Reviews with content warning for Racism - Jeg har kysset Shara Wheeler

Honestly, I don't know if I've been fair to a Casey McQuiston book since RWRB. Like, this was cute! I enjoyed myself while reading it! But I was waiting to feel like I felt while reading RWRB and that just never hit for me. I personally wasn't super invested in Chloe and Shara's relationship (or honestly Shara in general.) I didn't feel like I got to know Shara well enough to be invested in her as more than just a plot point.

Honestly, this book had way, way, WAY too many characters, and it really pulled focus from the main 4. Chloe did not need three best friends, two of whom had ZERO impact on the main plot. Like honestly maybe 50% of the characters in this book could have been cut with no impact to the story that was actually told. This book could have been Chloe, Shara, Rory, Smith, Georgia, Chloe's moms as extremely minor characters, and Principal Wheeler as the antagonist and the story would have been a LOT tighter. I would have loved for Georgia to have more depth in the story, and I would have loved to have been able to tell Chloe's moms apart before the very very end.

Also, Casey McQuiston has a POV problem. In both OLS and this book, you get very very interesting stories about poc filtered through these random white people who are, let's be honest, much less interesting (I liked Chloe better than I liked August but she still never felt like the main event to me.) In this book the more interesting story was

the absolutely BEAUTIFUL love story between Smith and Rory, two Black queer estranged childhood best friends who have been in love with each other half their lives. Granted, Rory could have used just a little bit more time to fully round out his character, but I was still fully invested in what was going to happen for them. What I did not expect was for the resolution of that subplot to occur through Chloe unintentionally SPYING on Smith and Rory confessing their feelings to each other. I felt weird READING her witnessing this important moment for them when neither of them knew she was there, and I cannot imagine what POSSESSED McQuiston to write it like that.

I want McQuiston to grow as an artist and find a foothold in the publishing industry besides their one phenom book. I really, really do. There are such good ideas in this book--with a little reworking and reframing, this could have easily been a 5 star for me. I really appreciated the way McQuiston juxtaposed the protagonist's background with the setting of the novel and I loved how that was resolved. To be perfectly honest, as someone from California, this book gave me a new appreciation for queer Southerners, and I hope that queer Southern teens feel represented by this book. However, while I enjoyed this book, it just isn't something I could get excited about.

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vaguely_pink's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional funny hopeful inspiring lighthearted medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.25

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lilacsuns's review against another edition

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emotional funny hopeful lighthearted medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes

5.0

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stevie_in_the_stacks's review against another edition

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emotional funny lighthearted reflective medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

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chrisljm's review against another edition

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funny hopeful inspiring lighthearted reflective medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

Casey McQuiston writes people and communities in a way that is so special to me. The relationships and dialogue are so realistic and funny. I also love how they forge unlikely friendships, like the way Chloe’s friends and Smith are definitely not friends, yet they still took the time to be a part in helping Smith make important life realizations because that’s how a community is and it was so touching for me to read that. In life there are little things and there are big things, and McQuiston knows how to make the little things just as important as the big things.

I think this is an especially good book for young adults who think they may be queer. But, I also think this is good for people to gain a different perspective into the bible belt because it’s so easy to disregard red states for being like That and to think that everyone living there are unanimous in thinking like That. But this book provides a look into how there are people and communities living within these tough places doing and dealing with it in a way they can while also calling it home.

The last thing I want to say is that something I love across all McQuiston’s books is that they impart this joy and feel goodness, leaving you hopeful for better even if you might’ve reacted otherwise in reality and I think it’s a good reminder for the times when you think that everything is hopeless.

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gurnoor's review against another edition

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emotional funny lighthearted mysterious medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.75

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houndoflove1985's review against another edition

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funny inspiring medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.75

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