[Review] Only Mostly Devastated - Sophie Gonzales

Summary: 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. (Pub Date: Mar 04, 2020)

Ollie had the perfect summer fling with the perfect summer boy Will. They were at the lake and spent all the time they could together. They just didn't expect to meet again in real life, when Ollie has to move locally to be near his aunt. That's when he meets the real Will, a jock who pretends not to even know him. And yet, Ollie can't forget him.

This was a fun romance to read. I was very excited for it since I first read the summary, and even tweeted about it then, so you can't call this a case of expectations. The whole thing was very built, we have a group of lovely characters, especially Ollie's friends, each with a backstory and their own personalities. We have Ollie's family and his aunt diagnosed with terminal cancer but still very much alive with her children. Finally, we have Will's own issues with his identity and his family. And yet, the writer never lost focus on the romance, which is what at least made me get this book.

What I really didn't like about it was Will himself. It's very easy to understand his situation is hard. No one should be forced out of the closet, so Ollie can't really expect it, but no one is allowed to be a jerk. At the same time, we see Will treat Ollie the way he does when they meet again but it's very obvious he's just a jerk to Ollie. If you go from the summary and Ollie's own description, Real Will was supposed to be the stereotypical jock, but we barely see him act as such, his façade is mostly told and not shown. Because of that, the way he acts toward Ollie makes even less sense. Later on, there is more explanation to why he did it, but I don't think it redeemed him enough. In other words, I never bought Will. He didn't make my heart flutter and to the last page he made me anxious about whether he'd treat Ollie right.

All my issues with the story actually goes back to Will, which is a pity because everything else was perfect. I really recommend it to YA readers, it's a great and entertaining story.

Honest review based on an ARC provided by Netgalley. Many thanks to the publisher for this opportunity.

Rating: 4 out of 5.