Reviews with content warning for Cancer - Only Mostly Devastated

A retelling of sorts of Grease, but so much better. And I love Grease. But let's be honest, most of us who love it, does so because of the music and dancing. This novel doesn't have the soundtrack, (it should!) but it does have a more layered, cute and gripping story.

The novel deals with heavy topics such as coming out, being outed, fear of not being accepted by your friends and family, terminal illness and loss. But also lighter topics as fitting in at a new school, summer flings that might be more, friendships and just being young.

The characters are diverse and far from perfect. You know I love flawed characters. It just makes them feel real. The LGBTQIA+ representation is really good too.

It's a quick read. It made me laugh and cry, sometimes at the same time.

Content Warnings

kaitielou's review against another edition

Go to review page

emotional funny hopeful sad medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.5

Content Warnings

aj_22's review against another edition

Go to review page

emotional funny hopeful inspiring lighthearted reflective sad fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.75

Content Warnings

violet_pages's review against another edition

Go to review page

emotional funny lighthearted sad fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.75

Content Warnings

whatiskatelynreading's review against another edition

Go to review page

funny lighthearted sad tense slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.0

CW: homophobia, outing, fatphobia, cancer, PCOS

I really wanted to love this book, like really wanted to. I kept reading hoping to find that thing, that piece of it that makes everyone on booksta say they loved it, but that didn’t happen for me.

Sold as a “Grease” inspired story about two queer boys who have a passionate summer fling and then realize they’re at the same school after a cross-country move, I was fully prepared for this to be a sunny summer favorite. But unfortunately, this one isn’t for me.

I found the relationship between the main character and the love interest to be really toxic and I didn’t even want them to be together. It’s clear that Will isn’t ready to come out, which is fine and it’s not right of Ollie to keep expecting him to make this big sweeping romantic public gesture, but it/ also clear that Will totally disrespects Ollie in public over and over again. Ollie deserved better and Will deserved to be able to explore his sexuality on his own timeline.

Another issue I had with this book was the entire “arc” for the character Niamh. Niamh aims to be a model, and is a plus-sized side character who experiences lots of fatphobic comments in this book. We see snippets of her dieting and her exercise obsession, to the point where she’s foggy and dazed in conversations, and the author explains it all away with a little thing called PCOS. As someone with Poly-Cystic Ovarian Syndrome, I think it’s important to note that it can look really different from person to person and that diagnosis isn’t always easy. Niamh’s declaration that she has PCOS and that’s why she can’t lose weight and so she’s decided to be a plus sized model doesn’t ring out like the body-positive battle cry I think it was meant to, but rather felt like a bandaid solution to her character’s struggle by explaining away her weight as a medical condition. It felt like a poorly developed attempt to make every side character have a “thing”. I thought it was not only totally unnecessary to the plot but also really disheartening. Why did we see all the terrible comments they made to Niamh and watch her get hurt over and over only to have her big moment be to say “I medically can’t lose weight so don’t comment on it anymore”. Don’t comment on it period! This moment kind of ruined the book for me.

I’m sure this book was a lighthearted romp for a lot of people, and I’m happy for you if it was, but that just wasn’t my experience with it.

Content Warnings

johannawuhu's review against another edition

Go to review page

emotional funny lighthearted

Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes

4.0

This was sooo cute and sweet!!

Such an easy read and pretty easy to get invested in.

Really loved all the side characters too and Will and Ollie were really cute together.

I don‘t like the whole one person out/one person closeted thing in books that much, but obviously it‘s a very real experience. I felt like this was done pretty well and I liked Lara‘s whole journey a lot, too!!

It was a little cliche that everyone ended up together, but I‘ll accept it.

I will say that the conflict resolution was a little out of nowhere, though. There was a build up but it was over in like 3 seconds.

Also Ollie choosing NC state? Like bestie you‘ve known these people for a year calm down.

I liked Niamh‘s story with PCOS, it felt a tiny bit forced but I think it‘s important to talk about.

Linda‘s story made me absolutely SOB omg I was not ready.

This is a very solid 4 stars for me and I‘m excited to read the author‘s other book(s)

Content Warnings

getbrekked's review against another edition

Go to review page

emotional funny lighthearted sad fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.75

Content Warnings

lizziealex's review against another edition

Go to review page

funny hopeful slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.0

Oillie deserved better than Will. This book would have been something I would have really appreciated in high school though.

The bisexual representation in this book in the form of Lara and Will was really nice, though. It wasn't a big deal and no one really gave either of them grief.

Content Warnings

More...