In his senior year, Ollie transfers to a new highschool. His summer fling Will, who Ollie thought he’d never see again, attends the same school. Will is popular and acts differently around his friends. While he initially ignores Ollie, Will begins to appear more in his life, confusing him. Meanwhile, Ollie makes new friends and struggles with a family situation.

Ollie is an interesting protagonist. He begins the story insecure, but gradually gains confidence. It took me longer to like Will, but he’s an interesting character as well. Their romance is cute.

While I won’t elaborate to not spoil the plot, the “family emergency” mentioned in the summary was handled well. The emotions of the characters were portrayed realistically.

I also liked how developed the side characters were, particularly Ollie’s friends Juliette, Lara, and Niamh. He had a unique dynamic with each girl, and they had their own individual problems to overcome.

Ollie’s personality shines through the narration. However, I didn’t find the writing style compelling because of the lack of detail. For example, settings aren’t described much and Ollie’s appearance is vague. My only other issue is that Ollie’s bandmates weren’t developed. However, the strong elements of the book outweigh the lacking areas.

Overall, I really liked this novel.

I do have a soft spot for high school romances, especially the one involving a coming-out story. Oh, not that I miss school days😬 . . . just prefer the adult life without the worries of exam grades and revisions. All the same, glad to receive a copy of this book through a wish in netgalley.
The novel progresses through the perspective of Ollie (yes, our devastated hero). Brave and caring, he manages to win our hearts from the very beginning. There are no usual teenage tantrums as we expect, instead, we are shown to the life of a mature boy (partly owing to his upbringing) who steps in to help his aunt in the time of need.
And that brings me to the next character: Aunt Linda. She may not have that many appearances, but her influence permeates throughout; some sad and some inspiring. It could be because I am on bed rest with a herniated disk that her plight drew me in. It is not anywhere near cancer, but she gave me the much-needed catharsis. There are sometimes in our lives, we are confronted with some unexpected and unsurmountable barriers, and that in turn make us realise how much we are going to miss some ordinary things. So the way Linda approached her deadly illness, reminds one of the importance of little things.
Will, Ollie's Disney prince, has his own demons to fight. Unlike his lover, his parents and friends are not open to his sexuality. His problems could be the usual ones, but the author way of dealing it is quite refreshing. Well, some scenes are quite unoriginal but that didn't stop me from shouting out with glee (internally, of course).
Altogether a beautiful, heartwarming story that will make you weep and smile till the blissful end. Surely something to mark your calendars for in 2020.

This Grease inspired story stars Ollie, a gay high school student who falls in love over his summer vacation with a local boy while visiting his ill aunt and her family in North Carolina. As his aunt's illness becomes more serious, the family decides to stay in N.C. for the school year. Unbeknownst to Ollie, his love interest attends the same high school that will become his new school. To complicate matters, Will, his summer love, has not yet told his family or his basketball buddies that he is gay. What unfolds is a coming of age story for Ollie, who learns about love, loss, friendship and the need to be good to oneself. While I didn't always love the comical tone that the author chose for the protagonist, and I sometimes wanted him to narrate less and emote a bit more, his struggles to belong are real, and anyone who has been a high school student that didn't always fit in will find a bit of oneself in Ollie.

I loved this book so much! As an avid lover of Grease, when I saw this book I was desperate to get my hands on it but also nervous because what if it didn’t live up to my expectations? Fortunately, it went above and beyond my expectations. I adored all of the characters, each one of them had flaws that were addressed which made them so likeable. The romance between Ollie and Will was great, and the story as a whole left we with a warm feeling in my heart. One thing I was not expecting was to cry like an absolute baby whilst reading this book! Ollie’s aunt having cancer brought lots of discussion of death and mourning which just got me and it’s very rare that I get so emotionally involved in a book to the point that I’m crying at 2am. So, overall I would recommend this book to absolutely everyone, it’s very sweet, the characters are infinitely loveable, and it definitely brings the indescribable Grease feeling.

There aren't many books that can make me laugh and cry within the span of 30 minutes, but this book sure did the trick. The story is told by Ollie, a 17 year old gay boy who had to move to North Carolina so his family can help with his aunt who has cancer. During the summer, he met Will and they had a very Grease-esque summer fling. Or more according to Ollie who stopped hearing from Will as soon as Will went back home. Ollie thought he was going to go back to California, but no such luck. His family moves and he begins his senior year at a new school. He meets some nice girls who immediately bring him into his circle. He goes to a party and lo and behold, who should be there but our disappearing Prince Charming - Will!

Ollie soon discovers that Will isn't out to not only his family but his friends as well, and acts like a general heterosexual douchebag when he's around his friends. Ollie makes his mission to forget Will and do his own thing which is join a punk band and become BFFs with Juliette, Lara, and Naihm. Lara has got her own stuff going on, so she's basically a bitch to everyone because that's her defense mechanism. At first you're not entirely sure about her, but as you read through the book, you learn more about her, and her and Ollie develop this understanding of each other. They aren't instant friends, but they soon warm up to each other, realize they have each other's backs, and form a very strong bond. Their friendship was one of my favorite things about this book. Well, Ollie and his friendships with the girls.

My favorite character was probably Aunt Linda, and I'm not going to go into too much detail about her. She kind of gives Ollie the kick in the ass he needs with regards to Will. He begins to realize towards the end that he has demanded a lot out of Will, but has not actually given. There's growth, and although we see it through Ollie's perspective, we can still see the changes in all the characters.

This book was genuinely a great book. It was funny, sweet, sad, and leaves you with this warm fuzzy feeling at the end. I loved the hell out of it, and I would definitely buy the physical copy once it's out. If you want a sweet contemporary romance along with great friendships and strong family bonds, this book is for you.

Thanks to NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for the ARC for an honest review.

I was not the biggest fan of this book. I did enjoy the author's writing style though so I believe that I will give her another chance.

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.

<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 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!