Only Mostly Devastated by Sophie Gonzalez

Synopsis:

Simon vs. the Homo Sapiens Agenda meets Clueless, inspired by Grease.

When Ollie meets his dream guy, Will, over summer break, he thinks he’s found his Happily Ever After. But once summer’s ended, Will stops texting him back, and Ollie finds himself one prince short of a fairytale ending. To complicate the fairytale further, a family emergency sees Ollie uprooted and enrolled at a new school across the country—Will’s school—where Ollie finds that the sweet, affectionate and 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. But as Will starts ‘coincidentally’ popping up in every area of Ollie’s life, from music class to the lunch table, 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. 


My Thoughts:

Ollie and Will have a great summer romance. Ollie expects to leave North Carolina for his California home, but right before school starts, his parents decide to stay. Ollie's aunt (who lives in NC) is very, very sick, and so Ollie becomes chief babysitter to his young cousins. He also has to adjust with a new high school and culture, but Ollie's pretty laid back, and willing to roll with it.

Until he realizes that Will, the boy who stopped texting or calling at the end of the summer, goes to his new high school. Will's a popular football player, and it's quite clear that he is not remotely out. He's also intent on pretending that nothing ever happened with Ollie - at least when anyone else is around.

Okay, okay. Coming out of the closet is personal and hard, no matter what a person's circumstance. I totally understand that. Ollie lives (or had lived in) liberal California, Will's in a tiny town where football will determine his future. But being in the closet is different than acting disparagingly toward people who are queer. Or thinking that someone else is okay with having a clandestine relationship with you, when you are actually making fun of that person with your friends.

And there's where this novel kind of lost me. I wanted a better alternative for sweet Ollie than THAT guy. Instead, there is a compelling friendship between Ollie and a group of pragmatic girls. I especially loved the relationship between Ollie and super-prickly Lara. But there is no romantic alternative. And that made me grumpy.

Can characters redeem themselves after being jerks for 75% of a novel? Sure. Did Will redeem himself? I guess that's a matter of opinion (grumble).

Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for an ARC.