Book Review: Only Mostly Devastated

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Rating: 5 out of 5.

Title: Only Mostly Devastated
Author: Sophie Gonzales
Genre/s and Tags: Young Adult, Contemporary, Romance, Romcom, LGBTQ+ rep, Gay MC, Bisexual MC, POC cast
Content Warnings: Terminal illness, familial death, mild homophobia, mild biphobia, a lot of angst lol
Goodreads synopsis:

SIMON VS. THE HOMO SAPIENS AGENDA meets CLUELESS in this boy-meets-boy spin on Grease

Summer love…gone so fast.

Will Tavares is the dream summer fling―he’s fun, affectionate, kind―but just when Ollie thinks he’s found his Happily Ever After, summer vacation ends and Will stops texting Ollie back. Now Ollie is one prince short of his fairy tale ending, and to complicate the fairy tale further, a family emergency sees Ollie uprooted and enrolled at a new school across the country. Which he minds a little less when he realizes it’s the same school Will goes to…except Ollie finds that the sweet, comfortably queer guy he knew from summer isn’t the same one attending Collinswood High. This Will is a class clown, closeted―and, to be honest, a bit of a jerk.

Ollie has no intention of pining after a guy who clearly isn’t ready for a relationship, especially since this new, bro-y jock version of Will seems to go from hot to cold every other week. But then Will starts “coincidentally” popping up in every area of Ollie’s life, from music class to the lunch table, and Ollie finds his resolve weakening.

The last time he gave Will his heart, Will handed it back to him trampled and battered. Ollie would have to be an idiot to trust him with it again.

Right? Right.

This book was one of the my most anticipated releases for the first half of 2020. And earlier this month, I finally got my hands on a physical copy!

Only Mostly Devastated is the perfect YA queer romcom fix I needed. With summer romance, HSM vibes, and a whole lot of angst, this book is a great read.

My thoughts on Only Mostly Devastated

This book was just a breath of fresh air! It was the perfect YA romcom novel I’ve been craving for lately. It was funny and cute, but it was also sad and heartfelt. I couldn’t help but get into the emotions of the main character and relate to him. Surprisingly, this book was also full of angst, and I remember being so emotional early on in the book! Deadpan humor was also laced in the writing which was so good!

The characters were also captivating, and not just the major characters, but also the minor characters. I liked their individual character arcs, especially Lara’s (I spent a great deal of the first of half of the book hating her, and then by the end, I was rooting for her). I loved that these minor characters were not just there for the sake of it, but they were there and they had their own stories going. Will and Ollie were great major characters, and I believed in them and felt for them. The romance? Oh, how I loved it. It was full of angst, and fluff, and just a whole lot of feelings and I loved that.

The plot, though it was simple, was still very exciting and very poignant. We see Ollie overcome personal traumas and have self-realizations throughout the book. And of course, the minor characters’ stories also provided something in terms of the plot.

I also love how this book acknowledged several real life issues. It was such a pleasant surprise! It tackled topics including biphobia, girls with PCOS (polycystic ovary syndrome), men’s gross and unnecessary fetishization of lesbians and bisexual women, outing someone against their will, a girl choosing her career over a guy, and more! This was just so brilliantly done for me.

Overall, I think Only Mostly Devastated is a great YA romcom novel if you’re looking for something cute and sweet to enjoy.

Quotes from the book 

​I fled. I fled like a bigot dodging the concept of equality.

​​“​​There’s something about music, don’t you think? It makes everything feel so much easier, and nicer.”

“She’s bisexual. If she’s with a girl that doesn’t make her a lesbian. She’s still bi no matter who she’s dating.”

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Buy Only Mostly Devastated

Amazon | Book Depository | Bookshop

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So, I don’t know why it took me two weeks to write this review. It’s probably because I’ve been feeling kind of stressed lately because of personal stuff. But it’s here now, so yay!

Have you nerds read this book yet? What did you think? Tell me in the comments!