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Only Mostly Devastated
- A Novel
- Narrated by: Mark Sanderlin
- Length: 7 hrs and 48 mins
- Unabridged Audiobook
- Categories: Teen & Young Adult, Literature & Fiction
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Publisher's Summary
"[Narrator Mark] Sanderlin convincingly shares this LGBTQ romance, with emotions ranging from snark to sweet and everything in between, and serving up a satisfying conclusion.... A fun listen on a variety of levels, but make no mistake: it packs some great messaging without any nasty aftertaste. Yum!" (Booklist)
Simon vs. the Homo Sapiens Agenda meets Clueless in this boy-meets-boy spin on Grease.
A Junior Library Guild Gold Standard Selection
"Only Mostly Devastated is the kind of book I wish existed when my kids were younger - a charming, funny, laugh-out-loud teen romance that reminds all readers love comes in a multitude of flavors, and they are all sweet." (Jodi Picoult, New York Times best-selling author of Small Great Things and A Spark of Light)
"A delightful, heartwarming, heartrending story about family, love, friendship, and living your most authentic life. I couldn't put it down." (Sandhya Menon, New York Times best-selling author)
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.
A Macmillan Audio production from Wednesday Books
"Only Mostly Devastated [is] an instant hit and Sophie Gonzales one YA author to watch." (Julia Lynn Rubin, author of Burro Hills)

Editor's Pick
Summer loving doesn’t have to end
"From the moment I heard about this LGBTQIA+ rom-com inspired by Grease, I was completely enamored. Ollie and Will are everything my little gay heart wished Sandy and Danny were when I was a closeted teen. While I had no trouble spotting the elements inspired by the movie, Sophie Gonzalez succeeded in making Only Mostly Devastated feel delightfully familiar, but decidedly unique. Filled with a diverse cast of characters and dealing with a variety of issues faced by queer teens, this is a story I just wish I had access to earlier in life."—Michael C., Audible Editor
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What listeners say about Only Mostly Devastated
Average Customer RatingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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- CMB4062
- 07-28-20
Only Mildly Entertaining
I always struggle with the 3 star ratings... I liked this book, but I didn't love it.
It's basically "Grease". Ollie is Sandy and Will is Danny. There are two friendship groups- the basketball boys (ie. The Thunderbirds) and the girls (who all have matching rose gold necklaces- ie. The Pink Ladies). Will and Ollie have a steamy summer at the lake. Will thinks Ollie is going home, but Ollie ends up staying and... SURPRISE! They are at the same school. But, no one knows Will is gay. He's pretty much a jerk to Ollie's face and a suckup whenever no one is around.
That part was really annoying. He literally makes fun of Ollie's clothes, giggles at the gay jokes, etc..., but Ollie keeps making out with him on secret late night drives and then, at the end of the book, feels guilty for "not taking Will's feelings into account" enough.
I enjoy this genre, so it was a likable read. BUT... not one that's likely to stick with me and did NOT fill the "Red, White, and Royal Blue" desire that I am constantly seeking to match!
All in all, if you have some time to kill, read it. Otherwise, pass. "What If It's Us" and "Boyfriend Material" are a much better use of your time and money!
Also, the narration was good, but I wish this book had also had Will chapters. I'd have loved to know what was going on in his head when he was being such a jerk!
2 people found this helpful
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- Aly P
- 03-12-20
Great story with a lot of emotion
This was so emotional and sweet and sad and a great read!
Ollie and Will fell for each other hard over the summer, but when they meet again at school, everything is different. I get that Will wasn't out to anyone and that's his choice if/when to tell people, but he gave Ollie the cold shoulder and I had a hard time liking him for most of the book. Ollie respected Will's boundaries and tried to move on, but Will kept sucking him back in and giving Ollie hope which wasn't cool. No one should be a dirty little secret and I kept hoping Ollie would find someone else to be with. The ending redeemed Will a bit, but I still don't think they're great together.
The parts with Ollie's aunt being sick were so emotional and well done. I definitely got teary a couple times and really felt for the family. Great addition to the story.
Great narration on the audiobook and the pacing was well done. The Grease connection is a bit flimsy, but I can see it.
2 people found this helpful
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- Kindle Customer
- 10-07-20
Meh...
It started off really great, but by the end I was wondering what the point had been. I couldn't figure out what the main conflict had been and while the end was clearly supposed to be very sweet, I just found myself more and more irritated as I started to realise that any potential conflict had been resolved mainly by deciding we were wrong and without much effort or action by anyone. It felt like a relationship masterclass in accepting the bare minimum and in self resolution. All in all I would say it was just a nice story I suppose, but it left me wanting so much more from everyone. It was fine...
1 person found this helpful
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- Robert Jason
- 05-21-20
Happily ever afters aren't a singular event
An entertaining fish-out-of-water queer love story with an interesting "Grease" hook/spin. "OMD" is exceptionally funny at times, and tugs at your heartstrings at the right moments. It works well to balance teenage angst with the big picture questions it asks.
1 person found this helpful
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- aco
- 05-17-20
Loved everything about this :)
The sweetest and mature story about teenage years.
Written well and remarkably narrated!
I recommend
1 person found this helpful
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- Renae McBrian
- 05-08-20
Not Just a Love Story
This novel is an amazing story about love, friendship, family, and the fragility of time.
1 person found this helpful
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- Jon
- 03-23-22
An easy read and a great story!
The added depth and complexity that the LGBT and family elements brings to the Grease-esque classic love story makes for an outstanding read or listen! I didn’t know if I wanted to slow it down so I could stretch it out or speed it up to see what the roses and Ollie would do next. If this were a movie it would be right up there with Love, Simon! Well done Sophie and Mark!
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- Kyla
- 02-02-22
Only Mostly Disappointing
I really wanted to love this story but there were some major things that I couldn’t get past. A lot of the emotions felt very flat, especially with the grief orientation. It never felt like Ollie was a real character going through real things. It also felt like the book was trying to be very adult but couldn’t actually demonstrate a real adult story. The moments with Ollie not drinking felt pretentious or like I was getting an anti-drinking lecture from the author.
In terms of the voice performance, they had a good amount of emotion in their delivery but some parts, especially when they imitated the kids, just drove me insane. I had to stop myself from skipping through entire chapters because of how annoying the kids voices were.
I really wanted to like it but was disappointed, might just be too young for me. Could have been because I had just come straight off of listening to “Boyfriend Material” which was fantastic.
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Skip if you aren't a teen
I made it just a few chapters in; I didn't even meet the love interest. I can normally roll with childrens/teen lit, but this was unusually sarcastic and angsty. Which is fine! It felt very realistic, and the protagonist actually has very good reasons to be aggravated. But if you're an adult looking for a lighthearted easy read, maybe give this one a pass. I am clearly not the target audience.
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- Thomas
- 02-20-21
It took a while but it grew on me
So, I listened to this book again and it grew on me. The narrator is top notch and the story, although a bit muddled, is pretty good. There are a lot of characters in this book and at times the story meandered, but it was good.