A review by justinlife
Only Mostly Devastated by Sophie Gonzales

emotional hopeful inspiring reflective sad slow-paced

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

4.25

I've been a sucker for cute covers recently and this take on the Grease story made me curious. You have the bones of the story- boy spends summer with boy, ends up at boys school, hijinks ensue. Having that base helped give Gonzalez room to re-envision some aspects of the story and make it queer. Here we have a first person narration that isn't self loathing. Oliver moves from California to North Carolina where his family was sharing the summer so his mom can be closer to her sick sister. Little does he know that the school he's attending is the one that his summer fling, Will attends. Will isn't out and a star basketball player.

It's fun to see her take the things we know from the movie and twist it and have fun giving it new directions. This was one of the better YA novels I've read. It was sweet, sentimental, appropriately sad, and the young adults felt fun to read. Gonzalez adds a lot to Ollie and gives him ample opportunities to work through the stress of death, mortality, and also self respect.

It's a really good read that I can see myself coming back to.