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thespinalstack 's review for:
Only Mostly Devastated
by Sophie Gonzales
“Here walks Ollie DeFiore. Master of his feelings, expert detacher, only mostly devastated."
5/5 stars!
So, I’ve never seen Clueless, though supposedly this is like that, but I have seen most of Grease and this is definitely like that, except better and gayer, better because it is gayer. What this does, is take a story people already know and love and adds layers of humor and complexity onto the story making it even more fun and layered.
So you’ve got Ollie, who’s first of all, adorable. He’s also really funny, loyal, and a good friend. He’s also no where near perfect and I thought that was probably the best thing about him. Even though, he was not this character i could just adore and love, he felt more like a real person, someone you could get frustrated with and have to work through and at the end of the day, still love him.
Will was very similar in that he could be a real jerk. In some of their fights, I didn’t agree completely with either one of them. That felt awesome to me because it just showed that the book really understands tensions within the lgbtqia community. The book was also really able to demonstrate that it understands the contemporary lgbt experience. There’s more and more people who aren’t deathly afraid of coming out and those who are have reasons that go way beyond the fear of being discriminated against.
I loved that the book included more lgbt characters than just Ollie and Will because that’s more realistic than the alternative. And you also get to see a variety of experiences within one book. I think it’s really important to show how lgbt people are with each other in platonic relationships because it’s not something I see all the time.
The book also did a really awesome job of showing how important allyship is. The positive effects that it has on the entire community and why allyship isn’t just this title you have. It’s a way to behave, a way to support without saying “I support you”. It’s demonstrative and it’s crucial to show out loud even when you think there aren’t any queer people around you.
As much as this book teaches, it also is a lot of fun. This book was funny and had lots of great moments. It also did have moments of drag where I was thinking “this is cute and all, but what’s the purpose of it?”. Not that I’m complaining about frivolous fun, but I felt like maybe somethings weren’t totally necessary. But nevertheless, it was a lot of fun to read and really easy to get through.
And also, this book was also pretty darn romantic. Like- really adorably romantic. I was obviously was rooting for Ollie and Will the whole time, even when they made it hard. But when they had their moments, they were really good! It was really awesome to see these characters that were unique and didn’t feel like I’ve heard this story a million times.
TL;DR: The aesthetic of this book was able to give off Grease high school vibes, but fill that space with its own authenticity and flair. The book is very funny, romantic, and incredibly poignant, like a balm for the scars your high school experience left you.
E-galley provided by Netgalley and St. Martin Press in exchange for an honest review. All quotations and opinions are based off an uncorrected proof.
5/5 stars!
So, I’ve never seen Clueless, though supposedly this is like that, but I have seen most of Grease and this is definitely like that, except better and gayer, better because it is gayer. What this does, is take a story people already know and love and adds layers of humor and complexity onto the story making it even more fun and layered.
So you’ve got Ollie, who’s first of all, adorable. He’s also really funny, loyal, and a good friend. He’s also no where near perfect and I thought that was probably the best thing about him. Even though, he was not this character i could just adore and love, he felt more like a real person, someone you could get frustrated with and have to work through and at the end of the day, still love him.
Will was very similar in that he could be a real jerk. In some of their fights, I didn’t agree completely with either one of them. That felt awesome to me because it just showed that the book really understands tensions within the lgbtqia community. The book was also really able to demonstrate that it understands the contemporary lgbt experience. There’s more and more people who aren’t deathly afraid of coming out and those who are have reasons that go way beyond the fear of being discriminated against.
I loved that the book included more lgbt characters than just Ollie and Will because that’s more realistic than the alternative. And you also get to see a variety of experiences within one book. I think it’s really important to show how lgbt people are with each other in platonic relationships because it’s not something I see all the time.
The book also did a really awesome job of showing how important allyship is. The positive effects that it has on the entire community and why allyship isn’t just this title you have. It’s a way to behave, a way to support without saying “I support you”. It’s demonstrative and it’s crucial to show out loud even when you think there aren’t any queer people around you.
As much as this book teaches, it also is a lot of fun. This book was funny and had lots of great moments. It also did have moments of drag where I was thinking “this is cute and all, but what’s the purpose of it?”. Not that I’m complaining about frivolous fun, but I felt like maybe somethings weren’t totally necessary. But nevertheless, it was a lot of fun to read and really easy to get through.
And also, this book was also pretty darn romantic. Like- really adorably romantic. I was obviously was rooting for Ollie and Will the whole time, even when they made it hard. But when they had their moments, they were really good! It was really awesome to see these characters that were unique and didn’t feel like I’ve heard this story a million times.
TL;DR: The aesthetic of this book was able to give off Grease high school vibes, but fill that space with its own authenticity and flair. The book is very funny, romantic, and incredibly poignant, like a balm for the scars your high school experience left you.
E-galley provided by Netgalley and St. Martin Press in exchange for an honest review. All quotations and opinions are based off an uncorrected proof.