Only Mostly Devastated A Novel

czegoś brakowało ale still dużo komfortu mi dała

6 Unexpectedly very funny! It falters while trying to blend in ideas about existentialism and uncertainty but still manages to pull it off surprisingly well in the end. Some of the internal monologue of the main character exposes a lot of nuance -- the mental knots, while not untied because that's not the point, are analyzed so well. It was very cathartic to read about problems that I've never been able to put into words myself.

Every time I pick up a YA book, I realize I'm growing out of the genre, more and more. However, they always make for very cute and adorable reads. I had to read this synopsis a couple of times before being sold to this history, but I'm glad it did. Although I'm a bit too grown for this story, I think every teenager should read it. It tackles very important topics and gives a good insight on how to approach them and understand them, especially regarding sexual orientation topics as this is, after all, a lgbtqia+ story. Ollie is a great narrator and stupidly funny. You will laugh out loud with the way his brain works.

"It'll get easier. That's the beautiful thing about the universe. It puts you through trials, but it never gives you anything you can't handle. We grow from these things." there are many reasons this could have earned a lower rating from me - not my kind of writing style, kind of a slow start. But ultimately I bumped it to a four because I loved the representation of this book and the examination of the two characters behaviour and how equally this novel showed the strengths and flaws of both the main character and love interest. full review to come on Monday on my blog

cuteeee

Maybe more of a 2.5 ☆ Okay, let's get this straight: I really expected to love this book, because it sounded like the cute fluffy romance I needed right now. It judt wasn't it. I couldn't connect to any of the characters at all, none of the revelations was in the slightest surprising, the romance was way too flat. And Will just acted like a douche way more than he had to. Also, the total lack of trigger warnings really pissed me off. Cancer and death of a loved one were central themes in the book and no one ever mentioned it anywhere in the synopsis, which for me is a real no-go.

your typical gay romance but make it boring. i went into this looking for something different i guess or romances just don't work for me anymore. i don't know. i just didn't care for Will so much, hated how treated Ollie, didn't like Ollie for not taking a stand for himself sooner and most importantly I just wasn't rooting for them enough because I DIDN'T SEE THEIR RELATIONSHIP GROW?? they already had wtv it was before the story starts and we see only see bits and pieces here and there and that just isn't enough for me.

3.5⭐️

3.5 Cute LGBTQ+ YA romance novel. Nothing incredibly groundbreaking or things like that, but it’s exactly what you need it to be.

Ok so I LOVED this book. When I was picking out a quick read from my huge stack of library books, this one called to me and I'm so glad that it did because it was really the story that I needed to hear. I was really grateful that there were several journeys happening in the book, that the focus wasn't simply on one stereotypical plot line. I also loved how every person in a relationship learned something from the relationship and it wasn't just one person completely changing themselves to be with another. Both people had to work on themselves and on how they treated their significant other, and the message that it sent was incredible.

5/5 starts. Loved this so much (no spoilers, I guess) I just finished this book and I’m so mad at people, why is this story so underrated? It didn’t make me cry like what other people said it would, but made my emotions flow like crazy and I loved every single character even though I kinda hated Lara and Matt at the start. The point is, this book shows a lot about how hard it is to come out to people, fearing that they are going to change their mind because of who you are. It also talks about learning how relationships work and correction your behavior. Talks about family and its influence in the kids life, and how hard life is in general. Also talks about real friendships, and how changing your life is hard. It’s an amazing book, and it should get the recognition it deserves. I didn’t have any high hopes for it until I felt connected with Ollie and Will at the same time. Amazing and cute characters, and I wish I could see more of it.

What a cute story! I loved the entire cast, especially Ollie and all of his supportive friends. Only Mostly Devastated is a super feel good story that you can't help but love. It's a light-read, perfect for times like these. Something that really stood out to me was the diversity, not only in characters, but in the important topics being talked about, such as sexuality (not only Ollie's but another character, whom I enjoyed meeting so much), a woman of color dreaming of becoming a plus-sized model, and fat-shaming. All of these were handled with grace, poise, and eloquence. I'm definitely looking forward to reading more by this author!

That was awful 😭 I loved it! My poor heart. It's been so long since it broke like this.

I enjoyed this... but i feel like i wanted to see more of Will and Ollie's relationship... I felt all the emotions while reading this, and the romance was really cute.

AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH IT WAS SO GOOD

“Sometimes in life, terrible things happen. And sometimes really, really amazing things happen. And sometimes, those things all kind of happen at once”⁣ ⁣ 𝐀𝐛𝐨𝐮𝐭: Ollie and Will were meant to be a summer fling - casual, fun, and done. But when Ollie’s aunt’s health takes a turn for the worse and his family decides to stay in North Carolina to take care of her, Ollie let’s himself hope this fling can grow to something more. Dreams are crushed when he sees Will at a school party and finds that the sweet and affectionate guy he knew from summer isn’t the same one attending Collinswood High. ⁣ ⁣ I was immediately hooked from the first page. The way Sophie Gonzales writes and tells the story just had me laughing out loud and feeling all the highs and lows that the characters go through. ⁣ ⁣ The whole time I was reading this I could clearly picture it in my mind like a movie (I secretly hope it becomes one 🤞🏽🤞🏽). I really loved the character development especially in Ollie. I will definitely be reading more from this author and recommending this one to others!⁣ ⁣ I really hope you all will get to read this soon! It’s a 4.5/5 ⭐️ from me!

I was immediately here for a queer Grease retelling and this didn't disappoint. I definitely loved seeing the parallels and call backs to the original film. But the thing that really drew me into this book was the discussion that runs throughout it about what a healthy relationship looks like. Anyone who's seen Grease probably knows that Sandy and Danny's relationship is pretty unhealthy; Danny especially pulls a lot of bullshit that hurts Sandy a lot. And that dynamic is recreated here with the caveat that Ollie and Will both realize eventually that this isn't a healthy relationship dynamic and that if they want a relationship to work they need to communicate better and be more open with each other about what they want and need from each other. It was just so refreshing to see a book really talk about how we can hurt other people, whether we meant to or not and what we need to do to address our mistakes. That's just such an important lesson for teenagers especially who are just starting to have romantic relationships to learn and I'm so happy that a book like this is available. I want everyone to pick it up and really think about how they act in their relationships, both romantic and platonic. I will add a warning that a major subplot deals with cancer and grief so be careful if that's triggering for you.

** spoiler alert ** I really liked this book, it was such a fun and heartwarming read. I knew I had to read it when I saw that it was inspired by Grease, because I love that movie. This is basically a modern LGBTQA+ version of it! I do wish there had been more romantic moments between Ollie and Will, it was very will they won’t they, but I still loved their relationship. I knew it would be a slow burn going into it, because of the Grease theme, but I couldn’t help but want things to happen faster. I’m impatient😂 All of the characters were so likeable (most of the time😂) and I loved the friendships between them. They felt very realistic, with the ups and downs and the awkwardness of making new friends. By the end of the book I loved all the characters, except for Ollie’s old friends. It kind of felt like they were just forgotten about after he moved and it didn’t make a lot of sense. This book does discuss some heavy topics, like grief and death, but it still managed to be a light and fun read. If you love Grease like me, you definitely need to pick up a copy of this!

comfort book

** spoiler alert ** just some (pointless) thoughts this was really cute, and honestly exactly what i was hoping it would be!! it was mostly lighthearted with some family issues thrown in, but it was the perfect escape. i'd give it a 4.5 since it was cute and sweet, but not amazing enough to be 5 stars (sorry) but it's still worth more than 4 stars! my favorite part might have been the unexpected wlw rep?? i think it's important for books focused on mlm romances to still include wlw characters because we love to see that solidarity!!!! anyway this was just really cute and i really appreciated the little aspects of the story that were similar to grease since i kinda love that stupid musical... it was fun to see it reimagined for the modern day. ok that's it. go read the book.

I absolutely loved this book. This is one of the better YA books i’ve read recently, with the cute, dorky, adorable Ollie narrating the story. He’s funny and relateable, you can’t help but love him and root for him. This book should be on every single “best book” list of 2020.

Sometimes in life, terrible things happened. And sometimes really, really amazing things happened. And sometimes, those things all kind of happened at once. WE NEED HALF STARS, GOODREADS. This is more a 2.5 for me than a 2, but c'est la vie. Only Mostly Devastated follows Ollie, who, after visiting his sick aunt in North Carolina for the summer and having a summer romance there with a boy named Will, ends up moving to NC so he and his family can stay close to her as she gets worse. This was a cute story. Well.. it had its cute moments. Honestly, I've been on a teen YA romance kick lately and, after reading some pretty great stories (including one from the same author, Sophie Gonzales called Perfect on Paper), this fell strictly middle of the pack. Nothing special. Not something I would read again, and not something I'll really remember after I write this review. I won't pretend to know or understand the queer teen experience. I'm sure there's a lot of authenticity to Will and his fear of coming out, to Ollie having to sneak around to be with the guy he likes. And I'm sure, with all of Will's fears, a lot of his behaviour made sense ie. (view spoiler)[ignoring Ollie at school, getting close with his ex when his friends start to suspect, not speaking up when his friends make homophobic jokes (hide spoiler)] but that doesn't mean I liked it . I was frustrated with Will. I was frustrated with Ollie. I didn't understand Lara's brattiness ((view spoiler)[ and yes, it's implied it has to do at least partly with some inernalized biphobia, but that doesn't excuse how shitty she treats her friends. At one point, she literally tells her friend Naimh, who's a bit overweight and wants to be a model, that a real model wouldn't be eating what she was. (hide spoiler)]. You don't need to give the girl with a secret a mean streak to make her 3-dimensional, you know? But then I think about it, and I'm like... well, I'm sure there were moments when I was in high school that I said some shitty things too. That I acted bratty. That I was judgy. And yet, despite these all being valid points, that doesn't mean I like to read about characters like that. In the end, Only Mostly Devastated just didn't hold a candle to some of the other books I've read in the genre, especially when it comes to queer romance.

Cute, fun, lighthearted read.

I knew I'd enjoy this one (I mean a modern day Grease retelling... what's not to love?) but I definitely didn't realise how much it would hit me in the feels. How dare this book I thought would be a lighter YA read have me crying and cry I did. I will be thinking on this one for a while because there was a lot going on. I have so many thoughts but then it's almost midnight and most of them aren't coherent. I am glad I finally got around to reading this though I worried I'd leave it to gather dust on my Kindle instead.