"Only Mostly Devastated"

“Only Mostly Devastated”

Written by Sophie Gonzales

Reviewed by Diana Iozzia

“Only Mostly Devastated” is my favorite book from the romantic comedy genre that I have read this year so far. In such a genuine and wonderful way, Gonzales has recreated “Grease” into a modern version with two gay males replacing the roles of Sandy and Danny. We meet sweet and sheepish Ollie who has had a wonderful summer fling with Will. After Ollie must move to the same town as Will, he soon finds out that football star Will is not yet out of the closet. We also spend a large amount of the book learning about and seeing the interactions of their friends and family, which allows the story to feel very full and complete.

One of the main problems in both “Only Mostly Devastated” is the secret-keeping that both Danny and Will do. In “Grease”, Danny hides his attraction for Sandy, for whatever reason. Is it because she’s the new kid on the block or is she not cool enough? His peer pressure (which hardly seems to be there) allows him to only really fall for Sandy once she transforms herself and takes on a leather-donning, sexy persona. In “Only”, the main reason that Will does not want to announce his relationship with Ollie is due to fear of rejection and hatred from his friends and family. Will’s hesitation irks Ollie, but that’s not the only problem. Will wants to seem so straight that he will blow off Ollie, flirt with girls at parties, insult Ollie, and only speak to him when they can be alone. I can understand the hesitation to come out, but both Ollie and I cannot understand the deception. In one of the best moments of the book, Ollie spends four pages screaming at Will and fighting with him, in such an honest and heartbreaking way of standing up for himself. This was a fantastic moment and one of the best scenes like this that I’ve seen in teen books and films.

Ollie does not compromise his beliefs and his choices, due to the hopeful romance with Will. In defending himself and explaining to Will how he hurt Ollie, Ollie becomes a wonderful role model for any teen or adult who reads this. In a few different books I have read lately with gay characters, many of them had romance issues. In “What if it’s Us” by Adam Silvera, my favorite character, Arthur wants to stand up for himself, but he doesn’t really. The relationship ends in that, instead of becoming stronger with the characters confessing their true thoughts. In this, Ollie is triumphant, and what a great character he is for that.

As mentioned, prior, the characterization of the friends and family of this story is purely magical. Ollie’s Aunt Linda is very sick with cancer. Ollie’s mother, Linda’s older sister, takes care of her and spends most of the story trying to help Linda and her family stay together and supported for as long as possible. Ollie’s newfound friendship group includes Niamh, Juliette, and Lara. These friends are fantastically written. Niamh’s conflict includes her vying for attention from her busy boyfriend, so she is not the most involved character in the plot. Juliette begins the story as the typical “new kid’s tour guide / first friend” trope. Lara is an interesting character, as she is bisexual, but she is head over heels for her friend, Reagan and her ex-boyfriend. Lara is one of those tough characters, similar to Rizzo from “Grease”, who although has a rough exterior and spends most of her dialogue teasing Ollie, is the greatest friend character in the story. Her gentle and humble side are apparent in one beautiful scene involving a necklace.

In conclusion, there are just far too many wonderful aspects about this book. I was so utterly impressed by this author and her genuine story. Every character felt so real. None of the annoying tropes of this type of teen drama / romance were present, but the great, fun tropes were there. I really enjoyed this story, and this will absolutely be a new favorite. I cannot wait to see and read more from this author. I am so happy to have found this book.

I am so grateful to thank Wednesday Books, an imprint of St. Martin’s Press, for sending along this fantastic story in an advance review copy in exchange for reading and reviewing purposes. Thank you.