A queer re-imagining of Grease – what’s not to love?
Only Mostly Devastated – the blurb
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?
Grease is the word
Let me start by saying, I LOVE GREASE. I’ve watched it ten thousand times, Iv’e danced way too many times to the Grease Lightning medley. So you can understand why Only Mostly Devastated a re-imagining of the film caught my eye. It’s classed as YA which made me slightly apprehensive as I’m finding the genre way too woke at the moment. Sometimes you just need fiction you know? But it was Grease, how heavy could it get?
Grease without the lightning?
The book does and doesn’t follow the film. There is the summer romance/there are no cars. There is the cool kid with the secret/there is no sudden bursting into song. Somethings are updated – the prom, the drive-in – and somethings just seem to be there to boost the modern feel – Polycystic ovaries, the Frozen DVD. Yet it all gelled. It didn’t feel like you were reading a book about the film, but its essence was certainly present.
Hopelessly devoted
The book was certainly an emotional roller coaster and not just for the hopelessly devoted Ollie. Gonzales made some spot on observations, especially about death, that almost brought a tear to my eye. There was also the happy ending (I’m not spoiling anything, it’s Grease and we all know the story) which had me all feeling all the feels.
I liked Ollie, I liked Will, yet my favorite character was Lara. Her sharpness contrasted brilliantly with her solidarity making her somehow more palatable to me than Rizzo. “If they keep accidentally ripping your heart out over and over again…..it probably means you’re better off getting to a distance where they can’t keep on doing that.” I didn’t however warm to Ollie’s parents. Yes they were totally fine with him being gay but I thought they dumped a whole lot on him and gave him very little back in return.
You’re the one that I want
Me having a problem with Ollie’s parents, who were in no way homophobic is the crux of Only Mostly Devastated. The book is a feel good high school love story. It doesn’t matter that it’s about two boys. It’s good that it’s about two boys. But there is a bloody good story wrapped around it (well it is Grease) so you mull over Aunt Linda and the agonies of unrequited love as opposed to it being a book about two boys that fancy each other.
Only Mostly Devastated is an excellent read and I strongly recommend it. It’s feel good with a healthy dose of realism. Well we can’t all be bursting into song in the cafeteria can we?
If you’re looking for more feel good YA try Dumplin by Julie Murphy.
