Only Mostly Devastated

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.

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

Only Mostly Devasted was a sweet book which was on the whole easy to read and enjoyable. I found the theme of cancer with Aunt Linda and how her death affected Ollie really tragic and interesting, as it makes a good change from the will-they-won't-they with Ollie and Will. I also like how Ollie realises that he's being mistreated by Will before they end up together, to make it clear that the way he treated him was wrong.
I do wish that Ollie's band had been more included, but overall, I enjoyed the book a lot!