Only Mostly Devastated by Sophie Gonzales

Maybe my favourite film is Grease. No...Or is it? No.

Ollie and Will were a summer fling; now they're classmates. But only one of them is out...

It was the very last Wednesday of August when I realized Disney had been lying to me about Happily Ever Afters. Because, you see, I was four days into mine, and my prince was nowhere to be found.

"Please don't lose contact. I need to see you again," he'd said. So why was I here, banging my head against a metaphorical wall, weighing up the pros and cons of sending another message? This wasn't a big deal. It was just a guy texting another guy. A guy who knew all my biggest secrets, and had Seen. Me. Naked™. A guy who'd convinced me he really, really liked me. A guy who'd better have been abducted by goddamn aliens...

When Ollie meets Will over the 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 short of his fairy-tale ending.

A family emergency sees Ollie uprooted and enrolled at a new school across the country - Will's school - and 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, a basketball jock and, well, a bit of a jerk.

Ollie isn't going to pine after a guy who isn't ready for a relationship. But as school life repeatedly throws them together, from music class to the lunch table, Ollie finds his resolve weakening.

With the noisy drama of their friends as the backdrop - from ambitious Juliette and frosty Lara, to big-hearted Darnell and king-jock Matt - Ollie has a decision to make.

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?


This was sold as a Queer Modern Retelling of Grease and it is. I think ten years ago, it probably would it been sold as High School Musical. Maybe that's just that the Love interest, Will is a basketball player. Oliver isn't a science quiz genius or anything. He does like music and is in a band. I guess basketball is just the modern equal of a bad boy car-obsessed gang. Yeah, that's not a thing anymore, probably because cars are not a novelty anymore.

I do like that we have Queer character outside the main romantic pairing. Queer people are friends with other Queer people even when we not out. We find each other completely on accident.

This novel is completely told in Oliver's POV, which I was slightly disappointed about, cause in my mind a Grease retelling should duo-protagonists, so you think the same it doesn't. This is Oliver's story more than Will's.

Will is not out to anyone, is major factor in how their relationship plays out. I think this was done well, consideration from both points of view, with both feelings been taken into account. Obviously, no one should be forced out but Will does go overboard in an attempt to hid their relationship.

This does deal with causal homophobia, by a causal, I mean making gay jokes while not intending target a gay or Queer person. Just to mock your friend because Straight boys think being gay is funny for some reason. I blame the patriarchy. This was a major problem when I was youngling and going off the teen barter I overhear its still a problem. Hopefully, this will not be a problem anymore in the future. I think its dealt with well and realistically.

This book deals with grief and the threat of grief. Knowing that you are likely to lose someone you love soon. This was done okay. The thing is I very recently read a 5/5 star book that had someone lose their Aunt to cancer. This book felt more about the romance than anything, so I didn't like it as much. I read romance heavy contemporaries but I'm Ace so I'm not all about that. There is a lot of romantic pairing going on, it's all very cute.

Overall, I give this book 4/5 stars for Rosegold Roses. This is cute romance with attempt at depth. It's perfect for people who like cute but want something more going on than just romance. T|he relationships between all the characters were done nicely.  I will read Gonzales again, her next book sounds interesting.

Read: 3/3/20199
Reviewed: 3/03/2020
Published Date: 5th March 2020
Publisher: Hodder Children's Books
Source: Netgalley
Content Warning: Cancer, Terminal Illness, Death of Love One, Homophobia, Being Outed (this not a big deal, but does happen technically twice), Diet and comments about eating,

Disclaimer: I received e-arc of this off the Publisher for review. My reviews are always honest.