Only Mostly Devastated
Ratings31
Average rating3.8
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 fairytale ending, and to complicate the fairytale 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.
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2.5-3 stars. I had high hopes for this book, especially with it being described as a modern, m/m retelling of Grease. I wasn't wowed by it unfortunately.
Like Grease, Ollie meets Will over the summer when Ollie's family visits North Carolina. They have a whirlwind romance that ends when Ollie must go back to California at the end of the summer. Plot twist–Ollie's family decides to stay in NC in order to help his aunt who is dying of cancer. When Ollie tries to contact Will to let him know that he's staying, he's met with radio silence. It isn't until a party on the night of his first day of school when Ollie realizes that his new school is also Will's school. Also like Grease, Will isn't the same boy that Ollie met over the summer. He's a jock, kind of a jerk, and also very much in the closet. If you've seen Grease, you can imagine how the story goes from here.
It's for that reason that I felt like I couldn't get into this book. It ended up being too predictable. I felt like the author tried too hard to take every opportunity to throw a Grease reference into the story when it could have easily stood on its own and that became too distracting. There was also a lot of jumping around that made the story more confusing. Overall, it wasn't a bad read. It just wasn't anything memorable.
ARC provided by NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
The story felt very slow and a bit contrived. The allure of it is loosely based on Greese wore off quickly after the first chapter.
this being pitched as a gay Grease did not disappoint
likes:
- the friendships!!
- queer rep (MC is gay, side character is bi, love interest is bi)
- how Will still being in the closet was dealt with. I was hesitant about this plot line b/c I feel like it usually makes for an uncomfortable read w/someone getting mad at that person not wanting to come out. but Ollie was so understanding & only got frustrated when Will was truly being a shit - not for him wanting to stay in the closet.
- Lara's character growth
- the side plot of Ollie's aunt being sick. fucking WRECKED ME
dislikes:
- I don't think Will was fleshed out enough; he didn't really have too much of a personality IMO
- Ollie's friends back in California were kind of pointless - they were brought up in the beginning then p much completely forgotten until the end
- kind of the same thing w/Ollie's bandmates - we never learn anything about them besides their names
