Published: 3 March 2020 (print)/7 January 2021 (audio) 
Publisher: Wednesday Books/Macmillan Young Listeners
Pages: 281/7 hrs and 48 mins
Narrator: Mark Sanderlin
Format: Audiobook
Genre: Young Adult Romance
★ ★ ★ ★ – 4 Stars
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.
Once again Sophie Gonzales has written a book about a US high school without making me so consciously in-your-face aware we are in a USA high school. I love this. I love I can enjoy overseas books without having to endure the way the school is usually written.
It is promoted as Clueless x Simon vs. the Homo Sapiens Agenda, which I can see. But there is a little bit of Grease in there too. The secret romance, the unexpected return of a summer fling. It’s even got great character development.
There is a good development from casual homophobic jokes to friendly support. There’s a healthy balance of standing up for friends, knowing when to keep quiet and when not too. Gonzales has made this a book about the characters and their lives and not about being in school. It’s fabulous.
Gonzales explores the issue of terminal illness and grief in a way that is always there but doesn’t take over the story. It’s the reason for everything and yet the story still moves on without there needing to be detailed explanations and descriptions of hospitals. Having Ollie be the babysitter and still a teenager means he is there to help and mind the kids while the adults deal with the serious side of things. It keeps the intensity and the emotional impact whilst not taking away from the other story.
Even the “epic summer” that is told through various flashbacks is about the connection between Will and Ollie. I think the usual blatant references to the fact someone is in high school, not sure what to do with their life, how summer break is a major event – all of that which annoys me normally in American books is subdued while still being key factors in the plot. Having it not blatantly pointed out and constantly referenced means you can focus on the story. We understand these are important times, it doesn’t need to be drilled into the reader and Gonzales does a spectacular job exploring the same themes without doing that.
The development of Will and Ollie as a pair while Will is trying to be a different person at school and Ollie coming to terms with his new situation and surprise secrets was good. Realistic progression of feelings, realistic behaviour around friends and their own issues. You could feel them planning their lives, still having teen drama, and living their high school experience without it feeling like it was shoved in your face. I think I need Gonzales to write all future USA YA books set in a high school please.
You can purchase Only Mostly Devastated via the following
Wordery | Blackwell’s | Angus & Robertson
Fishpond | Amazon | Amazon Aust | Audible
