of my favorite classic movies. I felt the Grease vibe in the beginning which did capture my interest in the book, yet this may be just not me as the target group. I expect this to be aimed at a really young YA/teen reader. 

I liked the story overall and found it interesting, fun and lots of positive messages. I felt there were way too many extra side characters added as just fillers, Ollie was a sweet character, he made all these new friends, yet had a life - a band and great friends from California that he was so disappointed to leave. Then we hear nothing about them ever again, then his new band and the members are also felt like fillers, no real conversation or connections. 

Will...I never had a real sense of him or his real connection to Ollie. For me he was flat,  

Personal grievances aside fun light cute.